In regards to the more recent blog post on the structures of the classical Pilates system, I'd like to delve a bit deeper into the topic of back extensions. In the Pilates world, there's a lot of debate about what the abdominals should be doing when we work the spine into extension.
What i do notice as i teach, is when we lift up to extension, we seem to have a tendency to pull up in flexion first. This might be because the teacher advises you to lift up the abdominals. I find when we lift the abdominals up, a lot of us are thinking - flexion. Therefore the lower back rounds a bit, and the upper back follows.
Taking this back to one of our first blogs 'Directions of energy" - it's very fitting now. When lifting the abs up to support the curve of the lower back, if you pull your abs up to your lower back, your lower back will inevitably flatten out or not arch as much. Which to be fair, is not effective if we are working towards an extended spinal expression. The direction that's advised to get the right type of support for extensions and not create restriction, is in and UPWARDS. Upwards being towards your head, not the sky or ceiling. This can often be such a strong connection that our front pelvis gently rises off the floor and that is perfectly OK! The body is one complete piece and a strong connection in one area, will definitely tie in with another area. If we work to keep the pelvis down, either, our lift will be super tiny (which is actually fine) or we'd end up compressing our lower backs quite a lot. That's not exactly a bad thing if it doesn't hurt, but for sure, it's less connected and from my understanding, not what Pilates really promotes.
When we begin to lift to extension we can initiate this from various points. We can lead from the crown of the head, we can lead from the chest and also from the pubic bone area. It depends what we would like to get out of it, (or what's going to be best for the body) based on what the body might need to help create balance.
Whatever you choose to initiate with, the end goal is the same, to find a LONG and extended spine, with an evenness to it. Until we reach the advanced movements in the practice all extension work is FOR the upper spine. Something that can happen, is the impression that the upper back is extended, but often it's the lower and mid back doing the work. I've learned that the movement needed to get some kind of extension in the upper back, is actually pretty small. Super isolated and small movements, that for most of us, takes a LOT of concentration. That effort is mostly about making sure the mid and lower back don't take over. This is where we see value in the abdominal support of the lower back, as it acts to prevent an over extension in the lumber spine.
From my experience teaching upper back extensions and practicing it in my OWN body (let me tell you that my upper back is kyphotic, which means a bit like a hunch back position and extensions are always a challenge and require so much attention) i question how many of us can actually extend our upper backs. I'm convinced not everyones back can go into a full extension.
Because i'm slightly rounded forward, even trying to work towards a straight upper back feels like extension, and i guess it actually IS, as it's being pulled the opposite way it sits, which is in flexion. Since i started to look at upper back extensions in this way, it all got that bit easier and nicer to practice. Less range and more focus has done a lot for me. Finding length before lift gives me a real chance to move my back where it struggle most. Maybe my posture when you look at it hasn't changed much, but i don't do pilates for a look, i do it to feel good inside and reduce pain, which is has done, especially for my upper back since working extensions in this way. My upper back isn't one that will back bend fully. But i know i get all the same juicy benefits as one that does as i still move my vertebrae a bit and find space / length. If we work to our maximum effort, we get 100% benefit of that, regardless of the final look of the exercise.
Extensions are really good for us and can be fun too, let's not avoid them, or rush them, let's find space how we can and keep encouraging it as often as we can for our spine health! Let's remember our abdominal connection in an extension is not restrictive, but supportive, use it wisely!!
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