Stabilize you shoulder girdle

Have you been in a Pilates lesson and been told to "stabilize you shoulder girdle"? What does this really mean?

Well the shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is a verbal reference used to describe the bones of the shoulder. The shoulder bones are amazing because they support all sorts of movement in all directions in the shoulder and the arms. Yet the three bones are only connect to the main boney structure of the body at one point, the top of the sternum (breast bone).

Your shoulder girdle on each side of the body consists of a:

clavicle - also know as the collar bone and you can feel this through your skin along the collar of your shirt. It is the clavicle that connects to the top of the sternum (breast bone).
scapula - you may know this as the shoulder blade. It is a triangular shaped bone that is often visible on the back of the body. It is good to remember the at the scapula is free floating above the bony rib structure.
humerus - the large bone of the upper arm, the connection between the scapula and the humerus make the ball and socket (glenohumeral) joint of the shoulder.

So when in Pilates you are asked to stabilize your shoulders we are asking you to use the muscles of your shoulders to hold the your shoulder structure in place above your torso. As I am sitting at my computer my shoulders are quite still and stable. However if I stop typing I can role my shoulders around and try to make them feel as if they are moving away from my body. In times of physical stress for instance if you are working in an all fours position your shoulders may pull away and apart. When this happens and your teacher asks "stabilize you shoulders" you should try to pull the should back to a neutral "together" position.

The stabilization of the shoulder girdle is another part of Pilates where, (like the pelvis) keeping the shoulder engaged towards the body is harder than allowing them to move.

If you have any should stabilization questions, just see me before or after class or drop me an email.

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