Objective:
We are exploring the recruitment of the core musculature for stabilizing the spine and pelvis. Last month we were back to the basics of core integration. This month we will begin exploring subtle imbalances of strength, flexibility or both side to side in the core musculature, using the foam roller as a tool for feedback.
Exercise:
- Lie lengthwise on the foam roller. Place arms across the chest or hands on thighs.
- Do a slow, controlled sit-up, curling up from the head as far forward as you can with the chest and ribs. When the spine can bend no more, anchor your feet, engage the front of your hips to tilt your pelvis forward and bring yourself the rest of the way into a full sit-up. Your goal is to do this slowly and at a constant speed without jerks or changes in momentum.
- Reverse the order, letting your pelvis drop back, chin to the chest, and then uncurling the spine, one vertebra at a time.
- As you do the movement, use the tactile feedback of the roller against your spine to notice if you are pulled toward one side or another. Does your pelvis shift to the right while your shoulders roll down to the left?
- You will develop strength in the curl up, but you will also be using the exercise to find imbalances or patterns of habitual posture deviations.
- You may notice that the first few are difficult at a certain position in the curl up where your spine is stiff or there is an imbalance that shifts you off to one side or the other. Explore the smaller motion where the imbalance happens and see what opens up.
- Repeat 10-15 times for two sets.
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Elizabeth Towe is a runner and a cyclist and the owner of Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro. She graduated from East Carolina with a degree in exercise and sports science and has been personal training for over 20 years. Her ultimate goal for all of her clients is to help them realize and achieve the optimal quality in their life – and to remember to have fun doing it.
