Movements Afoot’s Blog

A BodyMind Think Tank – Taking fitness to the next level

Archive for transverse abdominals

Core Coordination

March 9, 2009 at 2:03 pm · Filed under Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF), Professional Teacher tips, abdominals, back pain, back pain relief, core strengthening, transverse abdominals and tagged: , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell

PILATES PRINCIPLES
The coordination of the stability of the torso with the movement of the legs and/or arms is essential for good function.  This is deep core work. Stability is a dynamic coordination of the muscles of the torso and entire body depending what the movement is.  It is not a static position, but changing as we move in space.

We first need to learn how to apply core stability to simple movements before more complex movements.  These are building blocks of foundations for larger, more complex movements.

The thigh lift (Bartenieff Fundamental(tm)) is the precursor to more difficult abdominal exercises as well as a component of our walking. One must stabilize the pelvis to connect to the correct mobility of the femur.  The psoas alone will flex the hip.  Without the counterbalance of the abdominals, the pelvis is pulled to an anterior tilt.   Remember stabilization is about finding quietness in the spine with length as you mobilize the legs. This should be the major underlying principle of all abdominal exercises.  To challenge the abdominals more, one can extend and/or lower the legs away from the torso.  This is the single leg stretch, the hundred, etc.

THIGH LIFT

Hollowing the Abdominal

Hollowing the Abdominal

Purpose
To learn how to stabilize the pelvis as you lift a leg.   This principle is important in all Pilates mat exercises with the use of the legs.  The engagement of the core is essential in stability of the pelvis through the deep abdominals.

To start

  1. Lie on the back with parallel legs bent and feet on the floor. The spine is in neutral.  Place the hands on the femoral folds.  This is where the hinge of the thigh and the hip
  2. Inhale and feel the width of the sacrum and back ribcage.
  3. Exhale and hollow.

The movement

Thigh Lift

Thigh Lift

  1. Inhale and breathe wide into the back body.
  2. Exhale to deflate the abdominals in and lift the bent right leg.  The hands are feeling the softening of the femoral fold.
  3. Inhale and lower the right thigh back to its original position.
  4. Exhale with a hollow and lift the bent left thigh up to 90 degrees.  The pelvis should remain in neutral.
  5. Repeat 3 more sets

Observation
Was the pelvis quiet during the thigh lift?  Did the hollow deepen as you lifted the leg?  Or did the belly bulge out? If the back muscles engaged, you must learn to deepen the hollow and maintain it before and during the leg lift.

Double leg.

  1. Inhale and feel the width and depth of the back body.
  2. Exhale; hollow and do a right thigh lift
  3. Inhale and hold the position
  4. Exhale, hollow and lift the left bent leg next to the right thigh
  5. Inhale without losing the hollow and lower the right leg down
  6. Exhale and lower the left leg
  7. Inhale and deepen the length and width of the spine
  8. Repeat again starting with the left leg

Observation
Were you able to maintain the hollow throughout the movement?  Did your pelvis remain quiet?

Comments

Breath- Changes your Core Support

March 2, 2009 at 7:39 am · Filed under Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF), Conditioning, Pilates, Professional Teacher tips, abdominals, back pain relief, core strengthening, fitness, transverse abdominals and tagged: , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell

journeysBreath is the key to connecting to the deep abdominal muscles.  With breath,  the connections of the diaphragm pumping in and out of air forces the transverse abdominal  to be like a corset.   Being like a corset, this muscle pulls the torso contents in.  The pulling in of the abdominals like a corset, we are going to call, the hollow.  This  is when the transverse abdominus engages.   This corset-like muscle is responsible for flattening the abdominal wall and stabilizing the torso.

Breath is one of the best ways to encourage this action.  There are physical connections between the diaphragm and the transverse abdominus.  The breath is like a hydraulic pump. Inhalation causes the diaphragm to move downward, open the lower ribs and relaxation of the back.  Exhalation releases the diaphragm up like a parachute towards your head.  The lift of the diaphragm helps the lower abs engage.  Consciousness of breath and it’s being three-dimensional is a great way to open the spine and connect to our internal support.

To Start: Lie on the back with knees bent and feet on the floor.

Hollowing

Hollowing

Breath & the diaphragm

  1. Inhale into the lower ribs.  Visualize the diaphragm floating downward.  This downward movement is widening the lower torso with depth in the back
  2. Count the duration of the exhale as the belly deflates.  (Start with 8 counts.  Each count the belly should sink deeper towards the sacrum.  This is the hollow.
  3. Repeat two more sets

Breath & the Hollow
Place your hands near your navel

  1. Inhale for 4 counts
  2. Exhale (8 counts) and narrow your abdominals underneath your hands towards your navel
  3. Inhale
  4. Exhale (8 counts), narrow again underneath your hands
  5. Adding on, inhale
  6. Exhale (8 counts), narrow and sink your abs towards your sacrum
  7. Inhale
  8. Exhale and feel your abs narrow and sink towards your navel
  9. Inhale and add on
  10. Exhale (8 counts) narrow, sink and rise your abs up your torso.
  11. Inhale
  12. Exhale, feel your abs under your hands narrow, sink and lift towards your head.

Now practice this in different position, sitting, on all fours, standing and in your pilates practice.  Hollowing is essential for making change in your core. It is better to do a few exercises with hollowing than lots of repetitions with the abs bulging out.  Practicing poor habits does not make you stronger.

* I would like to thank all of my teachers especially Irene Dowd for deepening my knowlegde about the body.

Comments

Singing to the Core

December 15, 2008 at 11:02 am · Filed under Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF), Conditioning, Post-rehabilitation, Professional Teacher tips, Yoga, abdominals, core strengthening, pelvic floor, transverse abdominals and tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell

I have been talking with some of my teachers who are also singers.  Amongst some singing teachers, pilates is not recommended.  A lot has to do with past training about locking the ribs down to solve the problem of hyperextended ribs.

The great change in Pilates and knowledge about the body is the importance of the movement of the diaphragm.  As in our past post, we talked about how the diaphragm moves 3 dimensionally within our torso in a healthy person.  There is a real inter-relationship between the diaphragm, the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominus.

Using sound is a great way to get in touch with the breath and discover the quality of your breathing.  Many systems like Yoga’s OM inspire the deep breathing necessary for core support and freedom of the spine.  Irmgard Bartenieff used our Western vowels, a,e,i, o, u, to get students conscious of their breath.

At the PMA conference this November, Kathy Grant had us do roll downs reciting our full names, addresesses with phone numbers and then whistling.  By having your clients speak as they move, will force them to breath.  You can not talk and not breath.

Using sound is a great way for students to become aware of their breath.  Deep breathing will create a sound with resonance.   Poor breathing makes the sound strained and coming from tension of mouth and throat.

When the breath is not moving 3 dimensionally, you will see sometimes the client moving the spine with breath. Usually the pattern is they hyperextend the ribs on the inhale and compress the ribs down on the exhale.

One of my favorite images of breath is from the Franklin Method.  See the breath spiral down to the pelvic floor on the inhale and spiral up on the exhale.  Think of the breath going up and down like a spiral staircase or spiral straw.

The cue in dance and Pilates, that closes the ribs, does not connect us to our deep core muscles.  In many ways, that cue creates more problems in the organization of the spine and shoulders especially in standing.  Finding full breath in all positions; supine, prone, quadriped, sitting and standing, will enhance how you use your core muscles.

Comments (2)

3-D Breath- the Diaphragm and the Core

December 1, 2008 at 10:28 am · Filed under Holistic fitness, Pilates, Professional Teacher tips, core strengthening, transverse abdominals, wellness and tagged: , , , , , ,

by Dr. Martha Eddy

“Just found your site. I am a long time Rebirther and recently began teaching a
“Breathing for Relaxation” class at a senior center. There are 8 men and 2 women, all in their 80’s! I distributed a copy of our respiratory system so that we could track how physiologically our breathing works. Then as we talked about chest and belly breathing, one man has a most intersted question
which I am on a quest to give an informed answer. I hope you can help me.


“Where does the air go when we breath in and out of the belly
because the air has to go into the lungs?”


Great question and I need help with an accurate answer. Thanks much for any information.”
from a comment

Dr. Martha Eddy (Dr. Move): It sounds like you are providing a great service at the center.

In response to your students question -  “Where does the air go when we breath in and out of the belly because the air has to go into the lungs?”:

The belly and lungs interact in breathing because of the movement of the diaphragm – the horizontal, dome-shaped muscle that separates the abdomen from the chest since its attaches to the bottom of each of the ribs all the way around from the back of the body to the front arched region of the solar plexus.

The breathing (oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange) only really happens in the lungs
(and in the cells of the body)

but it is the movement of the diaphragm downward into the abdominal region
that causes a vacuum in the chest to “inspire” an inward breath.

This movement of the plunger action of the diaphragm can cause the belly to protrude – “stick out” and is commonly referred to as “belly breathing.” The upward relaxation of the diaphramatic muscle helps to push the air out of the lungs! When this happens the stomach flattens a bit.

The other day an elderly colleague of mine advised a group of us during a photo shoot moment to “Hold your stomach in. Take a deep breath.”. I said that’s a bit of a contradiction since generally the belly bulges out when we breathe in deeply.

However its actually great to learn how to activate the abdominal muscles AND breathe deeply. We call this three-dimensional breathing. It is what actually happens anatomically. Our teacher physical therapist Irmgard Bartenieff knew her anatomy and also was trained in the 3-D use of space for all human movement through a system called Laban Movement Analysis.

3D breathing is simply allowing the diaphragm to move downward to begin the inhale AND being aware that this plunger action happens throughout the full cylinder shape of our torso. It presses down evenly in the front, back and sides of our abdominal region. So if we engage our deep abdominals for better posture the movement of the diaphragm will EVENLY move our abdomen down and out. The result will be that not only our “belly breathes” but our lower back gets a massage from the movement into that area. This is important. So much back pain can be relieved by 3D breathing into all directions of the torso. It helps posture, keeps muscles balanced, and increases our respiratory capacity (more oxygen).

People trained as CMAs – Certified Movement Analysts in your area can help teach this. There is nothing like learning through direct experience with a teacher demonstrating and giving you physical cues.

I hope you find this useful, and pleasurable! Keep asking your great questions.

Comments (4)

SI Dysfunction

May 19, 2008 at 7:19 am · Filed under Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF), Conditioning, Medical fitness, Pilates, Post-rehabilitation, Professional Teacher tips, Rehabilitation fitness, abdominals, back pain, back pain exercises, back pain relief, core strengthening, injuries, low back pain, multifidus, pelvic floor, transverse abdominals and tagged: , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell

“I have a training question for you. I have a client that has come to me with SI Joint problem. She is seeing a doctor who wants her to get an injection to diagnose it and at this point doesn’t know of any underlying cause for it.

I want to know what movements and exercises will be best for her. Should I work to strengthen the muscles around the SI joint? Also she is a fitness instructor who is pretty flexible & mobile in her joints. Is there anything I can do to bring some sort of stability to her ligaments/joints etc?” BBU Student

I have SI Dysfunction. I primarily got it from my dancing. Especially dancers and gymnasts are prone to this because of movements of extreme range such as splits, arabesques and attitudes can stretch the ligaments of the sacrum.

Lumbopelvic stability is essential and relieving for this condition. I have to work on this all the time. Pre-Pilates, BBU movement principles and/or Bartenieff Fundamentals(tm) are great to address this.

  1. Pelvic clock. Observe in 6-12 how both sides of the pelvis/sacrum is sequencing evenly on the floor. Sometimes the pelvis is rotated. The pelvic clock can educate your preferences of movement of the pelvis. Put attention to the sides not grounding as well.
  2. Pelvic floor, transverse abdominal & multifidus training
     Thigh lift/toe taps/marching Look how they lift their legs. Many people are not gliding the thigh bone in the hip socket well. This will give the appearance of hip hiking or tightening around the femoral fold.
  3. balance2.4Foam roll training is great for this.
    It also addresses the stability of the legs.  Other ideas on foam rolls
  4. Bridging- getting the legs to do the work. Observe if the hips rise at the same time.
    neutral bridging-pelvic shift forward
    pelvic shift lateral-typewriter, figure 8’s, bridging with thigh lift
  5. Sometimes mobility exercises such as full short spine are not great for my sacrum.
  6. Observe how they do foot work and standing. Is their weight on the outside of the foot. Training of the medial lines of the legs are also helpful.

Comments (3)

New Forks – Moving On and Well

April 29, 2008 at 7:55 am · Filed under Conditioning, Pilates, Professional Teacher tips, abdominals, body image issues, core strengthening, pelvic floor, transverse abdominals, walking, weight issues, wellness and tagged: , , , , , , ,

by Kimberly Fielding

When I think back three years ago… I can’t believe all the things I couldn’t do.
My joints were congested and so was my mind. I had no space in my body for movement and freedon, thus no space in my mind for positive thoughts and emotional well-being. My movement practice at Movements Afoot has given me space…has decongested me. I move with freedom. Confidence has filled my new space in my mind. Of course there are always times of emotional set backs, but I know staying with my Pilates practice will ground me, and keep me loving my body at any size.

I love the new Jenny Craig add. Queen Latifah, the current spokes person, emphasizes herself as being a size healthy. That losing up to 5-10% of your body weight and increasing your movement activities decreases your chance of Type 2 diabetes and other life threatening illnesses.

Even prior to my 80-100 pound weight gain I always had a negative tape playing in my head. I knew I had to finally stop the negative dialogue in my mind if only for a little while to start positive changes in my life.

I realized that moving from the inside out was giving me the chance to get to know myself. I never knew what that meant. I never knew that you could really be nice to yourself and really be your own friend…but you can.
• It is so liberating to quiet that negative voice
• to focus on my tailbone
• to actually narrow across my hip bones,
• to feel my back widen from my breath
• to feel my strong hand scapula connection as I open the reformer carriage in control front
• to finally be able to press myself up from the reformer for control back
• to execute long back stretch and twist
• to lift my leg up high while feeling my femur bone roll in the socket and keeping my hips level
• to be able to do a hand stand and a walkover again.

That is the way I have been getting to know myself. My true self. The self that I wake up with and go to sleep with, the self that is with me all the time. A self that is a size healthy and always getting healthier as healthy as I can be.

Comments

Teaching Teaching

January 19, 2008 at 9:05 am · Filed under Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF), Conditioning, Holistic fitness, Personal training Certification, Pilates, Professional Teacher tips, abdominals, back pain, back pain exercises, back pain relief, core strengthening, injuries, low back pain, pelvic floor, scoliosis symptoms, transverse abdominals, wellness and tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell, Director of Movements Afoot

Testimonials

This month I taught Balanced Body University’s Pilates Mat I-II. It was so wonderful to teach just the right amount of material for a weekend course and have the time for everyone to intellectually and physicality experience new materials. Sometimes courses are so jammed pack with information without enough time to experience the material on a physical level.

Students were really able to make changes in their own practice and practice new teaching techniques on their colleagues. They learned to problem solve teaching with the Pilates material on different bodies. When issues came up such as the spine was too tight to do a rollup, I was able to give information how to open the back and how the BBU’s movement principles can facilitate change.

We also talked about teaching. Teaching is a passion and a skill. To be a successful teacher, one has to understand how clients’ learn, how to cue well and lead different teaching situations from privates to group classes.

Dr. Martha Eddy once led a class on the nervous system and learning. We were to learn a simple hand phrase.

  1. We copied her phrase
  2. counted it
  3. gave names/images to each movement
  4. sounds to each movement
  5. use tactile cues such as using the floor, wall or our bodies

Then we talked to each other which method helped us learn the phrase. Everyone had different answers! I am such a visual learner and assumed others were the same. This class really taught me to try to understand my client’s preferences for learning.

The students had to teach a 45 minute class to each other and then I was to evaluate them. How I wished someone helped me in my earlier years of teaching. How one talks, phrases their voices and organizes the class are essential ingredients to a successful class.

In the structure of Balanced Body University’s Mat courses, there is detailed information about teaching. How wonderful to go over these materials, talk about our own teaching experiences, dealing with different types of clients and how to improve teaching skills.

Comments

Franklin Balls for release, new alignment and tone

December 29, 2007 at 8:19 am · Filed under Conditioning, Holistic fitness, Professional Teacher tips, back pain, back pain exercises, back pain relief, foot pain, hip pain, pelvic floor, posture, standing, transverse abdominals, wellness and tagged: , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell, Director of Movements Afoot

This is a series that I learned when I was doing the Franklin Method training. Eric Franklin’s Books

Rolling on the balls is like giving yourself a massage. Tight muscles are poorly functioning muscles. Tight muscles hold the bones in positions that are not always the design of how the body works. Getting bones to move in their normal range is another way to release tight muscles.

Foot Release

Pelvic floor Exercises

Psoas Release

Pelvic Tilts

Comments

Cancer and my movement practice: Pilates and Poledancing

September 28, 2007 at 8:17 am · Filed under Conditioning, Holistic fitness, Pilates, Post-rehabilitation, Rehabilitation fitness, abdominals, back pain, cancer, core strengthening, injuries, multifidus, pelvic floor, realpeoplepilates, transverse abdominals, wellness and tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

by Marcy Schafler, a Pilates teacher in New Jersey

In December of 2006, I had a hysterectomy and subsequently found out I had uterine cancer. As I was finishing up my treatment, a routine mammogram unfortunately led to the discovery that I had breast cancer. I went through my training at Movements Afoot to become a teacher two years ago.
Writing about how Pilates and movement have helped through my recovery is not easy. Not because I find it emotional, but because I had to think how it helped me. Then I realized that is because of Pilates that I sailed through my treatments and recovery. The only time I stopped moving was during the 6-week period after my abdominal surgery.
I also began doing pole classes about 6 weeks out from my last abdominal surgery. The pole classes keep me moving and let me feel some sensuality even through operations and treatments which seem to nullify the sexual side of women going through treatments of cancer.

One of the things that I have become perpetually working on now is my flexibility. I have found that with the surgeries causing scar tissue, radiation and menopause the need to stay flexible is what enables me to have strength.

Continually doing some type of movement has helped me with my strength both physically and mentally. And, I thank Lesley, Sue and Doris at Movements Afoot for my support and invaluable knowledge they always share.

Comments

Movement for Women after Surgeries of Breast and Torso

September 23, 2007 at 6:45 am · Filed under Pilates, Post-rehabilitation, Rehabilitation fitness, abdominals, back pain, back pain relief, cancer, hip pain, injuries, multifidus, pelvic floor, realpeoplepilates, transverse abdominals, wellness and tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

by Lesley Powell, Director of Movements Afoot

One of my top teachers, Doris Pasteleur Hall, had gone through many surgeries for her breast cancer. Doris is very articulate about how her body changed and the process of getting back to shape. I had a woman client with similar surgeries, to the breast and abdominals. She kept getting injured with back, hip and foot pain. I learned a lot from Doris’ experience in how to train clients with similar issues.

Scar tissue and the affects of the drugs, chemo and radiation has affects on the body’s movement. I went back to basics, retraining of the pelvic floor, multifidus and abdominals. I also worked on a gentle range of motion, but I didn’t push range. Remember, when a muscles thinks that it is going to be overstretch, it will contract to protect itself. Scar tissues brings a different quality of tone/flexibility.

Also Doris and those women, who work with a massage therapist specializing in scar tissue, made more progress in fitness and relief from discomfort.

Comments (1)

Older entries »