Free Innovations in Pilates online workshop.

1. Welcome to our free online Innovations in Pilates workshop! This time,
we are going to teach you how to teach some of the work from our
certificate courses, using real life examples from our studio-totally free
of charge!

2. This week, the focus is going to be on the one joint hip flexors and one of the two
joint hip flexors -rectus femoris. When contracting, the one joint hip flexors like
Psoas, Illiacus, Pectineus, and Tensor Fascia Lata are said to be able to exert up to
100 kilograms of compressive force on the lumbar spine, so its important to keep
them supple. As you will see in the slides below from our books, the hip flexors can
also rotate the pelvis anteriorly, causing low back pain.
First let's have a look at the anatomy of several of the hip flexors, then we'll teach
you a simple, no brainer stretch to give to your clients this week. Watch them grow
taller, and walk taller too! You'll notice that exercises like side kicks are easier too
because of the increased freedom of movement in the hip joint.
Have a look at the anatomy diagram below and then try to answer the question on
the following page

4. Can you name the three hip flexor muscles at the ends of the top three
yellow lines?
And the fifth line as well?
Don't look yet, the answers are below for you, in order but upside
down!
TheyarePsoas,Illiacus,GluteusMediusandPectineus

5. Can you name the hip flexor
muscles connected to the top three
yellow lines?

6. Inorder,theyaretensorFasciaLata,Sartorius
andrectusfemoris

7. On this slide, taken from our Innovations in Pilates matbook, you can see
the effect of tightness in these muscles on the rotation and position of the
pelvis

8. So, what's a failsafe way of stretching all of the muscles we've just
looked at? Let's have a look at a stretch that almost everyone can do,
in several easy steps.
Step one: get yourself onto your reformer as pictured, with light
springs
Keep your front knee at 90 degrees and lower your
hips
Press the rear leg back as far as you can

9. Pull the straps tight so that the carriage cannot return back to the
resting position
By now, most clients are getting a stretch in the front of
the rear leg (the hip flexors,) and in the underneath of the
front leg. Which muscles in the front leg do you think are
stretching? Take a look at the next slide and see if you
can name them.

10. Hold the stretch for five deep breaths

11. Answer: The red muscle is gluteus maximus, and the brown one is
Adductor Magnus. The hamstrings are probably stretching too, but
they are not show in the slide. At the front of the rear leg, you can
see rectus femoris parallel to the femur bone.
Back to the stretch!
Step two: press both the front foot and the back foot down into the
floor/reformer for five seconds, without moving anything!
Use about 30% of your maximum strength.

12. Step Three: Stop contracting, take a breath in, and on a breath out,
lower your hips as much as you can
Notice the Illiopsoas in yellow as well as the other muscles
mentioned, all under stretch

13. Step four: to increase the Rectus femoris stretch, have your
partner lift the back foot very slowly, towards the bottom
can you see Vastus Lateralis coming into the stretch now too, in
the brown of the rear leg?

14. Lets leave this as the final position for now, and hold it for 15 breaths. Yes, 15
breaths, about 90 seconds! That's about the perfect time to maximize growth of
muscle tissue, bone density and fascia
In our workshops, we will go into more details about how to contract the
Quadriceps, and bring them into the stretch, but for now, stick with what we've
covered. Please try this stretch with some clients in the coming weeks, and let us
know how you go. Better still, send some pictures to our Facebook page
"Innovations in Pilates."
You may find that some folks are just too tight for this stretch. They cant get into
position, or just feel everything in the underneath of the front leg. Next post, we'll
show you an even simpler version.
Check out the next and final page for some interesting info too!

15. Its interesting to know that there is great
variation in the shape of peoples hip joints, and
in the neck angle, trochanter size,and femoral
head orientation. If your clients feel
compression in the front of their hip during this
stretch, check out our book for advice, or send
as a question on Facebook