First off this fine Monday morning, some administrative nonsense: I missed you guys this weekend! I had some posts lined up for Thursday and Friday of last week while I was off in Scotland, but Blogger decided to rebel against me and of course, without a computer in sight in scenic Scotland, I was unable to repair the fault! So, SORRY for those of you who stopped by and THANKS for the continual support!
Last weeks' posts' will debut later this week!
*ahem* where were we? Right, now back to our core series!
Today we are going to explore three major points of movement control: shoulder blades, spine and pelvis.
Let's just imagine for a second, for simplicity's sake, a skeleton with two floating shoulder blades, a spine which intersects them and a pelvis to form the tail end.
These are your major points of control for the core. Achieving balance and stability here is your key to intelligent movement through the entire body.
- Shoulder blades
Three words: Grand.Central.Station.
These guys need to be able to transmit the forces moving up, down, in and out of the upper extremity and trunk, much like a train station directing traffic. The shoulder blades are only able to effectively relay this information and muscular force if they are stable and able to glide with freedom in all directions.
The shoulder blades need to sit flat on your ribs and be able to maintain this contact with the back with all arm movements.
Balancing out the muscles around the shoulder blades can help you to assume a taller posture which will scream confidence!
Beginning exercises: mobilize and strengthen your shoulder blades. - Spine
The spine is made up of 33 bones which slide and rotate on one another to allow us to create the beautiful motion that our bodies are capable of.
The spine bones or vertebrae, are surrounded by a deep layer of muscles which create these motions in the spine. Without activation of these deep muscles, our vertebrae move as a result of the push and pull from the larger muscles in our trunk. This creates unnecessary force on the spine and can lead to back injury.
Practice spine movement - Pelvis
The pelvis is an important tool to help understand the movement in the spine. Proper rotation in the pelvis can free up the spine from excessive forces during bending and rotation.
Ideally, the pelvis should sit upright during most activities. Allowing it to sit in this neutral position promotes equal distribution of forces throughout the spine and balances out hip muscle relationships, thus allowing functional muscle activation to take place.
Learn where your pelvis is and what the deep abdominal muscles can do.
Alrighty folks, that's it for me today! Happy Monday to y'all!
Have you guys been having blogger issues lately too!? What are the difficulty you find with core work?
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10 comments:
My main blogger issue is that it won't write my posts for me, dang it!
Thanks for the helpful how-to links and the encouragement to get going on those core exercises!
Rupal, I've read about low back extension exercises in two places for the core. One site says they are the best thing since sliced bread, and the other says they will damage the spine and are a waste of time. I did them a couple of days ago, on a back extension bench. I took it slow and didn't do very many. I was a little sore in a way that felt like I should not do them on the bench. What is your opinion?
Thank you!
My problem with my core is that, apparently, it is out of touch with my brain. Sigh.
I am very excited about this series and appreciate you taking the time to put all of this in writing for us.
Wish I had time to comment, but I'm off to stabilize my scapula. :) Thanks for the links. I will have them all checked out by the end of the day.
(No blogger issues, but feedburner is driving me crazy.)
I overdid my shoulder last week and have paid dearly for it. They're feeling better, thankfully. Will take it slow to get back into routine.
Crabby-- haha, if you figure that out, please let me know!!
Dr J-- ahh, a great question that I will be sure to address in further detail in this series: flexion v. extension exercises. In brief, I am unsure as to what extension exercise you are referring to, but, I would recommend starting slow with something like the pilates swan exercise because extension can cause excessive compression through the spine if not performed correctly. In short, it should not feel like your spine is being crunched together as you extend. I think extension exercises are brilliant. In fact, I believe we don't do them enough. We are ALWAYS in a flexed posture with everyday movements!! It is important not to neglect the back side of the body, and the spine motion you get in this direction is necessary for your body to understand an upright posture! Hope that helps!
BL-- ahh, I love this stuff. and I'm excited about the direction it is going in! This series may take over the blog!
Cammy-- great!!
antgirl-- ahh, you poor thing! Hope it's better real soon!
~rupal
I have never thought to do exercises for my pelvis! I've recently added some for my glute medius though.
Awesome post! I'm really excited about your core series because I suck at core strength and posture. Will go and do the exercises now :-)
Just wanting to say I'm reading this and trying to absorb it :)
I cannot tell you what a great article this is and how passionate I am about core strength. I have always had a tummy problem and only in the last six months have I been running, biking, and doing yoga enough that my core is approaching any kind of strength and now I see such a difference. Everything is easier. Thanks for the great post.
jen
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