This week, we get to ditch being adults and embrace being Pilates babies for tummy time.
Monday, February 20th @ 12PM with Mollie:
There is something both restful and terrifying when that moment in class arrives and the teacher says, “Alright, let’s flip over and lay on our stomachs.” It often shows up after extensive ab work, and while some breathe a sigh of relief, many of us feel a little uncomfortable with our nose buried into the ground. The secret to ‘prone’ or ‘stomach down’ exercises is to keep what you just felt in the stomach series and to let that burning sensation in your belly guide you into swan and single leg kick and even rocking. So yeah, the secret to proper extension (that stuff we do on our stomachs!) is more abs not less. Alight, now that I’ve ruined the one restful moment in mat class, who's looking forward to Monday?!
Lying on our stomachs can be difficult and sometimes painful, particularly in the lumbar spine (low back). Let’s take a look at why.
Below is a sketch of the human spine. This spine is lying on its back. The cervical spine (neck) is at the left and the sacrum/coccyx (tailbone) is at the right. As you can see, the cervical and lumbar spine are in extension, meaning their curves lift against the force of gravity. The masses of the head, rib cage, and pelvis touching the floor support these lifted arches.
Now, take this spine and flip it onto its belly.
A few things change. The extension of the cervical and lumbar spine now face downwards with the force of gravity. We lose the stability of the back of the skull for our cervical spine, trading it for a smashed nose in some cases or an assist from our hands coming under our shoulders. More significantly, however, our lumbar spine loses the support of our sacrum and back (posterior) of the pelvis articulating with the floor. This means that the extended curve of our lumbar spine with its big, very mobile vertebrae are subject to the force of gravity. This has the potential to expose and compress our discs on the anterior (front-facing) side of the lumbar spine while simultaneously jamming the spinous processes (the poky-looking things) together on the posterior side.
Notice that we chose the word potential. It is possible to lie on your stomach without pain or general funkiness and Mollie teaches us how tomorrow!
Have questions non theme related? Wednesday is your opportunity to ask questions or request a needed Classical mat.
Wednesday, February 22nd @ 8AM with Destinie:
Grab Bag! “I saw this Pilates exercise on Instagram. Is it real?” There are many people on social that use “Pilates” liberally when teaching exercises. Want to get an exercise you’ve seen fact-checked or explained? Ask Destinie!
