Turn This Popular Ab Exercise Into Actual Core Work
If you’ve done traditional Pilates, you know many of the exercises involve curling forward with the head, neck, and shoulders. This move is called an ab-curl, and it looks a lot like a crunch exercise. Undoubtedly, ab-curls will make you feel your stomach muscles, which must mean those muscles are being strengthened, right? Maybe, but […]
Learn to Find, Feel, and Activate Your Multifidus for Low Back Health
Your multifidus is a group of deep muscles that attach to your spine, connecting all the way from your sacrum up to your neck. When these muscles engage, they expand, in a positive way, to hug and stabilize your spine. This deep spinal hug lets you move, dance, walk, twist, whatever move you need to […]
Use Your Breath to Massage Low Back Tightness Away
One side effect of shallow breathing is low back discomfort and tightness. Over time, this habit can leave the lumbar spine and surrounding muscles and fascia feeling tight and inflexible. While the tendency might be to search for an external solution, like a massage, or a stretch, you already have a perfect solution built right […]
The Hidden Connection Between Back Pain and Breathing
Improving the way you breathe is such a simple back care solution that you can easily miss it. When someone comes to see me with low back discomfort, breathing is where we always begin. And when it comes to breathing, the diaphragm is your primary breathing muscle, and it’s in charge of many vital movements […]
Relieve Neck and Shoulder Tension with This Simple Move
Quick question for you about your arms and upper body… When was the last time you took your arms overhead, e.g., reached for the ceiling or tried to touch the door frame as you walked through? Has it been a while? Go ahead and try it right now. Lift your arms and reach like you’re […]
Undo Pain and Tension from Using Your Hands All Day
If you’re anything like me, you probably spend a lot more time doing things every day that require you to close your hands instead of open them—stuff like typing, mousing, writing, cooking, holding a steering wheel, holding a book or phone, gardening, sweeping, vacuuming, playing an instrument, etc. The hand-closing list of activities goes on […]
