Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Control, balance, coordination. A deep dive into the control balance exercise. Hi, and welcome to BioPilates Deep Dive. Today, let's explore one of the most emblematic exercises in the advanced repertoire, control balance. This is a demanding exercise, not designed for beginners. It requires a well-prepared body, a strong center, a spine capable of segmental articulation. and an equilibrium that engages the entire nervous system. Control balance is like a final exam, a test of our ability to dissociate without losing organization, to stabilize without stiffness, and to coordinate without dispersion. Its apparent lightness is misleading. Two legs cross gently in space, a pelvis lifted, a precarious balance, and yet that's the whole point. To learn how to move without losing the axis, it all starts with the starting position. I'm lying on my back, in an imprinted position. My pelvis is stable. My lumbar spine is connected to the mat but not pressed down. My legs are parallel, adducted, diagonally extended, as low as I can maintain them while keeping my imprint. My ankles are in plantar flexion. My toes are gently pointed. My arms are extended overhead. Palms facing the sky. This is an engaged posture. It already activates my deep core muscles, transverse abdominis, pelvic floor, multifidus, scapular stabilizers. This position creates a base, a preparatory anchor. It puts my entire body into a state of proprioceptive awareness. Nothing is passive. And at the center of this structure, two discrete but essential muscles are at work, the terrorist major and the terrorist minor. The teres major originates from the posterior aspect of the inferior angle of the scapula and inserts into the humerus. It assists in adduction, medial rotation, and extension of the arm. The teres minor, slightly smaller and located above it, attaches to the posterior scapula and inserts into the greater tubercle. It contributes to lateral rotation and shoulder stabilization. Together, they work in synergy with the rotator cuff to ensure optimal control of the glenohumeral joint. These are control muscles, fine-tuned, subtle, essential. In a position like control balance, with the arms extended far overhead and no support, they become vital for global alignment. Without them, the upper back tenses up, the upper traps take over, the whole balance is lost. Then the movement begins. I inhale. I flex at the hips. I bring my legs toward my torso. Then, with a slow and controlled exhale, I roll my spine off the mat, one vertebra at a time, from coccyx to upper thoracic region. My legs reach over my head. I find myself balanced on my upper back. The weight is supported between my shoulder blades. The neck stays relaxed. The arms extend the line of the center. I pause. I breathe. Then, on another exhale, I extend one leg toward the ceiling as the other gently lowers toward the mat. If possible, I gently grasp the ankle of the lowered leg. I remain. I breathe. And then I switch. One leg lifts, the other lowers, alternating, in slow motion, with control. And this is where the nervous system truly comes into play. Muscular inhibition, the intelligence behind movement. We're used to thinking in terms of muscle activation, what to contract, which muscles to engage. But in an advanced exercise like control balance, it's not only what you activate, but rather what you manage not to activate that defines your success. This phenomenon is known as functional muscular inhibition. In the nervous system, every activation of a muscle group automatically involves the inhibition of its antagonist. For example, if I want to extend the hip with my gluteus maximus, the hip flexors must relax. This reciprocal inhibition helps fluidify motion, reduce unnecessary co-contraction, and optimize neuromuscular efficiency. But control balance takes this even further. It demands active, selective, and precise inhibition, particularly in The quadriceps of the lowering leg to prevent tension. The upper back to avoid upper trap overactivity. The hip flexors of the opposing leg to allow for full extension. This means the central nervous system must finely tune motor neuron excitability. It's an exercise in economy, in precision. And you can only master this through conscious repetition. Each repetition refines the motor pattern. Every well-guided performance strengthens descending inhibitory pathways, improves myelination of the corticospinal tract, and develops a plasticity uniquely shaped by the movement itself. That's why control balance is not just motor. It's neurological. It's an exercise in regulation. in choosing what not to do. This is what defines an advanced practitioner. A beginner activates everything, everywhere, all at once. They fight gravity with every muscle in the body. An advanced mover chooses, I activate here, I release there, I maintain my axis quietly, I let the other leg descend, but I don't lose my core. They sift, they inhibit parasitic motions. They inhibit automatic compensation. They even inhibit the ego, the part that wants to go too fast, too far, too soon. And in this precarious balance, they discover functional silence, that moment when the body is fully engaged yet free of unnecessary tension, where movement becomes effortless but never slack, where every structure does only what is needed. That, to me, is movement intelligence. and that ultimately is the beauty of control balance. Thank you so much for listening to this slightly more technical episode, one that I find deeply revealing. I look forward to seeing you again very soon for another deep dive, where we'll continue exploring the subtle layers of conscious movement in all its anatomical, neurological, and human depth. Take care, and see you in the next episode.