Category Archives: Core

Centering on Rotator Discs

Posted on September 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

Rotator discs are a great tool to improve dancers’ pirouette form and are also useful for non-dancers to experience postural alignment along a center axis. Although proper alignment prevents injuries and allows our bodies to move most efficiently, it can be challenging to maintain this interlocking jigsaw-like relationship when put in motion. A spinning motion along a central axis using rotator discs can proprioceptively illustrate an understanding of alignment better than words ever could. Your client will either maintain balance and have a conscious experience of a “center” line through the body like that of the lead of a pencil, or she will lose balance and have a warping disjointed experience demonstrating that posture was not maintained.

Rotator discs come in different sizes and are basically two circular plates with ball bearings in the center. You will want to choose a size that is large enough for your client to stand on with both feet side by side—12” is generally good choice. In preparation for this exercise, be sure your client has a clear understanding of proper alignment in a static position and how to engage her core muscles. (See article “The Use of Imagery to Help Your Client Find Lift Through the Core.”) Do not put any person into this exercise who has difficulty balancing on one leg, as the exercise would be too advanced. Make sure to spot your client in case she loses her balance, and allow plenty of floor space around the disc free from any obstacles.

Start your client with one foot on the floor and the other foot placed on the disc. An outside or en dehors turn has the right foot on the disc and requires a counterclockwise turn with the left foot pushing off the floor and then stepping onto the disc. For an inside or en dedans turn to the right, the right foot starts on the disc with the left foot pushing off the floor and turns clockwise. Use the back foot to push off the floor providing momentum for the turn and step quickly onto the disc with both feet.

Applying too much force will throw your client off-balance or increase the revolutions to possibly make your client dizzy. It is best to start with minimal force until your client gets used to how much pressure to apply against the floor. Have your client continue to turn until the disc slows and comes to a stop. Be sure to practice both sides and change directions every few turns. If your client is a dancer, have her practice “spotting” in the turn.

The placement of the arms should be considered in the turn. You can have your client hold her arms by her sides or in front of her as if she is holding a ball. If you have a ball that is the size of a beach ball it can be useful to actually hold the ball at the chest. Note that your client might feel more secure having her arms free when first attempting this exercise in case she loses her balance.

If your client is a dancer, the arm placement can be more complicated with the preparatory position in ballet 3rd position moving to 1st position in the turn. Dancers can sometimes lose the volume of 1st position when turning, so holding the ball can give your client a sense of width between the elbows. Make sure that your client anchors her scapulae as well so that the arms are connected to the back with strength.

inside or en dedans turn to the left

The ball should be placed in the “following” arm, not the lead arm. The arm that follows into the turn is more significant since it provides the “snapping in” effect providing momentum. If this arm is not lively and connected into the back the turn will lose energy and stability. Practicing this movement first with the ball patterns the arm to move toward the midline of the body with volume and proper timing.

Rather than just standing on the rotator disc with both feet flat, dancers can progress to having the working leg in forced arch, coupé and then passé. As the level of difficulty increases, be careful to decrease the torque exerted against the floor or the turn will be difficult to maintain. Parallel and turned out positions are both suitable for practice, but parallel may be preferable for the general public or contemporary dancers.

forced arch foot placement

Rotator discs can effectively teach the concept of center. Your client must stabilize her core (the center of gravity) in addition to holding postural alignment (center axis). When using a rotator disc, the central axis of the body is like the pole in tetherball and the turning action represents the ball going around the pole. It is essential to have the body aligned or the turn will wobble like a tetherball would around a bent pole. Your client receives immediate feedback as to her success and can adjust accordingly. The experience of turning on the rotator disc becomes her instructor and teaches the concept of center better than your explanation ever could.

Help for Sciatic Pain

Posted on June 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

If your client complains of pain shooting down the back of her leg accompanied by tingling, or numbness, she may be experiencing symptoms of sciatica. Sciatica involves a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve. The pain can occur for a variety of reasons, including a herniated disc pressing on the nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord into the lumbar region, or a tight piriformis muscle pressing into the sciatic nerve that feeds down into the leg. Although the symptoms may go away over time, there are exercises and stretches available to help alleviate discomfort.

Pilates exercises that strengthen the core and stabilize the pelvis in neutral placement can decrease the downward pressure on the intervertebral discs. Think about the intervertebral discs like fluffy marshmallows. You can squish them and watch the sides protrude or you can pull your fingers apart to return them to their original shape. Being able to sit tall with muscular support for the low back in a neutral pelvis position gives you better odds at decompressing the irritated nerves if the discs bulge.

Positions requiring spinal flexion can sometimes increase symptoms. Emphasize core strength in neutral pelvis placement found in sitting, standing, side lying, quadruped, or neutral pelvis supine positions such as footwork on the Reformer. Prolonged standing or sitting can also increase symptoms, so try not to stay in one position too long. Be sure that your client understands how to activate the pelvic floor, transversus abdominis and lumbar multifidi. Most people have never consciously tried to contract these muscles, and need to first find them in order to activate them for pelvic stabilization.

If your client is not used to sitting up tall, activating postural muscles can cause fatigue. When her back gets tired, make sure she reaches over to grab her ankles and takes a few deep breaths to relieve any tension created in the back to prevent muscle spasms. (See post The Use of Imagery to Help Your Client Find Lift Through the Core.) Sitting in a chair with good back support can also help.

If sciatica symptoms are present when getting out of the car, you can suggest trying a towel “tootsie roll.” Fold a small bath towel in half lengthwise and roll it up as you would a yoga mat into a tootsie roll shape. Place the towel support at the crease of the car seat to prevent the pelvis from shifting out of neutral into a posterior tilt. This roll can also be placed on a chair for additional support. Be sure that your client understands that the towel tootsie roll is used ONLY at the base of the sacrum (where the crease of the seat and backrest meet) and NOT to be placed at the lumbar spine. The towel’s purpose is to give the pelvis a feeling of rocket boosters at the base of the pelvis shifting the weight slightly forward on the ischial tuberosities, not to force more curve in the low back.

Tightness in the piriformis muscle can also cause sciatic pain since the pathway from the origin and insertion of the muscle crosses over the sciatic nerve. Improving flexibility through regular stretching may also help relieve sciatic symptoms. The pretzel stretch is useful for stretching the piriformis and can be performed with modifications.

Directions for the Pretzel Stretch:

Lie on your back with bent knees with both feet on the floor. Place your right ankle over the left knee and clasp the back of the left thigh with both hands and pull the left thigh toward the chest. Keeping the left thigh toward the chest, inhale and push the left thigh away from the chest while simultaneously pulling the clasped hands behind the thigh toward you. The leg doesn’t go anywhere, but muscle tension is created. Exhale releasing this muscle tension and pull the left leg closer to the chest. As you do the above, it is very important to keep the sitbones (ischial tuberosities) reaching toward the floor and try to maintain the lumbar curve found in neutral pelvis. This “sitting” toward the floor feeling creates opposition in the stretch providing a better pull. You can also rock the stretch slightly from side to side. Hold the stretch for around one minute and then repeat it to the opposite side. Sitting in a chair can modify this exercise for those unable to stretch on the floor with the emphasis placed on sending the tailbone back and lifting the chest up and forward.

Although some clients will need to see a doctor for their sciatic symptoms, the improved core strength and flexibility provided by Pilates exercises may decrease sciatic discomfort. As we are not stationary beings, understanding how to stabilize the core as we move through space pursuing our daily activities can help prevent aggravation. With the proper knowledge and consistently applied tools, your client can self-correct if she slips into old habits. Although exercise alone may not alleviate sciatic symptoms, the pain experienced by sciatica is often a great motivator for even the most committed couch potato to give it a try.

The Use of Imagery to Help Your Client Find Lift Through the Core

Posted on June 10, 2009 | 2 comments

Many clients struggle with accessing the muscles necessary for core engagement and postural alignment. The use of imagery or metaphors can help your client find the proper form. Instead of taking a client through the specific steps of muscular activation, try suggesting that your client concentrate on images, such as a diamond, marble or golf ball, for example. You can easily refer to these chosen images later and your meaning will be understood without excessive verbiage.

To begin, have the client sit on a chair in a neutral pelvis position with weight slightly forward on the ischial tuberosities (sitbones) and the weight solidly on the feet. Ask your client to find the feeling of being a chair with its weight distributed equally between the sit bones and the feet as a chair would have four points of equal contact against the floor. Then suggest that your client imagine that an arrow has been shot sideways (coronal plane) through the pelvis and another one from front to back (sagittal plane) about 2-3 inches below the navel (umbillicus). Where those arrows intersect in the center, ask your client to visualize a diamond as if it were cradled and held up between prongs like in a ring. Keep the diamond lifted and suspended from all sides.

Then have the client lift the chest away from the pelvis and notice the space where her ribs meet at the bottom of her breastbone (sternum) at the xiphoid process. Ask her to visualize a marble has been inserted here and to give it a squeeze, pulling it up off the diamond below. Finally, suggest that your client continue to lengthen up the spine to where the bottom of the ears connect to the neck lifting her head as if it were a golf ball suspended on a tee. Tell her to breathe expansively through the chest and continue to lift her diamond, marble, and golf ball away from each other. Ask your client to release any excess tension so that she could hold the lifted position for an extended period of time. Remain in this position several (costal) breath cycles and then have her reach toward the floor to relax the back.

Finding lift through the core can be a challenge for many clients, but using imagery can help your client “see” what should happen and find the proper form.

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Posted in Core, Imagery, Posture