Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Hi and welcome to BioPilates Deep Dive. Today we are exploring the twist from the short box series on the reformer, an exercise from the Stott Pilates repertoire that engages the obliques in a seated position. It invites us to distinguish spinal movement from simply moving the shoulders. Reaching far behind you with one arm does not necessarily mean you are rotating more effectively. Our goal? A stable pelvis, a spine that maintains its length, and a well-organized rotation rather than a forced range of motion. Let's get into position. Sit upright on the box with your pelvis and spine in neutral. Keep your weight evenly distributed over both side bones, the bony prominences beneath your buttocks. Your legs are adducted, drawn together, and your feet are securely positioned under the strap. One variation is to bend your knees. and place your feet on the carriage, keeping your legs together. Extend your arms out to the sides, with your palms facing the floor. Stabilize your shoulder blades without squeezing them together or pulling your shoulders forcefully downward. Before you begin, check that the box and carriage are stable and that the strap is secure. Inhale to prepare. Exhale in three counts as you rotate your thorax to the right. On the first count, Find your available range of motion. On the next two counts, maintain your length and gently deepen the rotation, but only if your pelvis remains still and the movement feels comfortable. This is a segmented exhalation, not three bounces or a forceful push into the movement. Inhale to lengthen upward and return to the center. Then repeat to the left, alternating sides, until you have completed five repetitions on each side. Your head follows the movement without turning farther on its own to seek additional range. If you experience pain, stop the exercise. Spinal rotation occurs around a longitudinal axis, but the spine is not a rigid rod that pivots as a single unit. The movement is distributed across several levels. The discs, posterior joints, and ligaments guide and limit this mobility. The orientation of the facet joints contributes in particular to limiting lumbar rotation. The lumbar vertebrae therefore participate in rotation, but their range of motion at each level is small. The thoracic region makes an important contribution, although not all its vertebrae rotate to the same degree. Small amounts of side bending may naturally accompany rotation. These are known as coupled movements. In this exercise, however, we aim to avoid visible side bending, collapsing, or extension that would replace the rotation. When I invite you to imagine a spiral rising from the base of your spine, this is a teaching image. It is not an invitation to force your lower back, nor a claim that each vertebra must begin moving one after another. Think, I organize my movement from my pelvis. Then my thorax rotates. My arms follow. They do not pull. Let's consider our rotation to the right with the pelvis fixed. The left external oblique, formerly known in French as the large oblique, works with the right internal oblique, formerly known as the small oblique. The external oblique rotates the thorax toward the opposite side. Its action is contralateral. The internal oblique rotates it toward its own side. Its action is ipsilateral. To rotate to the left, the pairing is reversed, the right external oblique and the left internal oblique. The different fiber orientations allow their pulling forces to combine and produce rotation in the same direction. Contralateral therefore describes the side of the movement, not the type of contraction. During the phase in which these muscles produce movement by shortening, Their contraction is concentric, but the opposing muscles are not necessarily switched off. Co-activation also contributes to control. As you return, do not simply release everything. Return actively without letting your arms pull you around. The transversus abdominis contributes to tension in the abdominal wall and to lumbopelvic control. The pelvic floor can work in coordination with the abdominals. The erector spinae muscles, meanwhile, help maintain an upright position. We are looking for an appropriate level of support, not a rigidly braced abdomen or a maximally contracted pelvic floor. Let's now take a closer look at two less noticeable muscles, the short rotators or rotatories brevis and the long rotators or rotatories longi. They belong to the transversospinalis group, lie deep to the multifetus, and are particularly well developed in the thoracic region. The short rotators originate from the posterior aspect of the transverse process of a thoracic vertebra. Their fibers run upward and medially to reach their insertion on the lamina and the base of the spinous process of the vertebra immediately above. They therefore span one vertebral level. The long rotators also originate from a transverse process, but they attach to the lamina and the base of the spinous process of the second vertebra above. They span two levels. for example, from T8 to T7 for a short rotator, and from T8 to T6 for a long rotator. Their innervation comes from the medial branches of the posterior rami of the corresponding spinal nerves. And what are their actions? When working on one side, they can contribute to contralateral rotation. The left rotators can therefore contribute to rotation to the right. Why? Because they pull the spinous process of the upper vertebra toward their own side. This process lies behind the vertebral body. Its movement to the left corresponds to rotation of the vertebral body to the right. When both sides work together, they contribute to spinal extension and stabilization. Here, we use this support to remain upright, not to increase the arch in the back. But we should not imagine them as powerful drivers of twisting movement. their small size. limits their mechanical contribution. Research on the short rotators shows a relative abundance of muscle spindles, stretch-sensitive receptors, which supports their proprioceptive role. In other words, they also help inform the nervous system about what is happening locally. We are therefore not trying to isolate them voluntarily. We are looking for precise movement within a coordinated whole. The first option And. is to reverse the breathing pattern. Once you have established good scapular control, inhale during the rotation and exhale as you return. Look for a sense of lengthening without pushing your ribs forward. The second option is to bend the back elbow during the rotation, then extend the arm again as you return. This variation aims to emphasize the work of the middle and lower fibers of the trapezius. Be careful. The elbow follows the thorax. It does not pull it backward. The third option is to use the fitness circle, AR. Place one handle against your ribcage and hold the other handle with the hand on the opposite side. Apply moderate pressure. The goal is to develop a clearer sense of the relationship between your arms, shoulder blades, and thorax and to limit shoulder movement that would substitute for spinal rotation. During your next practice, ask yourself, is my pelvis staying still? Is my spine rotating or just my arms? Can I return with as much control as I had when I started? This is an exploration of mobility supported by stability. Look for a rotation that you can coordinate with your breathing, maintain without tensing up, and move out of without losing your organization. What matters is not only how far you rotate, but how you get there and how you return. Thank you for listening. This has been BioPolati's Deep Dive. Until next time, as we continue to understand movement from the inside out.