Gentle Hip Mobility
You probably didn’t realise how immobile you are in the hips, until you get stuck into this little beauty of an exercise. You just lie on your back and circle your leg in a clockwise then anti-clockwise direction. Simple, really? What about keeping your pelvis still; your lower back neutral; tension off your neck and shoulders; breathing in the correct sequence. Then to top it all, trying to draw an accurate circle as smoothly as possible, with your knee or extended leg. All of a sudden, we have quite a technical exercise.
Exercise Benefits
Balancing Muscles around Hip
As one leg is moving this requires the muscle of the trunk both superficial (extrinsic) and deep (intrinsic) to engage together to prevent the pelvis ‘wobbling’ and to keep your lower back in neutral. Also, the muscles around the hip joints, once again both superficial and deep, have to work together to produce a smooth circular movement of the leg. Folk coming back from hip operations can find this quite challenging initially, but soon find this is an excellent remedial exercise.
Identifying Poor Core Strength
Sometimes when individuals are struggling to even draw the smallest circle accurately with their ‘gesture leg’ (in Pilates speak). It doesn’t always indicate that the muscle around the hip joint are unbalanced, or are not ‘playing as a team’ to create a circular movement. Research has shown that if the main muscular components of the trunk (abdominals, etc) are not conditioned, or coordinated enough, to stabilise the trunk. Adjoining muscles of the shoulder/neck & hip complex will now join in to aid stability. So if you strengthen the core it frees those muscles, thus allowing a greater range of movement, as they take on more of a mobilising, as opposed to a stabilising, role. If you read my previous Blog ‘The Planks’ you’ll begin to understand how this is important for joint health via ‘Joint Centration.’
Switching on the Core Musculature
Research tells us that the muscles that stabilise the trunk are layered like plywood and we need to ‘stiffen’ them (create trunk stability) around a neutral lower back (Lumbar Spine) to ease a painful back. Initially, that may require low intensity activity. For example, if an individual’s pain threshold is low and the subject is in pain. We need to raise that threshold by introducing movements that don’t create pain, whilst engaging the Trunk muscles; which have evolved to assist each other and don’t contract in isolation. Therefore, this exercise is ideal for pain free engagement of those muscles. Primarily, because of it’s slow controlled nature and the fact that it puts a low loading on the Trunk/Spine. As the lower back tries to stabilise against the momentum of the circling leg.
Research Sources
If you want to ‘melt your head’ with further information on this read: ULTIMATE BACK FITNESS AND PERFORMANCE (Third Edition) Stuart Mcgill, PhD. As I’ve said before, McGill’s got the brain the size of a multi-storey car park and I’ve used his exercise techniques for years with my clients.
Starting Position
Modification 1
There are a few increasingly difficult progressions of this exercise. This version is the most basic and the one I insist my clients ‘nail down’ first to ensure flawless technique before they progress.
Set Up
Notice I’m flat on my back (Supine), legs hip distance apart. My pelvis and spine are in a neutral position (see ‘Ab Prep’). My head is supported with a solid foam block to keep it in line with the spine. Both knees are bent to begin with, with my feet flat on the mat with the toes gently pointed. My arms are in a straight line by my side and weigh heavily on to the mat and my Scapulae (shoulder blades) stabilised.
Let’s Go
You inhale to prepare to move, exhale as you bring your ‘gesture’ leg up in to the table-top position. On your next inhale you move the leg for half a circle, either clockwise, or anti-clockwise, across the midline of the body. On your next exhale you bring the leg away from the midline until you complete the circle, remembering to briefly pause at the top. You perform this 5 times in one direction, then 5 times in the reverse direction.
TOP TIPS
- The lower back, head and spine must be kept in neutral, use a Head block if necessary.
- Diaphragmatic breathing with 3 dimensional expansion of the Rib Cage
- Make sue your shoulders are gently stabilised before commencing this, or any other, Pilates exercise.
- Start of with small circles then build up the range of movement. But only as far as you can keep the Pelvis stable.
- Remember: Inhale for half a circle and Exhale for the remaining half with a brief pause at the top.
- You inhale to lower the gesture leg and, at the same time, prepare to lift the other leg.
- Imagine you’ve a drink balanced on the top of the knee of the non-gesture leg. This helps you to stabilise the Pelvis.
- The hip movement should feel flowing and without restriction. Reduce the range of movement if it doesn’t.