Your Core Muscles are like a tin can

Your Core Muscles are like a tin can. How many times have you thought you were engaging your core perfectly and then realized that your bottom was also squeezed tightly. I remember thinking that it was impossible to engage my core without squeezing my bum. However an understanding of what parts of the body make up the core, some brilliant descriptive ques and practice have improved my Pilates and how I am able to control my body.

At the top of our core tin can you will find your diaphragm. I think its most famous for making us hiccup. The bottom of our tin can is made of a large collection of muscles known as the pelvic floor or (Coccygeus, Iliococcygeus, Pubococcygeus and Puborectalis), you will be able to feel these muscles if you need to hold onto a wee. The Multifidus muscles of the spine make up the rear section of our tin can, you use these muscles when you twist you torso to look behind you and flex your torso from side to side (like you would if you were running around pretending to be an airplane). Each side we have external oblique, internal oblique and transversus abdominals, again you can feel these muscles working if you pretend to be an airplane with you arms outstretched and you torso flexing from side to side. Finally the front of our tin can is where we find our rectus abdominus or the muscles you use to do a sit up.

So how does this help me find my core? Its about understanding that you are not just pulling your tummy button towards the spine. You are recruiting all the core muscles in your tin can to create a strong stable basis for your controlled movement. Once you can picture which muscles you want to recruit it becomes very clear that you bottom is not part of your core. For many years I was not aware of this and just understanding where my core muscles are helped me to improve my engagement and my Pilates practice.

Comments

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...

What is my rotator cuff?

We all have two rotator cuffs which are very important to our shoulder operation, one inside each shoulder. Your rotator cuff is made of four muscles that provide joint security (I love this term, a tiny little police force living in your shoulder making sure that the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint remains functioning). Why does your shoulder need a police force? Well the ball and socket joint of the shoulder is a bit rubbish (and also very good *). It is not like a caravan and car ball and socket joint where you have a deep strong connection (a bit like the hip). It is more like a scallop shell and a stick with a bulbus end. It fits ok, but really needs lots of tape and string to keep it together. Your rotator cuff muscles are the police, the tape and the string that hold this amazing joint together. The next part is only for reading if you are super interested in the names and actions of the muscles. The four muscles of ...

Pilates key principles: Breathing

Breathing, or the way you breathe is an important part of the development of your Pilates practice. As a Pilates teacher I meet lots of clients, all at different stages of their Pilates journey. When your journey starts, your focus is on core activation and generally just getting through a lesson trying to understand and translate the instructions from your teacher into movement. Once your core strength begins to develop and all your concentration is not used up in surviving your Pilates class, it is time to start thinking about your breathing. In Pilates we use a technique called lateral breathing. When you take in a breath to power movement we ask that you breathe into your ribs raising your chest up and out. But why? To take a large breath in you can either breathe into your tummy, or breathe into your ribs expanding them up and out. It is very difficult (possibly impossible) to breathe into your tummy and engage your ...

Katie Leaver Pilates

Search This Blog