What it means to scoop your belly

From the Mind Body Moderate Archives, October 26th, 2010

Your Pilates instructor says, “Scoop your belly!” Do you:
A. Think, “What the heck does that mean? I can’t scoop anything.
B. Suck in your gut and hold your breath.
C. Give up on this weird Pilates stuff and take yoga next week instead.
The abdominal “scoop” is not only an essential part of Pilates but for all types of sports and activities, including sitting at your desk. Contrary to what it might initially seem, scooping the abdominals does not mean tucking the pelvis under or rounding the low back. To scoop the abdominals one must engage their transverse abdominal muscle, often referred to by physical therapists as the TVA. This is the deepest abdominal muscle. When engaged, the TVA muscle contracts like a corset around the waist. It supports the pelvis and spine and creates the long, lifted, “pulled-in”” look.

The transverse abdominal muscle is like a corset, pulling the waist in

Too often, people who regularly exercise still complain of a protruding belly and back pain. In attempting to build the perfect "6-pack", the focus is often on the top abdominal layer – the rectus abdominal muscle. When doing crunches, for example, that rectus muscle might be burning, but if you are unable to engage deeper muscles of the trunk, the back moves unsupported, and the belly pushes out. You might actually be a few steps further away from a "6-pack" than before the exercise began! Always keep in mind, a strong core does not exist on one muscle alone, or even two, it takes a coordinated effort from the whole body. This is a primary tenant of The Pilates Method. Like an orchestra performing a symphony, every muscle has a part to play in every exercise. Starting to find underutilized muscles is the first step in better overall control and coordination. So, let's start with the elusive scoop. Here are a couple of moves to help you begin mastering yours:

Belly in/Belly Out Quadruped

Step 1. In a tabletop position on all fours, allowing the stomach to relax down towards the floor. Keep the spine straight and still. No arching!

Step 2. Draw the belly and organs in and up towards the spine. Again, don't move the spine. It remains planked. Your bones don't move! Only move the soft tissue of your abdomen.

On all fours (if it bothers your wrist, a forearm position is fine), plank the spine. Do not allow the back to sag or round. Holding this table position will enable the belly muscles to relax towards the floor. Exhale and draw the belly muscles in and up towards the chest, like you are scooping your guts up and into the back of the ribcage. Hold this scoop for 3 breaths and then allow the belly to release down towards the floor again, maintaining a flat spine. Try this 5 – 10 times.

Leg extension Quadruped for Core

Add a leg extension for a more challenging core challenge.

Once you feel the scoop, try maintaining it while sliding one leg back and stretching it out. Hold this position for three breaths, while keeping the spine planked (no sagging back). Hold 5-10 seconds. Switch legs. Press into all the finger joints to help lift out of the wrists. It can also be done on fists or the forearms. Try doing 5 sets.

Deep belly sitting

Sit up tall, and imagine vacuuming in the abdominal wall. Hold while taking 3 gentle breaths. Release.

This one can be done sitting at home, at your desk, or at the opera. No one will know you are working out, but they might comment on your good posture. Sit up tall, and imagine vacuuming in the abdominal wall. The vacuuming feeling is akin to putting on a pair of tight pants as you pull up that last bit of zipper. Do you feel that? That is your TVA. Another image is if someone were to give you an uppercut to the belly button, punching in and hooking up…not a pleasant thought, but it works. Take a deep breath and, on the exhale, vacuum the TVA and hold the contraction for a second or two. Inhale and release. Alternatively, while holding the TVA vacuum, take three gentle breaths, expanding the air into the mid back - as though you were expanding marvellous wings.
*Important note: Be careful of your breath pattern. Breathing is so important to Pilates, and a shallow breath pattern is not something we want to cultivate. If you’re having difficulties, please work with a professional.

Other great exercises to strengthen the TVA and the entire trunk are forearm and side planks.

Forearm planks and side planks are also excellent ways to strengthen the TVA, as well as the entire trunk of the body. Remember, you never want to overwork just one muscle. It takes a coordinated effort from all muscles to keep the body balanced and healthy. There is some debate over what the TVA does and how important it is. No matter, the awareness of any muscle is valuable to a better understanding of yourself and how you move.

How Japan stayed fit: Radio Taiso

Edited from The Mind Body Moderate Archives, March 10, 2010

Every morning in Japan before heading off to school, sparse piano music would play on the radio. Over the thin piano music, a bold voice would count: "Ich! Ni! San! Shi!" It was odd sounding, as though this program had existed for a hundred years. In fact, it almost has. This is Radio Taiso. The 6:30 am national exercise program of Japan. Radio Taiso is an integral, if not widely known, part of Japanese culture.

             The first American cultural reference to Radio Taiso, that I am aware of, is the 1986 Michael Keaton movie "Gung Ho."  The cringe-worthy title is indicative of another era in American culture, as "Gung Ho" is a Chinese derived phrase and yet, the movie centers on Japanese/American culture clashes at a Midwestern auto plant in the 1980s, but I digress. To express the different work cultures, at one point in the film, we see the Japanese auto executives attempting to lead the American employees in the collective morning exercises. As expected, it doesn't go over so well. 

The irony is, like the automobile industry, the morning radio exercises began in the United States. In the 1920's Met Life Insurance would sponsor a 15-minute radio exercise broadcast in major cities throughout the country, helping people stay fit while promoting health and life insurance. Across the world, during this same time, Japan was struggling with a health crisis. The average lifespan of a Japanese man during the 1920s hovered around 40 years old. The Japanese government decided they had to find ways to help people be healthier and live longer. One thing they determined would help is exercise. Japan took the 15-minute exercise plan from Met Life and made it their own. In 1928 the first Radio Taiso exercise broadcast aired.

After World War II the Allies banned public taiso. The large exercise gatherings appeared militaristic to the Allies, but by the 1950s, after the reverberation of war began its retreat, the exercises reemerged. Seventy years later, they are still going strong. Children and older people alike go to local parks in the summer, office workers gather outside the office, and others turn on the radio at home and go along as they have for decades, starting their day with these exercises, building strength, work ethic, and unity within the community. The average lifespan has jumped from 40 in the 1920s to almost 86 today. Japan, in fact, now has one of the highest populations of seniors in the world. There are two sets of exercises, the second being geared more towards young people. The simple calisthenics promotes increased energy, circulation, and improved flexibility. Here they are, complete with the same piano music. Being stuck at home is the perfect time to try this short little energizing workout.

Maybe now’s a good time for a Radio Taiso revival. A new collective exercise program, helping to build health, well-being, and community across diverse backgrounds and ages. It might be time for a music change though, and perhaps some new leotards. And let's all definitely say “Ganbatte!” rather than “Gung Ho”.

がんばって!!!

Why Pilates leg turnout builds core strength

From the Mind Body Moderate Archives, April 23rd, 2012

Pilates position, Pilates stance, Pilates “V,” – all of these refer to the positioning of the legs in Pilates exercises – a 30-degree turnout of the legs from the hip socket with the heels pinched together and feet turned out – roughly 3-4 fingers apart. The common assumption is that it’s a “dance thing,” and often, students look down, turnout their feet, and move on without knowing why.

The problem is if the feet are only twisting from the ankle or more often, from the knees, without incorporating from the hips, it could lead to knee and leg strain, tightness in the hips, low back, and even neck pain. It is essential to feel the femur bone at the top of the thigh is rotating outward and stretching away from the trunk to create the turnout in the feet. No movement is forced in the knees or ankles. We extend and reach out from the hip joints without gripping in the buttocks, but wrapping and using the muscles underneath the buttocks and at the top of the thighs like you’re pinching a dime between your cheeks. This is how to turn out, the result of which is seen in the feet, but not initiated from them.

Ok. Fine, but why?

This turnout position allows the pelvis to stay neutral and slightly disengages the quadriceps muscles (the front of your thighs), helping lengthen the “zipping up” sensation of the core muscles – from the pelvic floor through the deep belly and psoas, all the way up to the diaphragm and releasing the tension in the neck muscles. Remember, Pilates is never just “abs,” but requires control and understanding of all the muscles and how each affects the other to create overall balance and postural health. Pilates V position is not so much an extreme ballet turnout, as it a military stance. Standing upright with an assertive “chin up, chest out, shoulders back, stomach in,” keeping the heels together, toes apart, with weight balanced forward over the balls of the feet – stable and centered, the body is standing active and ready for action.

A good time to practice your Pilates position is waiting in line at the grocery store, using the cart handle for balance. Draw your thigh bone outward, heels together, and weight over the balls of the feet (but keep your heels on the ground). At the same time, lift through the crown of the head and draw your core in towards the spine (like you are putting on a pair of tight jeans). Your entire body should be in lengthening and working at the same time. Now try to take your hands off the cart handle, just don’t fall into the candy and magazine racks.

Americans gyms: A brief history

From the Archives of TheMindBodyModerate, August 9, 2011, Edited

Funny how the meaning of words changes over time. For example, the term salon commonly referred to a gathering of intellectuals to discuss issues of the day, and yet most of us now can’t help but think of the place we go for haircuts.

Another word that’s evolved in meaning is gym. From ancient times up until even the past 50 years, gymnasiums were considered higher institutions of training the body, mind, and spirit. Like a Western equivalent of the Shaolin temple, gymnasiums encompassed not only fitness but; philosophy, community, the arts, and social and political change – a bit different than the current health club down the street.

The original Latin gymnos literally means “naked” because what better way to show off athletic prowess in ancient Greece than in the buff? More likely, however, it refers to laying bare the individual spirit in pursuit of excellence in both body and mind. It then stands to reason the word gymnasium would later refer to public run high schools in Germany.

Gyms, as we know them in the United States, evolved from Turnvereins. The Turners were a political movement in Germany during the early 1800s. It was their view that a healthy mind and body would instill patriotism, a belief in liberty, and unify Germany into one country. Thanks to the Turners (meaning: one who does gymnastics), we have parallel bars, horizontal bar, the side-horse, and most gymnastic events still popular in the Olympics.

Large numbers of Germans emigrated to the US in the mid-1800s, the Turners included. They fought with the Union army in the Civil War. But with the end of the war, the Turner’s political edge – their main driving force in Europe- faded in the United States. Their focus shifted to creating and establishing Turnverein, community centers that mixed social consciousness and fitness. In areas of the country with historically sizeable German immigrant populations, you can still find Turnverein in existence today. The Turnverein inspired the creation of organizations such as the YMCA.

World War I and II took a toll on the image of German culture in the US, and most Turnvereins disappeared. Yet, since the Industrial Revolution, Americans have embraced the idea of fitness clubs to occupy expanding free time. Gyms have continued to thrive and evolve through the 20th and 21st century until we have the spots of today – places lighter on social or political importance, but major on the fitness and fashion spectrum.

We have much to thank the Turners’ for, not only for Olympic sports, but for inspiring the popular fitness regime of Pilates, bringing aspects of yoga to the Western World, and yes, to those scarring junior high physical education classes. They were big advocates for physical education in schools.

Maybe it’s time for an evolution in fitness centers, bringing back a holistic humanistic approach of creativity, education, and physical health, helping foster a stronger sense of immediate community. Gym? Turnverein?…maybe it’s also time for a new name.

Sidenote: If you happen to be in St. Louis, MO, there’s a memorial to Frederic Jahn, The Father of the Turner movement, within Forest Park. It features a large bust of Jahn in the center of an arc of stone, with statues of a male and female gymnast, one on each end of the arc. The monument is on the edge of Art Hill next to the path running north and south along the western edge of Post-Dispatch lake. It is directly north of the St. Louis Zoo.

Milwaukee Turner Hall in the 1900s (source:Wikipedia)