Please go to Session 16/17 in your Course Packet and follow along. Pause the video to review the question and your answer as we progress through each question.
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Video & Article
Now watch the following Session Video and read the accompanying article below to hone your eye for postural issues in your clients and how you can set them up for movement. Also, consider how you can keep them stable and aligned in the torso and pelvis as they move freely through the limbs, both in supine and side lying.
Take note of the typical movement compensations that Casey and Jen show. These will happen with most clients as they start to move. Experiment with your own clients with the propping techniques that Casey has introduced. See (and ask your clients) what the difference in quality of movement is with and without the props.
CORE ACTIVATION / THE PSOAS MAJOR
by Jennifer Gianni
The psoas is a much-talked-about muscle in the studio these days. Up until a few years ago, you didn’t hear much about it and not many people were recognizing it as a core structure. Like a lot of muscles in our body, the psoas has different actions and jobs depending on what part is working and what position the body is in. (Not everyone sees it this way. Some see the psoas as a single muscle that does a single job.) The psoas is an interesting muscle to read. It creates a deep bilateral-ness in the body, creating independence in the sides, and it connects our torso to our legs. In gait, it is interesting and beneficial to think of your legs starting and moving from T12. This creates a hollowness and easiness of the legs.
For most people, there will be a very active and then a less active or lazy side of the psoas. Re-educating and down-training the active “I can do everything” side of the psoas, while at the same time educating and bringing into action the “couch potato” side of the psoas, is a challenge!
The psoas starts at the T12 vertebra and disc and attaches downward to L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5, and inserts into the lesser trochanter of the femur head. The most inner/medial fibers of the psoas (closest to the spine) are core structures and also create extension in L4/L5. The outer/lateral fibers of the psoas are superficial/global muscles that actually create flexion in T12/L1. (There is also some disagreement on this point.)
There is no disagreement that the psoas is a hip flexor. After L5, the psoas goes down the front of the hip and blends with the iliacus muscle on the inside of the ilium bone, and connects to the lesser trochanter of the femur bone. This lower part of the muscle is referred to as the iliopsoas and is a superficial/global muscle. The iliopsoas is a deep hip flexor and can be overpowered by the more superficial hip flexors like the rectus femoris. When this happens, the iliopsoas can become weak and tight and needs to be actually strengthened, not stretched! To work the iliopsoas and not just the global hip flexors, you must work from a 90-degree flexion of the hip and above with a neutral spine and pelvis.
Here is a easy exercise you can teach your clients that they can do at home.
• Have them sit on a stool so their knees are in line with their hips and the knees are stacked over the ankles.
• Have a full foam roller between them and the wall.
• Have them find their neutral anchors in the pelvis and spine against the roller. No need to have the back of the head touch if it doesn’t go there easily.
• Inhale to set the posture and to lengthen the curves of the spine.
• Exhale and have them lift the knee towards the chest (this will be small) without losing the alignment in the pelvis or torso. Inhale at the top again to prepare.
• Exhale to slowly decelerate it down without losing your position against the foam roller.
• Do 3 to 4 times on each side.
Most people will have one side that has no problem, and the opposite side will feel like it has no idea how to accomplish the movement. Keep encouraging them to be patient and consistent!
Make sure to initial and date that you have completed Session 17 in your Master Log.