Movements Afoot’s Blog

by Lesley Powell

One of the hardest things to teach and explain is the difference between tucking and Pelvic Shift Forward.

under-STAND-ing

Pelvic shift forward
Pelvic shift forward is a concept of how the legs and the pelvis influence the weight shift. The best example of this is our gait, walking. The pelvic shift forward is our getting from sitting on a chair to standing. The pelvis and the legs influence our moving forward in space. Our hips have to go through hip flexion and extension to propel us through space.

Poor posture and gait diminishes proper shifting our weight forward for simple actions. This poor action forces our upper bodies to shift us forward to walk.

Observation
Stand with the pelvis behind the heels.
Notice how the foot reacts to this weight shift.
What muscles of the legs are working?

How is the upper torso reacting to this position?

Our lack of understanding of the correct use of our legs creates different kinds of POSTURE. First of all, the legs are not under-standing the relationship to the pelvis. When there is a poor tailbone-heel connection, the legs and feet work unevenly to support our upper bodies. For many, one tucks to bring the pelvis over the feet and pulled the front ribs down to solve the problem of a poor head-tail-heel connection.

Now purposely tuck;

How does this change the work of the feet now, the legs and the torso?

Walk with this posture!

The Bartenieff Fundamental, the pelvic shift forward, is a bridge with the spine neutral. The legs lift the pelvis up. The pelvic shift forward relates how we use the legs to move and support the pelvis.

The pelvic shift forward is a different bridge than the bridge with the pelvis begins in posterior tilt. The posterior bridge is about the sequencing of the spine. The posterior bridge does not work the legs in the same way as the pelvic shift forward.

The use of space is different for these bridges. The pelvic shift forward shifts the knees and pelvis towards the feet. The posterior bridge moves away from the feet.

To extend the hip through the legs, one uses the hamstrings and depending on the force needed, the gluteals. We only think of the gluteals as of squeezing the buttocks. This is primarily the gluteal maximus and the fibers closer to the gluteal cleft. Tucking occurs when both sides of the gluteal maximus are fired at the same time. In gait, we are firing one side of the gluteals at a time depending on the gait cycle. Recent research has proven the gluteals are being used to assist us in standing and moving on our legs. There are other sections of the gluteals we want to put our attention to. These muscles are the attachments to the femur on the side of our hips. The gluteal medius, gluteal minimus and the lateral fibers of the gluteal maximus help us to stabilize on one leg. The gluteals help us extend our hips especially in larger forces needed as in walking up stairs, changing levels such as a deep lunge to standing and standing on one leg. The tone needed to extend the hip is very different than in tucking.