Thursday, September 14, 2017

V-UPs? Meh. Intelligent use of your hip flexors? Gorgeous!


We've all done them for years - navasana, V-ups, pike ups, leg tosses - they are hard, they make you grunt, surely they must be strengthening your core, right?  WRONG!  While one of the hip flexors does lie deep within the core of your body these exercises are not CORE exercises, rather they are exercises to strengthen your hip flexors.  Having strong hip flexors is important for many things - like bringing your thighs closer to your torso during a press handstand or balancing navasana on your friends.  But warming the core up for an acro class with the reckless flinging of the legs in a piking motion (aka V-up) is, in my opinion, wasted effort and can potentially cause more harm than good.  Not to mention - there are far more intelligent ways to strengthen your hip flexors that will achieve more control at end range, which will be of far more benefit to an acrobat.  But I digress.

This is what intelligent, informed use of the hip flexors can look like!
Acrobats:  Ariel Mihic and Jaimie Harrow

So what would be better than V-ups?  Good question!  There are a million and one ways to strengthen your core, and evidence suggests that functional core strengthening is more important than isolated core strengthening.  However, I propose that until you know what your core is, and how to engage it, functional training won't do much for you in the way of developing your core strength.  

Let's take a look at anatomy.  I define the core as a group of muscles that functions via anticipatory postural adjustments -- meaning the core is a group of muscles that should engage before you move to help stabilize your lumbar spine.  These muscles include:
  • Respiratory diaphragm
  • Transversus abdominus
  • Pelvic floor 
  • Lumbar multifidi

Here's an image of these muscles:  


Engaging these muscles is pretty simple, and should be very subtle.  Once you learn how to engage them, you can fire them up while doing more fun and exciting exercises, like acro!  

How to "find" your core (warning - there are a lot of words following this image; remember: words are helpful, they convey meaning, they are sometimes necessary to get a point across):
Posterior pelvic tilt (exhale)
Anterior pelvic tilt (inhale)
Neutral spine (pause, full breath)
  • Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, go through a few pelvic tilts to find your neutral spine position, then maintain this position during this exercise.  Reference above image for finding your neutral spine.
  • Place your hands over your anterior hip bones with the fingertips resting just inside on your belly tissue.
  • Take a nice deep inhale - trying to expand your ribcage laterally as you do so.
  • On your exhale try to create tension across your abdomen, drawing your navel towards your spine and in an upward trajectory (imagine tucking your navel under your rib cage).  Remember - this is subtle!!!  You should not feel a huge bulge under your finger tips - rather a gentle tightening.  If you feel nothing - that's ok too - just keep working with your breath; imagine your ribs expanding laterally on the inhale, and creating tone and tension across the lower abdomen on the exhale.  
  • You can then go through a series of movements of your arms and legs to test your ability to maintain neutral spine.  And thus functional core training begins.
If you are still reading this blog ... GOOD JOB!!!  I find the nuances of the body fascinating, and I take great delight in getting movement geniuses on board with learning the subtleties of being human.  I encourage *you* to study the fine details of your body so that you can  continue doing the amazing things you do in an informed way and thereby support the sustainability of your practice.  

Practical teaching applications:

If you are teaching beginner students, it might be helpful to go through the above series of pelvic tilts to bring awareness to spinal positions, namely flexion, extension, and neutral, and discuss why you would be in any one of those positions.  For example, in a handstand, for partner acrobatics, we primarily train with a "flat back" or "spinal imprint" or "a slightly flexed spine", in conjunction with a posterior pelvic tilt.  As a result, our warmups are generally done with the spine in this position, and we almost always discuss the anatomy of this position or give some little nugget as to why subtle engagements are important.  

Cues to facilitate engagement of the deeper core muscles include: 
  • Bring the navel towards the spine
  • Create tension across the midline
  • Scoop the lower abdominal muscles up and back 
Ideas for warming up the core before class are endless and include: 
  • Lying on your belly and lifting your navel off the floor while doing your posterior shoulder warm up
  • Plank position - in neutral spine, or with pelvic tilts - while you and your students are in a plank, talk about the muscles of the core and how they are creating structural stability
  • Table top with knee lifts - again - emphasizing position and stability of the spine
  • Remember the value of education - understanding the mechanics of the spine will help keep you and your students safe and healthy 
Whether or not you choose to take the time to delve into the nuances of core work in your practice or in your classes, I strongly encourage you take the time to practice intelligently.  If you choose to do a V-up - know the risks (injuring your low back should be at the top of that list), and be clear on why you are doing that exercise.  If you want control of your hip flexors so you can create a beautiful shape like Ariel and Jaimie in the above picture - V-ups likely won't get you there.  Engage your core, then choose an exercise to work on hip flexion at end range.  THAT will get you into a beautiful shape (or increase your chances, anyways).  

As always - if you are injured or find yourself at a loss for how to engage your core, find someone that can help you.  Examples of people that can help:  physical therapists, pilates instructors, personal trainers familiar with the demands of acrobatics, coaches and teachers who have studied these things so that you don't have to (although why wouldn't you?!?) ...

Keep it safe, keep it engaged, and come see us soon! 

Upcoming events with Precision Acrobatics:
Handstand Workshop with Ariel:  October 4th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Divine Play Festival:  October 7th-9th, Portland, OR
Dance Acro Series:  November 8th, 15th, 29th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive:  Noteworthy November:  November 12th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Giving Thanks: An Acro Retreat:  November 22-26:  Zazen Retreat Center, Ukiah, CA

If you live in the SF bay area and would like to work with me (Liz) as your PT, you can find me here:
Oakland:  http://synapsemassageandbodywork.com/services/physical-therapy/
San Francisco:  http://eastwestsf.com/


Thursday, August 10, 2017

Ankles - they're important!

About ten years ago I took a weekend-long class called "When the foot hits the ground, everything changes" ... and it was *awesome*.  Of course the content was useful, but what really stuck with me was the title; it has influenced countless conversations with my clients over the years.  In this blog we will discuss the ankle - how to mobilize it, and how to stabilize it.   Having a mobile yet stable ankle is crucial for safety during landing from skills in acro (not to mention - being able to move your feet comes in handy when basing).

Osteokinematics :: (because big words are sexy)

Dorsiflexion is the osteokinematic term used to describe an actively flexed foot or ankle - specifically the term refers to the range of motion available in that direction.  We've all been told to "point" our toes in acro ... dorsiflexion is the opposite of pointing (aka plantarflexion).

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that having sufficient dorsiflexion decreases the risk of various lower extremity injuries ... but before I lose your attention, let's dive right into self-care tips for the ankle.  If you have been reading our blogs - hopefully you have an idea of what is to follow ... tissue prep and stability training.

Tissue prep:  

You can use a foam roller, two lacrosse balls in a sock (as shown), or a peanut (which is essentially two lacrosse balls joined together).  Roll your calf up/down the balls or rollers; when you find a sore spot hang out there and move the foot up and down a few times until the sore spot lessens its grip on your sanity.  Work on all sides of the calf and shin.

Plantarflexion over lacrosse balls
Dorsiflexion over lacrosse balls



working the peroneals on lateral calf
rolling over the anterior tib - can also move foot around

** Ideally you will take the time to do this before you train - for flyers ankle mobility and stability are wicked important during standing acrobatics (think of landing from those skills over and over and over).  For bases - these factors are also important during standing (think squatting to get under your flyer, or taking a knee to help your flyer safely to the ground after nailing that skill).  Bases also need a lot of dorsiflexion for L-basing.

Stability training:

Once you prep the tissue - you need to train for stability.  While stability is a *very* big topic and undoubtedly deserves its own post (if not several), I'll give you a couple of exercises to start with.

Balance training on an unstable surface:  this can be done on a pillow, a half foam roller (as shown), or a slackline (fun video showcasing the original YogaSlackers).   Start simply - with timed intervals, eyes open.

note:  knee is not locked in extension
Slacklining is *amazing* stability training




Progression:  If keeping your eyes open is super easy, try standing with your eyes closed.  Note:  when you close your eyes, you will likely lose your balance - so be smart about it!  Start by standing on the ground with your eyes closed; then practice standing on the ground with your eyes closed and turning your head from R<>L or moving your limbs around like you are some strange creature (because let's face it - you are, indeed, a strange creature).  If all of this goes well, then you can try standing on an unstable surface with your eyes closed.

Strength training:  

A lot of our ankle stability starts with the core ... if you can control how much your body moves around by creating a stable core, then there will be less demand on the smaller muscles surrounding your ankles.  There are a bazillion exercises for the core (and besides - what *is* the core anyways?!?).  For now - let's start with training your lateral hip rotators with a few basic exercises.

Band walks:  place a band around your lower legs, just above the ankles, keep the tension and walk from R<>L with minimal wobbling.  Keep your knees straight-ish (meaning don't lock them in extension - stay active in your quads while allowing a slight bend in the knees).


Clamshells:  they're boring, but effective!  Try doing 30 in each of 3 positions (2 shown; the 3rd is like the 1st but with feet on the ground ... and if you are able to follow these instructions you win the prize of more boring ways to train your glute med!!  yay for you!!).

starting position

ending position

start as per above, finish in this position


Note:  when doing these exercises: keep the spine in a neutral position (you will need to lift your waist from the floor) and keep your lower belly muscles engaged (transversus abdominus).  You can also gently engage your pelvic floor - but no clenching!!  The pelvic floor needs to be trained but it also needs to function all day long - overdoing it is a real risk.  

For the feet:  

Working on the strength of the intrinsic muscles of the foot will help control your medial arch - this plays into the notion that when the foot hits the ground - everything changes.  If you create stability within the foot itself, you will have a better chance of avoiding injuries in your legs when you are dealing with landing on your feet (or tossing people around on your feet as the base case may be).  

Basic exercises include:  tissue prep by rolling the foot over a ball in various directions and strengthening via:  towel scrunches (pull the towel towards you by flexing your toes for about 30 seconds per foot) and toe alternations (lift big toe while keeping other toes flat, then reverse).  

starting position for towel scrunch

final position for towel scrunch

four toes up, big toe down

big toe up, 4 toes down

roll it out, yo


Mobility test:  

So how much dorsiflexion do you need?  There is a pretty basic test to determine if you have sufficient dorsiflexion.  Start in a half kneeling position, 5 inches from a wall.  Shift your weight forward over your front foot, without letting the knee fall inwards.  If your knee touches the wall - you have sufficient dorsiflexion.  If your knee does NOT touch the wall - you probably don't.    Watch this video by Dave Tilley for step by step instruction. 


Note:  If you "fail" this simple test, try the above mobility exercises, add in daily stretches for 4-6 weeks, then re-take the test.  If you still fail - go get yourself checked out by a trained physical therapist (or other sports med pro) who can help discern if you have a soft tissue or bony deficit.  Research varies as to whether or not you can actually change your dorsiflexion ... because as with most things body related ... it depends!  

Note on the note:  If you fail this test, and you want to be proactive - consider getting yourself checked out sooner rather than later.  These blogs are never meant to replace the advice and treatment from skilled medical practitioners.  

Practical relevance of ankle mobility: (only the nerdy, or the interested need read on at this point - even amongst you brave readers, this may be a bit dry)

As mentioned briefly above, the amount of available dorsiflexion has been linked to various lower extremity injuries (ankle sprains, ACL tears, patellar tendinitis, to name a few).  The basic mechanism is as follows:  decreased dorsiflexion changes the degree of knee flexion during landing, which increases the likelihood of excessive valgus angle at the knees, while also increasing the torque on the hips and low back.  If your ankle doesn't sufficiently dorsiflex you have to compensate somewhere for that lack of movement - the knees won't bend as much due to angle of the tibia and resultant/altered displacement of your body weight to avoid falling over backwards --- so either you throw your chest forward (which increases hip flexion thereby increasing torque on your hips and potentially strains your lower back), or your knees fall inward quickly (which puts excessive strain on the medial compartment of the knee joint itself, and the tendons of the IT band, lateral quad and lateral HS, not to mention the ACL and both menisci).  Neither of these scenarios bode well for the long term health and longevity of your lower extremities, or back.  While there are many things to consider regarding stability during landing, starting with the ankle seems like a relatively easy way to pick the proverbial low bearing fruit.

For a well written blog with lots of research to back up these thoughts on the various potential risks of decreased dorsiflexion follow this link

There's so much to say, and so little time - stay tuned for next month's blog where we start exploring the core.

Thanks for reading!  Keep training, keep it safe, and enjoy ...

Upcoming events with Precision Acrobatics:
Handstand Workshop with Ariel:  August 16th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Strength Training for Acrobats with Ariel:  August 23rd, 5 Stones, SF
Hand to Hand Series:  September 6th, 13th, 20th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive:  Sassy September:  September 10th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Handstand Workshop with Ariel:  October 4th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Divine Play Festival:  October 7th-9th, Portland, OR
Dance Acro Series:  November 8th, 15th, 29th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive:  Noteworthy November:  November 12th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF

If you live in the SF bay area and would like to work with me (Liz) as your PT, you can find me here:
Oakland:  http://synapsemassageandbodywork.com/services/physical-therapy/
San Francisco:  http://eastwestsf.com/

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Oh those lovely lats

The following concept can be applied to most muscle groups ... tissue prep before use can help prevent injury.  This blog will use the lats as an example of how to prepare, "stretch", strengthen and use a muscle to maximize performance and minimize risk of injury.   It's a long one, but a worthy read if you are inclined to geek out on the anatomical genius that is your body.

Brief anatomy review:  the latissimus dorsi is a rather large muscle on the back body that originates  from spinous processes of T7-12, thoracolumbarfascia, iliac crest, last 4 ribs, and inferior angle of the scapula and inserts into the floor of the bicipital groove on the humerus.  In other words, the lats connect from various points on your back to your upper arm. The primary functions of this muscle include shoulder extension (lowering the arm from an over head position or reaching the arm behind you) and internal rotation (turning the arm inward); the lats also assist in adduction (bringing the arms closer to midline) and horizontal abduction (opening your arms out to the side in a "T" position from a forward reaching position), as well as extension and lateral flexion of the lumbar spine. The lats are innervated by the thoracodorsal nerve, which has fibers from the 6th-8th cranial nerve roots.  If you read all of that - good job!  Either way - here's a picture of your lats.




Step 1:  Assess your lats:  Can you easily raise your arms over your head?  Can you do it sitting (or standing) with your back flat against the wall, palms facing up, elbows straight, and arms shoulder width apart?  See below for a demonstration of this simple assessment for lat extensibility.
  • Sit with your back flat against the wall
  • Hold a wooden dowel, palms facing down, and raise your arms over your head
  • Repeat the arm raise with your palms facing up
  • Were the two actions different?  If so - you likely need more extensibility in your lats.  (Or your thoracic spine might be restricted, or you may have difficulty engaging your core sufficiently.   If your ribs flare or you arch your back you will need to assess thoracic spine mobility and core strength.)
**Make sure to keep your core engaged to avoid flaring your ribs.

First position; note the pinky flare
2nd position; note the wider hand position and distance from wall ("tight" lats)













Step 2:  Mobilize/prep your lats:  If you find yourself (as I do) with stiffness in your lats you might find it helpful to roll out your lats before, during, and after your workout.  For those of you with really tight or stiff lats, you might also choose to use a lacrosse ball along the lateral border of your scapula to help free up that area.  I recommend spending 3-5 minutes before you work out mobilizing your lats.

When rolling you can move the arm over the head and back down in a forward direction to floss the lats

Step 3: "Stretch" your lats:  After prepping your lats with a roller, "stretch" them for a minute or two.  My preferred position is shown below.

Note the following about this stretch:
  • Thoracic spine is flexed/rounded
  • Elbows are bent
  • Shoulders are in external rotation (palms face up with elbows more narrow than hands)
  • Photo credit to Dave Tilley of Shift Movement Science; check out his work!  It's awesome.
The stretch should be felt in the lats along the side body
So what exactly happens when you "stretch" a muscle?  Recent research shows that the primary benefit of stretching lies in the nervous system's response to the movement, which essentially improves your tolerance to your available range.  So it is isn't that you make your muscles longer (which generally occurs by the addition of sarcomeres via eccentric strengthening), but rather you make the length of your muscles more comfortable and attainable.

Step 4:  Use your lats:   Now that you have prepared your lats - use them!  Below is a nice eccentric (aka lengthening) exercise for the lats.  This particular exercise also warms up your serratus anterior and posterior rotator cuff - all of which help stabilize the scapula and humerus during weight bearing activities like handstands.  You can do the exercise as shown (credit to Jen Crane, aka Cirque Physio) or seated with your back to the wall and a band around your knuckles or wrists.  This should feel difficult, and you should feel it along your side body.  The main objective is active elongation of the lats, while engaging the serratus to stabilize the scapulae and the rotator cuff to stabilize the humerus.

Starting position; keep elbows more narrow than hands

Ending position













Note:  if you do the exercise with your back to the wall, start with your elbows bent and arms below shoulder height.  It will be very hard to raise your arms while keeping your elbows more narrow than your wrists and you will likely find that you can't raise your elbows above shoulder height.  That's ok!  Keep trying ...

Step 5:  Functional application:  After assessing, mobilizing, stretching and strengthening - go do the thing!  If you were doing this to prep for handstands - go do a handstand.  If you were working on your lats to prep you for your acro practice - do that.  Bases use lats *a lot* during L-basing to help stabilize the arms and scapulae - particularly during skills such as low foot to hand or hand to hand.

What do stiff lats look like in a handstand?  If we lack sufficient extensibility in our lats, we cannot get our arms overhead to create a clean line, so we compensate at our mid-back, lower back, or wrists to find alignment.  Examples of insufficient lat extensibility include:  banana handstand, excessive rib flare, "closed" shoulders, or painful wrists from too much extension.  If you have any of these qualities in your handstand, try the above exercises for 8 weeks to see if it makes a difference in your alignment.  If you experience pain in the top or front of your shoulder during these exercises stop and reposition - pain on the top of the shoulder is likely indicative or rotator cuff impingement (in the front - biceps tendinitis).  If the pain persists - get yourself checked out by a professional.

In summary:  Improving the extensibility of your lats can help you get closer to a straight handstand position.  We recommend that you care for your lats by prepping the tissue using a foam roller or lacrosse ball, stretching as shown above, and strengthening in an eccentric direction.

**If you have pain with any of these above positions, please take the time to have yourself checked out by a trained professional.  The content of this blog is intended to help improve your acrobatic practice by imparting you with knowledge about how your body works, and should not replace or supersede advice from a medical professional.

We hope to see you soon ... keep training, keep it safe, and enjoy!

Upcoming events with Precision Acrobatics:
Standing Acrobatics Series:  July 5th, 12th, 19th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive: Jiggidy July:  July 23rd, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Refining Acro Series with Liz:  August 2nd, 9th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Handstand Workshop with Ariel:  August 16th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Strength Training for Acrobats with Ariel:  August 23rd, 5 Stones, SF
Hand to Hand Series:  September 6th, 13th, 20th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive:  Sassy September:  September 10th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Handstand Workshop with Ariel:  October 4th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Divine Play Festival:  October 7th-9th, Portland, OR
Dance Acro Series:  November 8th, 15th, 29th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF
Intermediate Daylong Intensive:  Noteworthy November:  November 12th, Zaccho Dance Theater, SF