When reflecting on your day to day lifestyle I think it is fair to say that the majority of us don’t really MOVE .. not REEEALLY!
Let me explain..
Our spines are designed to flex, extend, rotate and side bend. Our joints are designed to articulate and move (some more than others) we have muscles and tissues that are designed to be worked and lengthened..
I’m going to say that classic cheesy phrase now.. – ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’! But it’s true..!
We rarely move to our end range in our daily lives and if we don’t stretch and move ourselves beyond our ‘normal’ parameters our bodies will only get tighter and more bound and we will be in danger of losing that freedom of movement almost completely. Sections of the spine can get locked, muscles and tissues can get stuck and joints can get very stiff. The less we move, the less we are able to move…
Here are a series of simple spinal movements, that if done regularly (i.e. every day..commit to your body) your range of motion will be maintained, if not increased..
If this isn’t incentive to keep up your Pilates practice I don’t know what is!
Spinal movement- A) Flexion & Extension
Hands onto the thighs, slide the hands down to the knees.- round the spine. Deepen the curve by pulling the tummy and the ribs back. Then draw the hands back up the thighs to the hips and lift the sternum up to gently arch the upper back, look up. Repeat x 4
B) Rotation
Twist the torso to the right (can place the hands onto the arm of the chair or to the side of the right thigh) Repeat to left x 4
C) Rotation and Flexion
Same as above and then round the spine, let the head drop Repeat x 4 both ways
D) Side Flexion
Lift up the right arm above the head and lean towards the left keeping the weight the same in both hips. X 4 both ways
Stuck within your constraints...Find the freedom to move
"You’re as young as your spine is flexible"
– a very wise man
