International Trunk Training
Aquaman
This ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the hips and shoulders. Although performed prone, we are still looking for length and maximum muscular activity to protect the back. This pose is hugely beneficial for increasing trunk stability, communication between the anterior and posterior chains, developing joint congruency in the lumbar spine and shoulders, and fostering better overall communication to the posterior chain. This pose is one of the most basic cross body communication poses.
Focus; actively lengthening the spine
Secondary Focus; fostering cross body communication along the posterior and anterior chains
Tertiary Focus; maintaining abdominal contraction with hip and shoulder extension
Quarternary Focus; maintaining contraction in the quads while extending hips using glutes and hamstrings (NOT BACK)
Cuing;
This is the first single arm or leg posture in our standard ITT progression. For this example, we will use the right arm and left leg as the raised limbs, the left arm and right leg are to remain engaged in the floor, pushing into the ground to resist twisting of the trunk and help maintain trunk activity.
Begin prone, palms flat on the ground, arms extended overhead on the floor, middle fingers pointing forward, hands shoulder width, arms straight, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, as if allowing a ruler to be slid between your navel and the floor, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to over arch or collapse on itself. Other cues that have proven effective for activation of the abdominals to protect the lumbar spine; imagine picking up a blueberry or marble with your belly button, try rounding your lumbar up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to press the hips and ribs into the floor. Even though we are raising one arm and the opposite leg, maintain even pressure into the floor on the fronts of both hips, and on both sides of the rib cage. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Raise your left knee off of the floor while maintaining contact with the toes, straightening your leg by squeezing the quads. The right leg is to remain pressing into the ground.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones into the floor, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads in the left leg to maintain it’s straightness.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or directly down under your head, the neck remaining neutral. In either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
Seeking maximal length, keeping all of the above synergies active, slightly raise your left leg and toes off of the floor while simultaneously raising your right hand and arm slightly off of the floor. The left arm is to remain pushing into the ground. Height is NOT the goal, rather, seek length from your right finger tips to the left heel.
If you are feeling this pose in your lumbar spine, gently exit the pose and work to re-engage your abdominals as above. If there is still discomfort in the lumbar spine, there is most likely a dysfunction in the muscular communication in your trunk. Immediately seek an MsE™ to help you!
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the arm and leg in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until they are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Look, up in the sky!
SUPERMAN
This ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the hips and shoulders. Although performed prone, we are still looking for length and maximum muscular activity to protect the back. This pose is hugely beneficial for increasing trunk stability, communication between the anterior and posterior chains, developing joint congruency in the lumbar spine and shoulders, and fostering better overall communication to the posterior chain.
Focus; actively lengthening the spine
Secondary Focus; maintaining abdominal contraction with hip and shoulder extension
Tertiary Focus; maintaining contraction in the quads while extending hips using glutes and hamstrings (NOT BACK)
Cuing;
Begin prone, palms flat on the ground, arms extended overhead on the floor, middle fingers pointing forward, hands shoulder width, arms straight, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, as if allowing a ruler to be slid between your navel and the floor, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to over arch or collapse on itself. Other cues that have proven effective for activation of the abdominals to protect the lumbar spine; imagine picking up a blueberry or marble with your belly button, try rounding your lumbar up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to press the hips and ribs into the floor. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Raise your knees off of the floor while maintaining contact with the toes, straightening your legs by squeezing the quads.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones into the floor, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or directly down under your head, the neck remaining neutral. In either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
Seeking maximal length, keeping all of the above synergies active, slightly raise your legs and toes off of the floor while simultaneously raising your hands and arms slightly off of the floor. Height is NOT the goal, rather, seek length.
If you are feeling this pose in your lumbar spine, gently exit the pose and work to re-engage your abdominals as above. If there is still discomfort in the lumbar spine, there is most likely a dysfunction in the muscular communication in your trunk. Immediately seek an MsE™ to help you!
There will may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the arms and legs in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until they are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Woof, here we go;
Downward Dog
This is the first of our ITT postural holds that branch out of the foundational level into the first level. This pose is heavily in the BLaCK modality, as it is an incredible pose for creating and maintaining length of the posterior chain while also addressing shoulder capsule ROM. An incredibly beneficial hold in any MsE™ program, it is a foundation for several more complex ITT holds and often is utilized as a transitional pose during active ITT series. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing shoulder strength and flexibility, communication to the anterior chain, and functional posterior chain ROM.
Focus; lengthening of the posterior chain from thoracic spine to toes
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity with hip retraction and heel extension and arms extended overhead
Tertiary Focus; shoulder stability
Quaternary Focus; becoming more comfortable while inverted
Cuing;
The set up for downward dog is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Palms flat on the ground, shoulder width apart, prone, with hands and feet the only body parts contacting the ground, middle fingers pointing forward, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to sag toward the floor, but also not rounding it up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the hands, paying special attention to the insides of the hands, pulling the floor towards your feet without changing the above position, as if trying to pull the floor toward your toes and scooting the floor toward your hands with the great toes. Simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the hands AND the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the pose. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips.
Retract your hips, pushing the pelvis toward the sky and driving the heels toward the floor. Everything above is to remain engaged! Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs. Continually seek the above foot and hand engagement with the ground. The heels may contact the floor, but do not worry if they don’t yet, this may come with time. Continue to pull your ribs toward your toes without moving your hands or feet. This may mean your chest ends up significantly closer to your feet than your hands, extending the shoulder capsule and arching the back. If this can be done without pain, and while maintaining all of the above synergies, do it!
The eyes can be focused either at the ground between the hands, or back toward the toes, the neck remaining neutral, in either case, feeling maximal length from your coccyx to the crown of your head.
There will probably be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
HIGH PLANK
This cornerstone ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the wrists and ankles. This is one of the most important holds to be mastered in any MsE™ program, as it is a foundation for many of the more complex ITT holds and active ITT movements. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing wrist strength and flexibility, shoulder stability, trunk stability, and overall communication to the anterior chain.
Focus; postural stability through activation of the abdominals
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity with hip and heel extension
Tertiary Focus; shoulder stability
Quaternary Focus; wrist strength and flexibility
Cuing;
The set up for high plank is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Palms flat on the ground, prone, with hands and feet the only body parts contacting the ground, middle fingers pointing forward, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to sag toward the floor, but also not rounding it up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the hands, paying special attention to the insides of the hands, pulling the floor towards your feet without changing the above position, as if trying to pull the floor toward your toes and scooting the floor toward your hands with the great toes. Simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the hands AND the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the pose. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones low, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or round or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs. Continually seek the above foot and hand engagement with the ground.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or slightly forward of the hands, the neck remaining neutral, in either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
There will probably be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
TABLE
This cornerstone ITT postural hold contains a healthy dose of BLaCK for the wrists, shoulders, and hips. This is one of the most important holds to be mastered in any MsE™ program, as it is a foundation for many of the more complex ITT holds and active ITT movements. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing wrist strength and flexibility, shoulder mobility and stability, trunk stability, and communication to the posterior chain.
Focus; hip extension
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity through hip extension
Tertiary Focus; shoulder mobility
Quaternary Focus; wrist strength and flexibility
Cuing;
The set up for table is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Sitting tall on the ground with feet hip width and flat on the floor, toes pointing away from the buttocks, parallel to each other. Bring your hands, palms down, onto the floor behind you, arms straight. Your middle fingers should be pointing toward your heels, hands placed shoulder width apart and close enough for your index fingers to barely touch your glutes. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the feet, pulling the floor towards your buttocks without moving your feet, as if pushing the heels into the back of a shoe or boot, simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the raising into and lowering out of the table. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Engage the floor laterally with the hands also by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic exactly as with the feet.
Pushing the great thumbs into the floor, feeling the pressure through the inside of both feet and hands, begin engaging the floor; ripping the ground in half with feet and hands, more weight in the feet through the heels than in the great toes. Begin also driving the heels more aggressively into the floor, thereby slowly raising your hips as high up off the floor as possible while maintaining abdominal activity.
At full hip extension, effort to find a cramp in the hamstring and/or glutes, contract both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones high, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Continually seek the above foot engagement with the ground.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
L-SIT
This relatively simple active ITT movement combines a healthy dose of BLaCK. There are several ways to vary this base movement. This is one of the first transitional movements to be mastered in many MsE™ programs, especially ones designed to specifically address posture, abdominal/trunk strength, and back or hip dysfunction. This move is hugely beneficial to increasing joint congruency of the spine, but should not be attempted by people with back pain until they display adequate posterior chain flexibility as well as hip and abdominal strength.
Focus; abdominal activation combined with hip mobility
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity through hip retraction and posterior chain lengthening
Tertiary Focus; maintaining length through the entire spine, but especially the lumbar spine, while operating the hip joints
Quaternary Focus; increasing neuromuscular communication to achieve safe hip hinge
Cuing;
Lie supine with arms overhead; entire thoracic spine, arms, hands, and legs flat on the floor, feet in dorsiflexion with toes pointing straight up, neck relaxed, head resting on floor.
With arms gently reaching overhead, maximizing the distance from chest to fingertips, pull the scapulae gently together and away from the neck, maintaining a small distance between lumbar arch and floor.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, pushing the buttocks into the floor. Pay special attention to maintaining lumbar curve, not overarching or rounding, and keeping rib cage up, chest proud while continuing to reach arms overhead.
While not allowing your posture to change, dorsiflex the feet, raising the entire trunk, head, and upper limbs as one unit, maintaining maximal length from hips to fingertips through the entire motion. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips, keeping the dorsiflexion in the feet, toes pointing straight up, maintaining maximal length from hips to heels. Raise your trunk until sitting straight upright, trunk perpendicular to the floor, legs flat on the floor, arms reaching directly overhead without shrugging the shoulders, keeping the scapulae pulling down away from the ears and toward each other.
At full hip contraction, effort to maintain the focus on maintaining postural integrity, lengthening the hamstrings and entire posterior chain, keeping your feet slightly wider than the hips, and the knees in line with the hips, NO WIDER.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the trunk in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire trunk and upper limbs are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Reverse Crunch
This relatively simple active ITT movement is the foundation of trunk strength and stability. There are dozens of ways to vary this base movement. This is one of the first movements to be mastered in many MsE™ programs, especially ones designed to specifically address posture, abdominal/trunk strength, and back or hip pain/dysfunction.
Focus; lower abdominal activation to support lumbar stability
Secondary Focus; maintaining abdominal activity and ideal hip position through hip retraction
Tertiary Focus; maintaining length through the entire spine, but especially the lumbar spine, while operating the hip joints
Quarternary Focus; maintaining ideal knee and foot position and path while operating the hip joints
Cuing;
Lie supine with entire thoracic and lumbar spine, palms, and feet flat on the floor, neck relaxed, head resting on floor arms gently reaching away from the trunk at roughly 45*, maximizing the distance from ear to fingertips, pulling the scapulae gently together and away from the neck.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width approximately one half of a foot length from buttocks, knees slightly narrower than feet while remaining apart from each other.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, pushing the vertebrae into the floor. Give special notice to the lower abdominals, roughly an inch and a half below the navel, creating bracing there as if pushing out on a belt buckle, or trying to push into a pair of jeans that are a bit too snug. This is similar to a reverse Kegel exercise.
While not allowing your spine to lessen it’s pressure into the floor, dorsiflex the feet, raising the forefoot and toes off of the floor while maintaining contact with the heels. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Slowly begin to raise your feet off of the floor, not allowing them to get closer than hip width to each other, and bring your knees toward your rib-cage, raising just the lowest portion of the coccyx off of the floor, tilting your pelvis up and toward your rib-cage slightly.
At full hip contraction, effort to maintain the focus on the lowest portion of your abdominals, keeping your feet slightly wider than the hips, and the knees in line with the hips, NO WIDER.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the feet in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire spine is again flat on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended.
Bridge
This relatively simple ITT pose is a cornerstone of any program. There are dozens of ways to vary this base posture. This is one of the first poses to be mastered in any MsE™ program.
Focus; hip extension using hamstrings and gluteus maximus while maintaining abdominal activity and perfect posture
Secondary Focus; maintaining safe knee position through hip extension through actively abducting lower limbs
Tertiary Focus; maintaining ideal foot pressure and placement through internal rotation of the femur
Cuing;
Lie supine with entire thoracic and lumbar spine, palms, and feet flat on the floor, neck relaxed, head resting on floor
arms gently reaching away from the trunk at roughly 45*, maximizing the distance from ear to fingertips, pulling the scapulae gently together and away from the neck.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width approximately one half of a foot length from buttocks, knees slightly narrower than feet while remaining apart from each other.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch.
Begin to engage the floor with the feet, pulling the floor towards your buttocks without moving your feet, as if pushing the heels into the back of a shoe or boot, simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the raising into and lowering out of the bridge. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower than your hips.
Slowly begin raising the tailbone off the floor, keeping the lumbar and thoracic spine pushing into the floor, lift one vertebrae of the lumbar spine at a time, following the tailbone, keeping your ribs as far below the hips as possible by keeping the abdominals contracted, all the way through full hip extension at which point the lower ribs will be off the floor
At full hip extension, effort to find a cramp in the hamstring, contract both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones high, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Continually seek the foot engagement with the ground.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, one vertebrae at a time, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire spine is again flat on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended.
Aquaman
This ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the hips and shoulders. Although performed prone, we are still looking for length and maximum muscular activity to protect the back. This pose is hugely beneficial for increasing trunk stability, communication between the anterior and posterior chains, developing joint congruency in the lumbar spine and shoulders, and fostering better overall communication to the posterior chain. This pose is one of the most basic cross body communication poses.
Focus; actively lengthening the spine
Secondary Focus; fostering cross body communication along the posterior and anterior chains
Tertiary Focus; maintaining abdominal contraction with hip and shoulder extension
Quarternary Focus; maintaining contraction in the quads while extending hips using glutes and hamstrings (NOT BACK)
Cuing;
This is the first single arm or leg posture in our standard ITT progression. For this example, we will use the right arm and left leg as the raised limbs, the left arm and right leg are to remain engaged in the floor, pushing into the ground to resist twisting of the trunk and help maintain trunk activity.
Begin prone, palms flat on the ground, arms extended overhead on the floor, middle fingers pointing forward, hands shoulder width, arms straight, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, as if allowing a ruler to be slid between your navel and the floor, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to over arch or collapse on itself. Other cues that have proven effective for activation of the abdominals to protect the lumbar spine; imagine picking up a blueberry or marble with your belly button, try rounding your lumbar up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to press the hips and ribs into the floor. Even though we are raising one arm and the opposite leg, maintain even pressure into the floor on the fronts of both hips, and on both sides of the rib cage. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Raise your left knee off of the floor while maintaining contact with the toes, straightening your leg by squeezing the quads. The right leg is to remain pressing into the ground.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones into the floor, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads in the left leg to maintain it’s straightness.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or directly down under your head, the neck remaining neutral. In either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
Seeking maximal length, keeping all of the above synergies active, slightly raise your left leg and toes off of the floor while simultaneously raising your right hand and arm slightly off of the floor. The left arm is to remain pushing into the ground. Height is NOT the goal, rather, seek length from your right finger tips to the left heel.
If you are feeling this pose in your lumbar spine, gently exit the pose and work to re-engage your abdominals as above. If there is still discomfort in the lumbar spine, there is most likely a dysfunction in the muscular communication in your trunk. Immediately seek an MsE™ to help you!
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the arm and leg in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until they are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Look, up in the sky!
SUPERMAN
This ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the hips and shoulders. Although performed prone, we are still looking for length and maximum muscular activity to protect the back. This pose is hugely beneficial for increasing trunk stability, communication between the anterior and posterior chains, developing joint congruency in the lumbar spine and shoulders, and fostering better overall communication to the posterior chain.
Focus; actively lengthening the spine
Secondary Focus; maintaining abdominal contraction with hip and shoulder extension
Tertiary Focus; maintaining contraction in the quads while extending hips using glutes and hamstrings (NOT BACK)
Cuing;
Begin prone, palms flat on the ground, arms extended overhead on the floor, middle fingers pointing forward, hands shoulder width, arms straight, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, as if allowing a ruler to be slid between your navel and the floor, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to over arch or collapse on itself. Other cues that have proven effective for activation of the abdominals to protect the lumbar spine; imagine picking up a blueberry or marble with your belly button, try rounding your lumbar up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to press the hips and ribs into the floor. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Raise your knees off of the floor while maintaining contact with the toes, straightening your legs by squeezing the quads.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones into the floor, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or directly down under your head, the neck remaining neutral. In either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
Seeking maximal length, keeping all of the above synergies active, slightly raise your legs and toes off of the floor while simultaneously raising your hands and arms slightly off of the floor. Height is NOT the goal, rather, seek length.
If you are feeling this pose in your lumbar spine, gently exit the pose and work to re-engage your abdominals as above. If there is still discomfort in the lumbar spine, there is most likely a dysfunction in the muscular communication in your trunk. Immediately seek an MsE™ to help you!
There will may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the arms and legs in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until they are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Woof, here we go;
Downward Dog
This is the first of our ITT postural holds that branch out of the foundational level into the first level. This pose is heavily in the BLaCK modality, as it is an incredible pose for creating and maintaining length of the posterior chain while also addressing shoulder capsule ROM. An incredibly beneficial hold in any MsE™ program, it is a foundation for several more complex ITT holds and often is utilized as a transitional pose during active ITT series. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing shoulder strength and flexibility, communication to the anterior chain, and functional posterior chain ROM.
Focus; lengthening of the posterior chain from thoracic spine to toes
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity with hip retraction and heel extension and arms extended overhead
Tertiary Focus; shoulder stability
Quaternary Focus; becoming more comfortable while inverted
Cuing;
The set up for downward dog is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Palms flat on the ground, shoulder width apart, prone, with hands and feet the only body parts contacting the ground, middle fingers pointing forward, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to sag toward the floor, but also not rounding it up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the hands, paying special attention to the insides of the hands, pulling the floor towards your feet without changing the above position, as if trying to pull the floor toward your toes and scooting the floor toward your hands with the great toes. Simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the hands AND the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the pose. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips.
Retract your hips, pushing the pelvis toward the sky and driving the heels toward the floor. Everything above is to remain engaged! Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs. Continually seek the above foot and hand engagement with the ground. The heels may contact the floor, but do not worry if they don’t yet, this may come with time. Continue to pull your ribs toward your toes without moving your hands or feet. This may mean your chest ends up significantly closer to your feet than your hands, extending the shoulder capsule and arching the back. If this can be done without pain, and while maintaining all of the above synergies, do it!
The eyes can be focused either at the ground between the hands, or back toward the toes, the neck remaining neutral, in either case, feeling maximal length from your coccyx to the crown of your head.
There will probably be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
HIGH PLANK
This cornerstone ITT postural hold contains a bit of BLaCK for the wrists and ankles. This is one of the most important holds to be mastered in any MsE™ program, as it is a foundation for many of the more complex ITT holds and active ITT movements. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing wrist strength and flexibility, shoulder stability, trunk stability, and overall communication to the anterior chain.
Focus; postural stability through activation of the abdominals
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity with hip and heel extension
Tertiary Focus; shoulder stability
Quaternary Focus; wrist strength and flexibility
Cuing;
The set up for high plank is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Palms flat on the ground, prone, with hands and feet the only body parts contacting the ground, middle fingers pointing forward, with feet hip width and great toes dug into the floor, heels behind toes, toes directly under lower shins. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, not allowing your lumbar spine to sag toward the floor, but also not rounding it up toward the sky.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the hands, paying special attention to the insides of the hands, pulling the floor towards your feet without changing the above position, as if trying to pull the floor toward your toes and scooting the floor toward your hands with the great toes. Simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the hands AND the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the pose. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips.
Maintain full hip extension by contracting both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones low, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or round or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Engage also the quads to maintain straight legs. Continually seek the above foot and hand engagement with the ground.
The eyes can be focused either completely forward with head high, or slightly forward of the hands, the neck remaining neutral, in either case, feeling maximal length from your heels to the crown of your head.
There will probably be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
TABLE
This cornerstone ITT postural hold contains a healthy dose of BLaCK for the wrists, shoulders, and hips. This is one of the most important holds to be mastered in any MsE™ program, as it is a foundation for many of the more complex ITT holds and active ITT movements. This pose can be adjusted infinitely to better serve specific demands, sports, or activities and can be scaled in infinite ways to account for a lack of strength or flexibility. This pose is hugely beneficial to increasing wrist strength and flexibility, shoulder mobility and stability, trunk stability, and communication to the posterior chain.
Focus; hip extension
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity through hip extension
Tertiary Focus; shoulder mobility
Quaternary Focus; wrist strength and flexibility
Cuing;
The set up for table is critical. What follows is the baseline set up, but can be adjusted infinitely to suit specific sports, activities, strength and ability levels.
Sitting tall on the ground with feet hip width and flat on the floor, toes pointing away from the buttocks, parallel to each other. Bring your hands, palms down, onto the floor behind you, arms straight. Your middle fingers should be pointing toward your heels, hands placed shoulder width apart and close enough for your index fingers to barely touch your glutes. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, shoulder blades pulling toward each other, opening the chest proud. Maintain this shoulder activity throughout. Feel the spine stretch long contracting the abdominals, bracing as if for a punch.
While not allowing your posture to change, begin to engage the floor with the feet, pulling the floor towards your buttocks without moving your feet, as if pushing the heels into the back of a shoe or boot, simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the raising into and lowering out of the table. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Engage the floor laterally with the hands also by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic exactly as with the feet.
Pushing the great thumbs into the floor, feeling the pressure through the inside of both feet and hands, begin engaging the floor; ripping the ground in half with feet and hands, more weight in the feet through the heels than in the great toes. Begin also driving the heels more aggressively into the floor, thereby slowly raising your hips as high up off the floor as possible while maintaining abdominal activity.
At full hip extension, effort to find a cramp in the hamstring and/or glutes, contract both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones high, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Continually seek the above foot engagement with the ground.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the hips are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
L-SIT
This relatively simple active ITT movement combines a healthy dose of BLaCK. There are several ways to vary this base movement. This is one of the first transitional movements to be mastered in many MsE™ programs, especially ones designed to specifically address posture, abdominal/trunk strength, and back or hip dysfunction. This move is hugely beneficial to increasing joint congruency of the spine, but should not be attempted by people with back pain until they display adequate posterior chain flexibility as well as hip and abdominal strength.
Focus; abdominal activation combined with hip mobility
Secondary Focus; maintaining postural integrity through hip retraction and posterior chain lengthening
Tertiary Focus; maintaining length through the entire spine, but especially the lumbar spine, while operating the hip joints
Quaternary Focus; increasing neuromuscular communication to achieve safe hip hinge
Cuing;
Lie supine with arms overhead; entire thoracic spine, arms, hands, and legs flat on the floor, feet in dorsiflexion with toes pointing straight up, neck relaxed, head resting on floor.
With arms gently reaching overhead, maximizing the distance from chest to fingertips, pull the scapulae gently together and away from the neck, maintaining a small distance between lumbar arch and floor.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, pushing the buttocks into the floor. Pay special attention to maintaining lumbar curve, not overarching or rounding, and keeping rib cage up, chest proud while continuing to reach arms overhead.
While not allowing your posture to change, dorsiflex the feet, raising the entire trunk, head, and upper limbs as one unit, maintaining maximal length from hips to fingertips through the entire motion. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips, keeping the dorsiflexion in the feet, toes pointing straight up, maintaining maximal length from hips to heels. Raise your trunk until sitting straight upright, trunk perpendicular to the floor, legs flat on the floor, arms reaching directly overhead without shrugging the shoulders, keeping the scapulae pulling down away from the ears and toward each other.
At full hip contraction, effort to maintain the focus on maintaining postural integrity, lengthening the hamstrings and entire posterior chain, keeping your feet slightly wider than the hips, and the knees in line with the hips, NO WIDER.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the trunk in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire trunk and upper limbs are again on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended if the cramp persists.
Reverse Crunch
This relatively simple active ITT movement is the foundation of trunk strength and stability. There are dozens of ways to vary this base movement. This is one of the first movements to be mastered in many MsE™ programs, especially ones designed to specifically address posture, abdominal/trunk strength, and back or hip pain/dysfunction.
Focus; lower abdominal activation to support lumbar stability
Secondary Focus; maintaining abdominal activity and ideal hip position through hip retraction
Tertiary Focus; maintaining length through the entire spine, but especially the lumbar spine, while operating the hip joints
Quarternary Focus; maintaining ideal knee and foot position and path while operating the hip joints
Cuing;
Lie supine with entire thoracic and lumbar spine, palms, and feet flat on the floor, neck relaxed, head resting on floor arms gently reaching away from the trunk at roughly 45*, maximizing the distance from ear to fingertips, pulling the scapulae gently together and away from the neck.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width approximately one half of a foot length from buttocks, knees slightly narrower than feet while remaining apart from each other.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch, pushing the vertebrae into the floor. Give special notice to the lower abdominals, roughly an inch and a half below the navel, creating bracing there as if pushing out on a belt buckle, or trying to push into a pair of jeans that are a bit too snug. This is similar to a reverse Kegel exercise.
While not allowing your spine to lessen it’s pressure into the floor, dorsiflex the feet, raising the forefoot and toes off of the floor while maintaining contact with the heels. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower OR WIDER than your hips. Slowly begin to raise your feet off of the floor, not allowing them to get closer than hip width to each other, and bring your knees toward your rib-cage, raising just the lowest portion of the coccyx off of the floor, tilting your pelvis up and toward your rib-cage slightly.
At full hip contraction, effort to maintain the focus on the lowest portion of your abdominals, keeping your feet slightly wider than the hips, and the knees in line with the hips, NO WIDER.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the feet in the exact reverse manner of the raising, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire spine is again flat on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended.
Bridge
This relatively simple ITT pose is a cornerstone of any program. There are dozens of ways to vary this base posture. This is one of the first poses to be mastered in any MsE™ program.
Focus; hip extension using hamstrings and gluteus maximus while maintaining abdominal activity and perfect posture
Secondary Focus; maintaining safe knee position through hip extension through actively abducting lower limbs
Tertiary Focus; maintaining ideal foot pressure and placement through internal rotation of the femur
Cuing;
Lie supine with entire thoracic and lumbar spine, palms, and feet flat on the floor, neck relaxed, head resting on floor
arms gently reaching away from the trunk at roughly 45*, maximizing the distance from ear to fingertips, pulling the scapulae gently together and away from the neck.
Feet positioned slightly wider than hip width approximately one half of a foot length from buttocks, knees slightly narrower than feet while remaining apart from each other.
Contract abdominals, bracing as if for a punch.
Begin to engage the floor with the feet, pulling the floor towards your buttocks without moving your feet, as if pushing the heels into the back of a shoe or boot, simultaneously engage the floor laterally by trying to rip the floor apart as if stretching an elastic with the feet. These two directions of engagement are to remain constant throughout the raising into and lowering out of the bridge. Engage your adductors by squeezing your knees toward each other, as if holding onto a balloon or ball, not allowing the knees to get narrower than your hips.
Slowly begin raising the tailbone off the floor, keeping the lumbar and thoracic spine pushing into the floor, lift one vertebrae of the lumbar spine at a time, following the tailbone, keeping your ribs as far below the hips as possible by keeping the abdominals contracted, all the way through full hip extension at which point the lower ribs will be off the floor
At full hip extension, effort to find a cramp in the hamstring, contract both the gluteus maximuses, pushing the hip bones high, while not allowing the lumbar to arch or the knees to drift any further apart than the starting position. Continually seek the foot engagement with the ground.
There may be shaking (that’s good!), there may be cramping. If you experience cramping, resist the urge to suddenly and forcefully extend the cramped muscle. Rather, slowly lower the hips in the exact reverse manner of the raising, one vertebrae at a time, maintaining the cramp as long as possible, until the entire spine is again flat on the floor, at which point the cramped muscle can be extended.
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