KInney Fontecchio Movement/ABsolutions Pilates Studio

Client had expressed how her quads felt off, weak. One knee has been replaced and the other not able to take load without pain when she started. Anyway, this is what I did with her this morning to ‘wake up’ those quads and get building those brain body pathways and get her brain to trust the capability of her quads.

Throwing your shoulders back isn’t opening your chest! I like this safe and focused version of the traditional door stretch. And then let’s take this a bit further into our movement practice.

So think about the chest stretch needed to do Spinal Motions in GYROKINESIS or exercises like Chest Expansion Or Standing Long Back Stretches on the Cadillac. People just might flare the ribs or just wrench the shoulders back and not access all the bone and muscle movement needed.

A reminder that your shoulder girdle is comprised of three sets of bones: scapula ( shoulder blades), clavicle ( collar bones), and the humerus ( the upper arm bone). They all work together in a little dance and respond accordingly depending on what you are doing. So to open the front, the blades in the back must move ( in this case retract), and then the collar bones expand outwardly and externally rotate. Use the idea of these dancing bones. Take note of were there is delay, restriction, or missed timing. Also take note of areas that have more range. Get in your mind’s eye and send focus to the dance and try to find harmony, congruency, and coordination.

On top of thinking about the rhythm of the shoulder girdle bones, I also like to add in the concept of the 5th line. In this case, going from the muscle attachments at the sternum, across the chest, through the shoulder joints, along the upper arm bones, through the elbow joints, along the lower arm bones, through the wrists, then out through the middle fingers. How many times have you seen clients just throw their arms out and wrench them back but nothing changes in the chest? And the chin juts forward? Too many, I’m sure. So imagine those muscles moving and stretching along that 5th Line and all the bones in the shoulder girdle and arms responding. Chest AND arm working in unison to create the expansion.

And then this brings us to a third concept I really like from the Spinal Essentials Series in GYROKINESIS: the idea that the thoracic spine is the root of the arms. Where do your shoulder blades live? On top of the rib cage which attaches to your sternum in the front and the spine on the back in the thoracic area. Look in the mirror and hold you arms up and out to the side and you see how they come out of that thoracic area. I like the idea of the arms having roots. Anyway, just another visual and awareness that may help you or your clients to move the arms and spine with more ease, fluidity, and rhythm.

Open your chest! Pec minor tightness can be a culprit for many things, from rounded shoulders to weakened posterior scapular muscles to numbness and tingling in the upper extremity to neck and shoulder pain. 😩 People will often try to stretch the pec minor without actually achieving movement at the desired location. This can look like thrusting ribs (lengthening abs instead), jutting their neck forward (ouch!) or the arm going back as the humeral head goes forward (lengthening the front of the shoulder joint instead, which often already has excessive stress on it). Prepping the tissue with some release work, shortening the lever, and understanding anatomy can help to isolate the movement. Then, when we’re looking at facilitating soft tissue changes, make sure to hold the stretch long enough, 30-60 seconds, and with enough repeat exposure, a couple of times per day at first, to start the process. The stretch can help you feel the movement and set the stage for the desired motion under load. Making sure you go through the range actively can further support the soft tissue changes for lasting effects, whether that’s through loading the pecs eccentrically (to let your shoulder fall back) or using the posterior scapular retractors concentrically (to pull your scapula back). Active movement is also where we get to dig a little deeper and consider why that muscle was tight to begin with. In this instance, some of the things I’d look at would include: Was the pec minor compensating for a weak pec major or serratus? Was there a shallow or faulty breathing pattern present, causing overuse of accessory breathing muscle like the pec minor? Was there posterior cuff tightness and scapular retractor weakness putting extra strain on anterior tissue? Was there constant gripping in the chest (just like we can constantly grip our jaw, glutes, and pelvic floor)? My bet is that you come across a doorway a time or two during the day, so use it as an awesome opportunity for an easy get-it-done-anywhere exercise, and see what happens. Don’t miss out on our newsletter next week for more helpful get-it-done-anywhere exercises! Comment MORE for the link to sign up

Helping a client rebuild from a knee replacement and another knee that was very glitchy and not able to take load very well and hurt when she started with me. Her goal was to not have to replace that knee as well.

Today we were doing squats at the Swedish bar working through memories of this movement causing pain and the strategies she would use to avoid causing pain in that left knee.

The knee can take the load now without pain but the memories and compensations used for years still linger

Focus on the thoracic spine: breath work, mobility, shoulder girdle work as prep for Spinal Motions and a few other GK exercises. Looking for more shared load of the vertebrae and better segmentation, finding balance so neck and low back aren’t taking the hit

Using the MELT balls and other exercises to wake up arthritic hands, work on thumb joint atrophy, and prepare the grip to do some Fletcher Towel exercises

Using the Tower Set Up to provide a loaded inversion and to provide different input for organization especially related to feelings of constantly tight hamstrings. We didn’t do the Tower exercise but worked on easy back and forth flow of bending and straightening the legs. More like a constant buoyancy instead of dropping into extreme bend and pushing too hard and compensating to get fully straight legs. Several sets of this increasing range and maintaining a smooth transition up and down. It eventually lead to the picture you see which had previously been unachievable with trying to force the legs straight. Her brain and nervous system just needed the load from below, easy ranges to start, and some time to organize.

Tools to awaken the foot to brain connection

Awakening and expanding the back line. Using the Fletcher Towel to stimulate and then provide proprioception

Building Teri’s repertoire on the Cadillac and visiting the tried and true

Margaret’s session. Exercises for arthritic knees and some new upper body and shoulder work