Day 177- Single Bent Leg Stretch with Pelvis on Foam Roller

This exercise is a variation on Joseph Pilates’ classic Single Bent Leg Stretch.  The foam roller provides the opportunity to lengthen the hip flexors.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a Foam Roller.  Start by lying on your back with your pelvis on the foam roller.  Your legs should be in a tabletop position.  Inhale in to the back of the ribs and then exhale as you extend one leg long towards the floor.  Continue exhaling as you switch your legs, and then inhale into the back of your ribs for two more leg switches.  Repeat for 8-10 repetitions.

Things to think about

This exercise can be varied for different strength levels.  As the leg lowers to the floor the spine and belly muscles are required to work hard to maintain axial length.  Be sure to keep the ribcage connected to the ground as you work so that the spine doesn’t arch.

Imagine reaching through your big toe as you lengthen the leg.  This will aid in the length of the hip flexor, which will in turn keep the pelvis from tilting anteriorly. 

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 110- Thigh Lifts (Bartenieff)

This exercise is intended to teach the body to maintain a stabile pelvis while allowing one leg to lift into the air.  This simulates the leg swing in gait.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted in the ground.  Inhale to prepare and exhale as you lift one leg to a tabletop position.  Inhale as you return that leg to the ground and then exhale as you lift the other leg.  Repeat 8-10 times on alternating sides.

Things to think about:

This exercise is very easy to describe but hard to execute. Often when doing this motion we recruit muscles that aren’t necessary for the movement, which makes it much less efficient. 

The muscle you want to isolate for this thigh lift is the psoas, which attaches to the inner thigh and then runs along the front of the spine to the base of the ribcage.  As you are exhaling imagine lifting your inner thigh.  Also go back to imaging the hip socket movement.  Imagine the femur rolling in the socket simply, and remember that the hip socket is closer to the pubic bone than one might think.  Try to keep muscles to the outside of the hip socket relaxed and easy.

Day 109-Knee Drops (Bartenieff)

This exercise was developed by Irmgard Bartenieff, and is intended to introduce rotation in the low spine, while continuing to differentiate the movement of the legs from movement in the pelvis. 

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.  Inhale as you begin rotating one leg outward allowing it to reach towards the ground.  Continue the inhale as you allow the other leg to follow the first by inwardly rotating at the hip socket.  Continue reaching the knees away from you as you let the pelvis follow the knees.  Imagine the pubic bone is reaching through your kneecaps as you lengthen the opposite side of the waist.  Next you will exhale as you begin the return.  First allow your spine to rotate back to center.  Your pelvis will follow this and finally when you have returned as much as possible you will externally rotate and internally rotate your thighbones respectively to bring the legs back to center.  Repeat this movement 6-8 times on alternating sides.

Things to think about:

While this exercise may not seem very taxing on the body.  It is a complicated combination of movement across several joints.  Often when first trying this exercise people let the legs and pelvis move as one.  This puts undue stress on the rotation forces of the low spine.  If you spread the rotation of this exercise through all of the joints in play, then you will distribute the force of the movement and thus decrease wear and tear on individual joints.

A good way to make sure you are learning this exercise correctly is to break it down into parts.  First allow just one leg to fall, and then follow it by the other leg, then let the pelvis move.  Take a breath and return in the opposite direction.  After doing this a few times it will be easier to find more fluid motion with this exercise 

Day 107- Bent Knee Fallout Single Leg in Table Top on Soft Ball

This exercise increases the difficulty of bent knee fall out by adding the soft ball to the pelvis and taking away the support of the feet on the ground.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with you pelvis on a soft ball and your legs in a tabletop position.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you drop one knee to the side.  Exhale return that knee to the center and then repeat on the opposite side.  Repeat this 8-10 times on each side.

Things to think about:

The soft ball adds several challenges to this exercise.  It requires additional abdominal work to keep the pubic bone from dropping to the ground, but is also requires a deep awareness for the oblique abdominal muscles that will keep the pelvis from rolling off of the ball.  Unfortunately often when put in this precarious position the pelvis recruits every muscle at its disposal to keep the pelvis still.  This includes the muscles that are actually required to allow the legs to move. 

So now what!  Remember the basics.  This exercise is about allowing the leg to move in the hip socket.  Go back to imagining the top of the femur and the easy glide of the ball and socket joint.  Find the deep abdominal muscles to stabilize the pelvis, but do as little work as possible.  Find the ease in the movement.  Feel graceful as you simply exhale and lower your leg to the ground.