Flex, rotate, extend and articulate your spine.

Articulate your spine! How many times have you been asked to do this in a Pilates lesson? If you come to one of mine, probably lots.

The cue, "articulate your spine" is used in the large pelvic tilt exercise and is used to promote movement between each individual vertebra. In a large pelvic tilt you start in the Pilates relaxation position. Firstly you tilt your pelvis so that your lower back moves closer to your mat and your pubic bone rises (a small pelvic tilt). Then leading from your pubic bone you peel your spine from the mat one vertebra at a time, until you reach a bridge position. To come back down, I like to think I am trying to imprint my spine into sand. So to make a really good spine print I have to get each vertebra to touch down individually finishing with my tail bone. Naturally I am engaging my core throughout the whole exercise.

So what do we achieve by articulating our spines? We have lots of muscles in our back and the deep muscles of the back are the target for articulation. We are working the erector spinae group that includes the spinalis, longissimus and iliocostalis. You can feel these muscles as a slight bulge in you back either side of your spine. Deeper than these are the transversospinalis group which includes the semispinalis, multifidus and rotatores. These muscles hold each vertebra to the next in a network of crossed layered muscles. There are also more muscles running between the vertebra, but now we are getting very complicated.

Needless to say, articulating through each vertebra has a great impact on a large number of muscles that you don't always think of. These deep small muscles contain a high density of muscle spindals sending sensory information about movement to the nervous system. Keeping these muscles healthy and active is great for your spinal health.

Next time you are asked to articulate your spine take your time over the movement and really concentrate on the deep spinal muscles.

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