Tag: workout

STEP INTO YOUR POWER

by lebureauetc, posted in neutral pelvis, Pilates, self love, Uncategorized, whole body

This exercise is called ‘running’ on the reformer.  Flipping the camera around you can see how this exercise reflects running, jogging, and/or walking off the reformer.  I loved flipping the camera to highlight this exercise as it shows me standing tall in my body.  It’s not always easy to stand tall especially if you are dealing with and or recovering from an injury.  Believe me, I’ve been there!  Regardless of your story, to practice Pilates, we need to include and honor all of our pieces even if things are not as they used to be, and not leave one piece behind. 

Understanding how to connect and strengthen our pieces as a whole takes time and changes as we change.  Listening, adapting, and continuing to love ourselves through all of our changes will be the best medicine to feel whole, time and time again.  If you are stubborn like me, you may need to experience the ‘dark side’(read back in my blog to understand) for a while, until you decide to wake up and be more present!  

Pilates is in the details and acknowledging all our pieces in the present moment so we can experience the whole and feel our power!!

Therefore, if you are interested in strengthening your ‘core muscles,’ understand that this involves your whole body.  I have found that sometimes in ‘our’ efforts (myself included) to strengthen the ‘core muscles’ we sometimes neglect other parts of our body.  Remember, Pilates is whole body integration. We need to include all of ‘our pieces’ in our practice and not forget or neglect any part!  Pilates teaches us to  initiate our movements from a stable, balanced center, and to never leave any part behind, meaning every piece of us is involved in the movement.

Take ‘running’ on the reformer for example, there is really so much to pay attention to!  From the transition from one heel reaching under the foot bar to the next.

Here are some other things you need to consider…

1 – Are you connecting all of your toes on the foot bar or are your pinky toes missing?

2 – Are you pressing down into the foot bar with strength to feel and activate your hamstrings as you run?

3 – How is your pelvic alignment? are you tucking, arching?   Hopefully you are in neutral!

4 – Are you able to connect the back of your rib cage, shoulder blades, back of skull in and up on the carriage?

5 – How is your neck alignment?  hopefully neutral!

6 – Can you tone the back of your triceps to help you open the collar bone/chest more?

7 – Are you able to sustain your stability in your spine and pelvis as you lower and lift your heels with strength?

8 – Are you able to maintain your push/your strength as you resist the springs and actively under the foot bar one heel at a time?
9 – How are your knees? can you tone and lift your knee caps and quadriceps up with out hyperextending and locking your knees as you run?

10 – How about your breathing?  How is your rhythm?  can you expand your body on your inhales with out loosing your connections and deepen your powerhouse muscles on your exhales?

When you are learning, please be forgiving as it does take time!  With steady practice and attention to your body and ALL your pieces its does start coming together, and you will start to step more and more into your POWER.

check out the song “step into you power” by Ray LaMontagne 

Unlock your hips to find more balance

by lebureauetc, posted in hip hinge, inspirations, neutral pelvis, Pilates, tucking, whole body, YOGA

I believe that we are as strong in our core as much as we are open in our hips.  To find a beautiful posture and superior balance in our bodies, we need both. For, if our hips are stuck tight and bound with no space we will not be able to access and use our strength in our daily functional movements.

2 tools to help you unwind tension in your hips is the hip hinge and finding a neutral pelvis.

When you perform a hip hinge -notice if your back rounds and bends when you hinge. You should instead aim to keep your back long and lifted.    It seems simple to hinge the hips but our hips can hold a lot of tension and sometimes this simple exercise is harder that you may think.

A neutral pelvis is a position where the pelvis is neither too arched, nor too tucked.  For me I sense balance on all my sides of my pelvis and one side is not working more than the other.  

Understanding and executing these 2 actions in our movements will encourage more space and balance in our hips and will help us engage the bottom of our lower powerhouse (aka pelvic floor muscles) that are easily neglected in today’s modern world of sitting too much. 

One scenario of why you may experience a lot of muscular tension in your hips and groin area is possibly because your thigh bones live more forward toward your quadriceps, instead of back toward your hamstrings.  If this is your reality, welcome to the club!  This is not uncommon.  Being more quadricep dominant, usually indicates imbalanced pelvic floor muscles, and weaker hamstrings and gluteal muscles.  When there is an imbalance between front and back bodies, poor balance, especially on one leg is usually a consequence.  Poor balance happens when you are not able to integrate your body as a whole and connect to your midline.  You may still have lots of strength but it is not balanced in your body side to side, front to back, and upper to lower body through your pelvic center!   

To work on opening your hips to connect your upper and lower bodies better and enhance your balance, I recommend practicing your hip hinge, as well as being mindful to connect to a neutral pelvis!  

As you hinge in your hips you can concentrate on drawing the root of your thigh bones back into the back of your hip socket.  When you do  that you should feel your quadriceps soften and find more connection of your gluteals and hamstring muscles.  Maintaining a neutral pelvis where you are not tucking nor arching can help you integrate your whole body as one piece and feel connected on all your sides.  Notice when you stand….do you feel more quadriceps or more hamstrings?  Can you stand and notice both sides?  

I have made a short video on my YOUtube channel to help you unlock your hips, (especially if you are, one of the many, who live more in your quadriceps than your hamstrings)! I demonstrate a hip hinge lying supine, and show you what to watch out for when sustaining a neutral pelvis!   I hope this will be useful for you.

The 3 stretches I demonstrate are called, reclined hand to big toe pose – Supta padangustasana 1,2,3

These 3 stretches, done with neutral pelvis, release the muscles surrounding your pelvis to unlock your hips and therefore create better balance! 

Once you think you found a neutral pelvis, its’ interesting what happens when you move.  remember the pelvis is connected to your lower and upper body , so it is easily pulled around all day!  

It takes time and patience to notice your pelvic tendencies.  Not an easy thing to do if you are always in a hurry.:)

Finding neutral in my pelvis still a mindful practice for me.  Neutral pelvis serves me well in all my activities.  I feel grounded and integrated head to toe and more connected and balanced front to back and side to side.  

Love,

Brooke