Day 236- Double Leg Pull with Head Down

This exercise is progress the single leg pull.  It requires increased length in the front of the hip, and great stability in the pelvis.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your belly with your legs lengthened long beneath you.  Inhale as you reach your toes away from you, and then exhale as you bend both knees and arc your heels towards the ceiling.  Inhale as you reach your legs away from you and then exhale again as you bend both knees.  Repeat 6-8 times.

Things to think about

Bending both legs increases the chance that your pubic bone will move away from the floor, which will cause you to use the muscles of your low back instead of your hamstrings.  Be sure that as you press your pubic bone into the ground that you are also lengthening the muscular and fascial connections of the front of the hip.

If your hamstrings cramp as you do this exercise stretch the quads and then try the exercise again.

Day 174- Double Bent Leg Stretch with Pelvis on Ball

This exercise is a variation on Joseph Pilates Stomach Series.  The soft ball provides proprioceptive challenge to pelvic stability.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with your head, neck, and shoulders on the ground. Your pelvis is on the soft ball.  Hug both of your knees to your chest for a slight lumbar stretch and then bring them to a tabletop position.  Inhale into the back of your ribs and then exhale as you stretch your legs towards the opposite wall.  Inhale as you bring your knees back to you, and exhale as you lengthen them again.  Repeat this for 8-10 repetitions.

Things to think about

It is hard to maintain axial elongation when the pelvis is elevated on an unstable base.  It is important to remember the breath’s role during this exercise.  Imagine as you are lengthening your legs to the opposite wall your exhale is allowing the diaphragm to release in the opposite direction.  This gives the body length and supports the spine.

Day 140- Bridge with Toe Taps Single Leg Bent

This exercise adds additional hamstring work to the bridge.  It also creates an environment that allows the body to practice pelvic stability.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted into the ground.  Let one knee float into the air so that it is right above the hip.  Inhale into the belly and then exhale as you hollow your abdominals and rock your pelvis toward the belly button.  Continue exhaling as you press the standing leg into the ground to lift the pelvis into the air vertebra by vertebra.  At the top inhale and then exhale as you reach the top toe to the ground and lift it up again.  Repeat this 3-5 times, then inhale and roll down the spine vertebra by vertebra.  Repeat on the other side.

Things to think about

The hamstrings of the standing leg will work really hard during this movement.  If the hamstrings happen to cramp then simply lower the pelvis and reach the cramping leg straight into the air. 

To avoid cramping, initiate the pelvic rock with only the abdominals.

It is also important to keep the pelvis level, often the side of the lifted leg will drop toward the ground.  Be sure to use the standing leg to hold the entire pelvis level in the air.

Day 116- Single Straight Leg Lower

This exercise is intended to challenge the stability of the pelvis by lengthening the lever arm of the moving leg.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back in a tabletop position.  Inhale as you straighten one leg for the ceiling and exhale as you lower that long leg towards the floor.  Just before it touches the floor flex your foot and inhale as you lift the leg again.  Repeat 5 times on each side.

Things to think about

It is very challenging to do this exercise correctly.  Often when first learning this exercise a person recruits the quadriceps and hip flexors so much that they pull the pelvis into an anterior tilt causing extension in the low back, or distress at the sacro-iliac join.  To prevent this it sometimes helps to imagine that the sacrum is glued to the floor.  It also helps to bend the knee slightly to create ease in the front of the hips.  As always you are imagining the ease in the hip socket as you are moving the bones of the leg.

Day 115- Toe Taps from Table Top with Diagonal

This exercise adds the oblique abdominals to this great pelvic stability exercise

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back in a tabletop position. Inhale as you turn your knees to one side and exhale as you top your toes to the ground and lift them back to the twisted tabletop position.  Inhale as you turn your knees to the other side and exhale as you top both toes to the ground with the knees pointing to the side.  Repeat alternating sides 8-10 times

Things to think about

One of the challenges of this exercise is to keep the pelvis from rolling from side to side when you twist your knees.  It is important to think of the thighbones rotating in the socket so that the pelvis can stay stable.

As with all of these exercises, making sure that you can get all of the air out of the lungs on the exhale is also important for the grounding of the ribcage.

Day 114- Toe Taps from Table Top with Double Leg

This exercise is intended to increase the intensity of the abdominal work while maintaining the differentiation of movement from the hip and the pelvis

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your legs in a tabletop position.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lower your legs to tap your toes on the ground and then return them to tabletop.  Inhale in between and then exhale as you repeat the movement.  Repeat 8-10 times

Things to think about

It is important to use the low abdominals to support the pelvis while the lever arm of the legs is lowering. 

Also be sure that as you exhale you are narrowing your ribcage towards the spine so that it is grounded into the mat and allows the muscles of the back to remain soft.

Be sure to maintain the angle at the knees to ensure that the thighs are arcing and not just the lower legs.

Day 112- Single Leg Toe Taps from Table Top

This exercise is intended to challenge the stability of the pelvis while flexing the hips and moving the legs in the sagittal plane.

To this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your legs in a tabletop position.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you arc your thighbone towards the floor so that you can tap your toe and then return it to the tabletop position.  Inhale in tabletop position and then exhale as you lower the opposite leg to the ground.  Repeat this exercise alternating sides 8-10 times.

Things to think about:

It is important to be sure to use the breath to engage the core during this exercise.  Make sure each exhale is executed completely.  This will allow the spine to maintain its length as the thigh is moving in the socket. 

Remember the thigh is moving independently from the pelvis.  It is important to use the abdominals to ground the pelvis as the thigh is arcing away.  If the pelvis is allowed to follow the thigh then some strain in the lower spine can occur.

Day 111- Single Leg Toe Taps on Foam Roller

This exercise increases the abdominal strength necessary to keep the pelvis stabile while flexing the hip. The aid of the foam roller lessens the range of motion while strength is built.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a foam roller. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the foam roller. The foam roller should be perpendicular to your body and the mat. Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you bring your legs to a tabletop position. In this tabletop position inhale to prepare and then exhale as you tap one toe on the foam roller then return the leg back to the tabletop position. Then inhale in tabletop position and then exhale as you tap the other leg on the foam roller. Repeat this exercise alternating sides 8-10 times

Things to think about:
This exercise requires abdominal support to keep the pelvis connected to the ground while moving the leg in the hip socket. On each exhale remember the pelvic floor and lower abdominals which will keep this movement out of your back. Exhale and imagine your spine lengthening as your reach the toe to the log.