Comments on: Pilates and Posture: Kyphosis-Lordisis http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis The Pacific Northwest’s leading STOTT PILATES® Licensed Training Center Wed, 02 May 2012 23:29:59 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jean Leavenworth http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis#comment-73 Jean Leavenworth Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:31:27 +0000 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=453#comment-73 Hi and thanks for your comments! To answer your question, it is difficult to determine what would be the best exercises for you to do for your back pain without knowing more about your history. For some types of back pain, flexion exercises should be avoided. For other back issues, extension exercises should be avoided. However, for almost all types of back issues, you can strengthen the core muscles while maintaining a neutral spine alignment (i.e. neither flexed or extended) and that should improve your core stability. A good core strengthening exercise that works the abdominals while maintaining a neutral pelvis and spine is called the One Knee Fall Out. Lying on your back (place a cushion underneath your head if your neck feels strained without one) with your knees bent focus on breathing deeply into the lower parts of your lungs and into the back of your ribcage. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth with a slightly pursed lip. As you continue to breathe, focus on gently pulling up through the pelvic floor muscles to help engage your transverse abdominal muscles (TA). You should feel a gentle flattening of your lower abdominals and they should be able to stay softly engaged at about a 20% contraction level for several breath cycles. When these muscles are engaged, you should feel no change in the alignment of your pelvis and low back. In other words, we are trying to maintain the neutral alignment of the spine and pelvis so that there <em>should</em> be a space underneath your low back that is not in contact with the mat and the sacrum should feel that it is fully released into the mat rather than in an upwardly tucked position. When you have practiced engaging your pelvic floor and TA, take it a step further by allowing one knee to release out to the side on your exhale breath. Your foot should still remain in contact with the mat, but you will be rolling to the side of your foot as your knee rotates out to the side. Keep your hands on your hip bones and focus on maintaining a level, flat surface across the two hip bones. If you feel your opposite hip bone start to rise up, you have let your knee travel out too far, and/or you have not engaged the abdominal muscles sufficiently to stabilize the pelvis. Keep practicing this movement until you can feel how to stabilize your pelvis and low back against the weight of the leg as it moves away from you. Exhale as the knee travels out and inhale to return the knee. Do 5-10 reps on one side and then switch to the other side. You may find you are better at stabilizing on one side than the other, so keep your range of motion appropriate to what you can stabilize. Ideally, by doing this exercise, we are strengthing the TA, the oblique abdominals and the multifidus muscles of the spine. Hi and thanks for your comments! To answer your question, it is difficult to determine what would be the best exercises for you to do for your back pain without knowing more about your history. For some types of back pain, flexion exercises should be avoided. For other back issues, extension exercises should be avoided. However, for almost all types of back issues, you can strengthen the core muscles while maintaining a neutral spine alignment (i.e. neither flexed or extended) and that should improve your core stability. A good core strengthening exercise that works the abdominals while maintaining a neutral pelvis and spine is called the One Knee Fall Out. Lying on your back (place a cushion underneath your head if your neck feels strained without one) with your knees bent focus on breathing deeply into the lower parts of your lungs and into the back of your ribcage. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth with a slightly pursed lip. As you continue to breathe, focus on gently pulling up through the pelvic floor muscles to help engage your transverse abdominal muscles (TA). You should feel a gentle flattening of your lower abdominals and they should be able to stay softly engaged at about a 20% contraction level for several breath cycles. When these muscles are engaged, you should feel no change in the alignment of your pelvis and low back. In other words, we are trying to maintain the neutral alignment of the spine and pelvis so that there should be a space underneath your low back that is not in contact with the mat and the sacrum should feel that it is fully released into the mat rather than in an upwardly tucked position. When you have practiced engaging your pelvic floor and TA, take it a step further by allowing one knee to release out to the side on your exhale breath. Your foot should still remain in contact with the mat, but you will be rolling to the side of your foot as your knee rotates out to the side. Keep your hands on your hip bones and focus on maintaining a level, flat surface across the two hip bones. If you feel your opposite hip bone start to rise up, you have let your knee travel out too far, and/or you have not engaged the abdominal muscles sufficiently to stabilize the pelvis. Keep practicing this movement until you can feel how to stabilize your pelvis and low back against the weight of the leg as it moves away from you. Exhale as the knee travels out and inhale to return the knee. Do 5-10 reps on one side and then switch to the other side. You may find you are better at stabilizing on one side than the other, so keep your range of motion appropriate to what you can stabilize. Ideally, by doing this exercise, we are strengthing the TA, the oblique abdominals and the multifidus muscles of the spine.

]]> By: Niranjana http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis#comment-72 Niranjana Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:43:29 +0000 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=453#comment-72 Hi, This site is very much useful for me. I suffer from back pain since last 5yrs and tried few ex. to reduce it but had no much effect. I want to know how many stes should i do all these ex.?? Hi,

This site is very much useful for me. I suffer from back pain since last 5yrs and tried few ex. to reduce it but had no much effect.
I want to know how many stes should i do all these ex.??

]]> By: Organizing Mommy http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis#comment-71 Organizing Mommy Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:43:00 +0000 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=453#comment-71 Great ideas. I'll be incorporating them this week. Great ideas. I’ll be incorporating them this week.

]]> By: Pacific NW Pilates Teacher Training and Certification Program : Pacific NW Pilates Blog http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis#comment-70 Pacific NW Pilates Teacher Training and Certification Program : Pacific NW Pilates Blog Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:52:05 +0000 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=453#comment-70 [...] part of the movement. Check out some other great exercises in this article by Leslie Braverman; Pilates and Posture Patricia demonstrates a good neutral spine while squatting to lift a [...] [...] part of the movement. Check out some other great exercises in this article by Leslie Braverman; Pilates and Posture Patricia demonstrates a good neutral spine while squatting to lift a [...]

]]> By: Janet Nordlund http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/tips-for-teachers/pilates-and-posture-kyphosis-lordisis#comment-69 Janet Nordlund Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:31:49 +0000 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=453#comment-69 Thanks, Leslie. This is very helpful and useful. I really appreciate the drawings for the postural positions and the pictures on the exercises. It makes is very easy to follow and then incorporate and apply. Thanks, Leslie. This is very helpful and useful. I really appreciate the drawings for the postural positions and the pictures on the exercises. It makes is very easy to follow and then incorporate and apply.

]]>