The Pilates studio's blog is a weekly update with tips and ideas about Pilates and movement. Do you have a question about Pilates? Read this blog we probably answer it!
Last week we started a series of blog posts about learning how to sit. As we continue the series I am finding some humor in the fact that as a culture that sits
for more of its day than most, it seems funny to me that we are a culture that
doesn’t know how to sit.I find myself thinking, "I remember when I learned how to sit." The funny part is that I was 25 years old not 6 months old, and ironically I learned how to sit by moving not sitting. This is why ultimately as we continue to sit without knowing how to sit eventually the act
of sitting begins to cause pain.This pain can manifest in our low back, our neck, our shoulders, our
hips, and even our knees and feet.When someone talks to me about pain in sitting I
look for a few things.I wonder
how long is the axis?I look at
each vertebra and see if one is “sticking out” more than others.I look to see if the knees are even or
below the hips, and I look to see if the pelvis is stacked and tall. I look to see what compressive
forces are acting on the spine.I
look for bones that are stacked.Why do I look for these things?Because it is in my experience that pain when sitting is often caused by
compressive forces (gravity) acting on the spine.And if these forces can be spread throughout the myofascial
system, pain dissipates.
The following video is a series of exercises that I have
found to help elongate the spine.Try it.See what you think.
Thanks to flickr and caseorganic on flickr
The first exercise in the video is simply adding length to
your spine by balancing the tension in the myofascial system.I have learned from Tom Myers to look
at the body as a tensegrity structure.What does that mean?I see
a body with bones that are suspended between different fascial tensions.Very much like the picture to the right.In it the sticks are suspended by the tension forces.Which is the feeling that
the first exercise is helping you find.You want to imagine each vertebra suspended by balanced tension of the muscles and tendons.
Thanks to flickr and Rwike77
Then you want to start moving the vertebra.When you keep the tension balanced, the
rest of the body can now begin to move in both flexion and extension in the
sagittal plane, and in lateral flexion in the coronal plane.In these exercises, I like to think
about the spine as taffy that is warming; that as you bend it back and forth,
and side to side the spine is getting gooier and gooier.
And then finally I like to replace the tension in the spine
to keep the posture that the exercises just created.
Have fun!And
join us next week when we use Pilates to learn how to sit balanced front to
back
This morning, I was working with a client that asked me,
“How can I improve my sitting posture?”While I saw it as a fabulous question, I also found myself a little
perplexed…When I first started learning and teaching Pilates, I didn’t think
about my posture too much.I was
busy learning exercises, and learning how to teach exercises, and then
something magical happened. (not really, it simply happened without my
conscious awareness). I was sitting in a class once and I noticed, “Woh my
posture is really good right now…and it’s not even hard to sit up
straight.”Imagine that a person
who had been moving all of her life finally learned how to sit. Imagine my
surprise that finally I became conscious of my posture when it was okay, and
not when it was awful and causing pain…
This was a few years ago, and it left me with a
dilemma.I was not sure what
exercises helped me to find this balanced posture.I had no codified way to tell someone to practice posture because
it happened to me unconsciously when I was learning movement.It happened to me when I was getting
stronger and it happened to me when I was trying to learn EVERY Pilates
Exercise not just my favorites.Since then, I have been on many pseudo scientific journeys with clients
at The Pilates Studio.I say
pseudo scientific because in movement theory there is a scientific base for
choices that are made.I work from
a strong base of biomechanical knowledge, myofascial relationships, and
movement study, but I am convinced that the double blind causation studies are
detrimental to the complex system and variables that are human movement.SO in a pseudo scientific ways I
have explored improving posture with people.And like any double blind experiment I could say, the
results are varied, but why don’t you try this or this or this….
What constitutes ”BAD”
posture?
For the record, bad posture is a phrase I don’t like, but if
I write about improving posture I like to name what it is I would like to improve.Off the top of my head and for the
purpose of the next few blog posts, I have thought of four things to observe.
1.Is this
posture movement ready?
2.Does the posture cause pain?
3.Is the posture balanced from front to back?
4.Is the posture balanced from inside to outside?
The lovely thing about this list is that it is ever
changing.Tomorrow it could be a
list of six things, and yesterday it might have only been three.Just another way that working with
posture is a malleable endeavor.Like my list posture is an ever-changing event subject to many variables
in our lives.
For the purposes of this blog post we are going to talk
about #1.Is this posture movement ready?
How to sit ready for
movement
When you are sitting, can you quickly get up and get a cup
of tea?Do you have to think about
standing up? How easy is it to get out of your car? Do you have access to the
muscles in your legs?Movement
ready posture in my mind is sitting with the ability to stand instantly and
easily. Movement ready posture is the ability to move efficiently from a
sitting position inside a car to standing position outside of a car.I
have found the following physioball workouts to be the best and most fun way to
practice.
What I like about them is the progression.
Step I:Sit on the ball, sometimes this is the
practice in and of itself.There
is proprioceptive challenge, and you must keep your feet grounded
Step 2: Start
bouncing on the ball.Keep your
feet grounded.Your heels should
be like roots into the floor.
Step 3: Bounce to
Stand.When you are comfortable
bouncing on the ball without fear of falling, Simply start bouncing, bounce
higher and then a little higher until you bounce your way to standing
Step 4: Now we’re
getting tricky.Make sure you are
really secure with Step III, then bounce
your way to standing…wait for it…on one foot.
Step 5: is the
most challenging in this series and it provides quite a balance challenge.Be sure to watch the video before you
try this.It’s important to have a
mental picture of this.You stand
beside the ball and lift the leg closest to the ball, then sit on the ball and
slide across the ball.Then plant
the opposite foot in the ground on the other side of the ball.Repeat and be sure to enjoy the wobbles.
Enjoy this first of four how to sit workouts.Next week we’ll learn how to sit when sitting causes pain
This past week I discovered a magic trick…Okay not
really.What really happened?I remembered a few things that I had
forgotten, and then once connected these tidbits of information worked as if by
magic to release someone’s hamstrings!It seemed like magic because this person had been doing all the “right”
things.She had been stretching
the hamstrings, she had been doing the hamstring release series, and she had
been strengthening her body… Yet her hamstrings weren’t budging because we
hadn’t put it all together.Like
many things, this magic trick seemed so obvious once it was clear.Why didn’t I think of it before?Well, I thought I would point out the
pieces of information that connected to develop the hamstring magic trick…Then
what I really want to do is ask all of you to try it and see if it really
works.You know another of The
Pilates Studio’s forays into uncontrolled pseudo scientific experiments that
gather more and more anecdotal information.That’s what I want!I look forward to the discussion that occurs at The Pilates Studio this
week.
Or if you are in another place, feel free to post a comment
below!
Hamstring Tidbits
(Funny none of these tidbits are "about" the hamstrings)
Tidbit #1 – I
remember learning once from Elizabeth Larkham.We were on the trap table at a workshop entitled “The Core has Arms” She talked about the leg spring series and how pressing your hands
into the upright poles helps to activate the anterior oblique sling.
Tidbit #2 – I
remembered learning about the functional lines from Tom Myers.These are fascial lines that work
together, and in particular I remembered when talking fascial connections that
the triceps connect to the serratus anterior which connects to the external
obliques, which connect to the internal obliques of the opposite side.
Tidbit #3 – The
phrase “Stuck on the Inhale” came to mind.This idea refers to the efficiency of using the core of the
body.It is much more efficient to
find axial length with a strong and efficient core if a person can get all of
the air out of the lungs.Thank
you to Tom Myers and Brent Anderson, who have both explained this in completely
different ways to me…
Tidbit #4 – The
body will recruit global moving muscles to maintain stability if
necessary.And this becomes necessary
when the body loses axial length and abdominal strength. In other words the body uses muscles like the hamstrings and glutes instead of the core of the body.
Wait I thought this
post was about loosening the hamstrings…
Okay Try This:
First don’t think about anything and lift your leg straight into
the air.Ask yourself these
questions…
How does the pelvis feel?How does the hamstring feel?Where do you feel pain or tightness?
Now with the answers to those questions in mind, Try this:
Lay down on the floor close to the wall.Place your hands on the wall and push
the palms of your hands into the wall, slide your shoulder blades down your
back, feel your triceps engage and also feel muscles underneath your shoulder
blades engage.Then exhale all of
the air out of your lungs, notice that your ribcage narrows and that your
abdominals engage.Maintain this
position and lift your leg again…What happens?How does it feel? IS it different?
If the description above is confusing watch the videos below
that show the difference.
These videos were shot quickly at The Pilates Studio between classes. Notice all the chatter of the happy people that love pilates
Task one may look like this:
Notice the popping ribs, and that the thigh bone stops just below the hip.
Here's a video of the next task. Do you notice a difference? Now what if you used the breath while stretching the hamstrings? Might life be a little easier in these stretches.?
I can't wait to continue to explore this idea with the clients at The Pilates Studio. Please feel free to try this and comment below. The more anecdotal data we can collect the more movement "magic tricks" we can discover.
It’s winter, and the avid golfers I know have entered that
mellow part of the year where they yearn for just one thing…The Spring.
These golfers lament that their golf swing will not be as
good as it was in the latest throws of September.They plan vacations so that they can golf again…
What if I said that I could improve a golf swing over the
winter without a single golf club?What if I could provide a training program that could allow your body to
gain flexibility and strength that was focused on the golf swing?Has a golf game ever hurt your
back?What if I could fix
that?
When I work to help someone improve a golf swing I work with
three things.
Strength and Flexibility in Rotation of the
Spine
Create efficiency in Lateral Weight Shift
Axial Length for the Prevention of Back
Pain
When it comes to improving a golf swing, the following exercises are just the tip of the iceberg.They are mat exercises that you can do at home, and soon we will post a
video that shows what we can do with the Pilates Apparatus.Pilates creates functional strength and
flexibility so that you can move efficiently in every endeavor, so if you want to golf we can make it happen!
When thinking about spinal rotation finding flexibility is key. Try the following stretches, imagine breathing into the ribcage and using your breath to find increased length.
Find the longest possible line from your pinky to your toe
Imagine reaching through the entire fascial line
The stretches above allow you to reach from the pinky finger to the pinky toe. How long can you be? And of course be sure to do both sides.
The Pilates Mermaid helps to open the ribs. The base of the ribcage is often where the lower body and upper body can disconnect and cause trouble in the golf swing. Integrating the two helps keep the motion of the golf swing fluid and fierce.
Breath into the ribs as you reach your hand away from your center
Added rotation expands the back of the ribs
After these stretches its time to practice efficient spine rotation. Book openings is a great exercise that allows the body to feel the rotation move through each vertebra. Follow your hand with your gaze and remember to engage the oblique abdominals as you return to the beginning.
Start with your hips stacked
Rotate your spine
Follow your hand with your gaze
Axial length and lateral weight shift can be practiced with the side lift and side leg lift Be sure that you are reaching your head away from your tail, and sending your heels away from your center to find all of the length you can find.
The longest body helps the hips suspend
Lifting your leg without collapsing at the waist is key
Last week’s snowstorms were replaced by this week’s frigid
temperatures.The kind of
temperatures that turn noses red and burn in the fingertips, the kind of cold
that shows in the breath and runny nose, the kind of cold that causes all human
beings to rigidly shake when they make it inside with an animalistic,
“BRRRRRRR!”And yes this is the
second week in a row that I am writing about the weather in The Pilates Studio’s
weekly blog…
Why?It is partly
because I am fascinated with the way that the body protects our beings from our
environment.How is it that in
most climates our bodies can maintain a homeostatic temperature of about 98.6?How does our movement add to this
process?What are the after
effects on our posture?Does the
cold make us sore?And how can we use
movement to protect us from the cold?The frigid, bitter, frostbiting cold.
Last week’s snowstorms led me to write about keeping our bodies safe while shoveling mounds and mounds of wet snow, but there’s
something we didn’t talk about.Shoveling snow is hard exercise.While we all need to protect our bodies from the wear and tear caused by
this inevitable winter task, when we shovel we get the added warming
benefit.We begin to sweat through
our first layer.Our cheeks get
warm.We start breathing rapidly,
and after a lot of shoveling, we may even start to strip layers of clothing off
of our bodies.Maybe even baring
our arms to get that scarce New England Vitamin D.
Shoveling snow keeps us warm, but in the frigid cold of this
week, the snow has been shoveled and thus the warming effect is gone.Our shoulders keep inching towards our
ears to keep our neck warm.Our
spine rounds forward to protect our most important organs from the cold.Our muscles stiffen.Our movement lessens, and
unfortunately we just seem to get colder.
Well, Pilates to the rescue.The following exercises are a great body-warming
recipe.At the end of the workout
you’ll be ready to enter the cold.And you’ll at least make it to your car and be warm long enough for its
heater to start blowing warm air.
This exercise is often seen as a killer abdominal exercise,
but Joseph Pilates intended it to be a heater!HE intended this to increase circulation and to heat up the
body.
To get all of the warming effects from this fabulous
exercise be sure to check this link for THE HUNDRED and use the sniffing breath.And if you’re bored with
just one version of THE HUNDRED. then read every post for the entire month of
November.You could heat your body
up in 30 different ways.
The next heating step, is rigorously engaging the large
muscles of the thighs.This
is what warms us up when we are shoveling, but in the absence of snow try the
following video.It is a lunge
series that will improve your balance and create great blood flow!
Finally the shoulders and the cold don’t mix.Try these few exercises to recover from
a walk in the cold.You know the
kind of walks where your arms are crossed and your shoulders are hiked to your
ears.Your head is down to keep
the wind out of your ears…These protective measures can reek havoc on your neck
and shoulders.Try the following
to recover, and enjoy the added benefit of improved posture.
