What do I think about when engaging my core?

When I engage my core I think about being a Greek Goddess. In another life at another time maybe, but seriously .............

Before you engage your core you need to know where you bottom ribs are (stop reading and feel them now). You also need to know where you ASIS bones are. They are the nobly bones at the front of your pelvis. (You will now need to stop reading, stand up and feel the front of your pelvis.) On each side of you pelvis there are bone close to the surface of your skin that you can feel with your finger tips. They are your ASIS. Finally you will need to find your tail bone and pubis bone. Again you will need to stand up and centrally at the top of your bottom you should be able to feel your tail bone and at the front of your pelvis centrally you can feel your pubis bone.

To engage my core I stand with my feet hip width apart and my pelvis in a neutral alignment. I take a deep breath in and as I exhale I think about my lower two ribs and my ASIS bones pulling in and towards my tummy button. At the same time I think about my tail bone pulling forward towards my pubis bone. Nothing actually moves, but my deep abdominal muscles contract and my bottom remains soft. I can only describe the feeling as your waist getting slightly thinner.

You do not need to engage your core muscles to 100% of your ability. It is best to practice engaging them around 40%. When you are completing your Pilates work out, your body will tell you when you need to turn your core muscles on a little stronger. Just listen to your body.

Comments

Tight hip flexors from sitting at my computer all day! How to release this feeling at home.

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When I stretch my hip flexor muscles I feel it in the front of my thighs. Is this right?

The short answer is yes! In my first post I talked about the movement of hip flexion and listed the hip flexors. We have already covered the iliopsoas the main flexor of the hip. Today I am going to talk about the rectus femoris muscle which also assist with hip flexion. The rectus femoris is the large muscles at the front of your upper thigh. If you sit down with a tray on your lap, the tray would be resting on your rectus femoris. It is part of the quadriceps, four muscles on the front of the leg between the pelvis and the knee. Rectus femoris is the only quadricep that reaches over the hip joint as it originates on the front of the pelvis. In class I often reference your ASIS ( A nterior S uperior I lliac S pine), you have two and they are the nobly bones you can feel through your skin at the front of your pelvis. Well you also have two AIIS ( A nterior I nferior I lliac S pine) this is another nobly part of the pelvic bon...

My feet are amazing! But how should I stand and why does this matter?

Each of your feet are amazing, I know that I did not appreciate my feet until I had a accident and one of my feet stopped working as well as it used to. My extreme sport of choice was piggy in the middle with my children on the beach, when I kick a stone. This has continued to impact my foot health for over 18 months (well I'm still recovering). Each of your feet are made up of 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. Your feet are the most amazing mobile weight bearing structures around. When anatomists write about the foot, they often refer to the "bony architecture" of the foot. Now start to think about the structure of your foot as "bony architecture" and you can start understanding how you foot is similar to a vaulted church ceiling. Lots of individual bones precisely placed to fit together in an amazing arched structure. What is incredible about the foot is that there are three arches at work. You have t...

Katie Leaver Pilates

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