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Anna A On: February 17, 2015 13:02 PM	I have several clients who are very flexible in their mid back (back bends and rotation are not a problem) however as a result there is almost a disconnect from upper to lower back making bridge, roll ups, & plank not ideal. I have put together a series of exercises for these clients based on guidelines from BBU but wanted to get more insight from other instructors regarding exercises, queues and propping. Thanks for your input.
Casey H On: February 17, 2015 19:12 PM	Hi Ann, This is a great question and wonderful insight about the imbalances that present themselves in our spine. Most of us have a lot of habitual patterns when it comes to our flexion and extension. It would be interesting to really detail and pull back the range of motion in Back bending and rotation especially with your clients that are having difficulty with some of the positions you mentioned. I suspect they have a dual ( or multi) personality in their spine. Some places probably articulate with ease and some are bound into immovable chunks! I suggest down train in all of these positions and make the primary focus the stabilization, articulation and balance of the spine. In plank , for example, you might start at the wall standing. Here you can give more detailed alignment, grounding and sharing the work throughout the whole body cueing. They can then take all that information to a kneeling plank and then to a forearm plank kneeling ....So that when they finally come into their traditional plank position they have lots of tools to work with. At times the skill sets you have to refine so a client can do a certain exercise or movement involve NOT practicing that exercise to improve. For example, I had a client that would only come to mat classes and could not do a roll up to save his life. I could see that what was holding him back in a big way were shoulder mechanics. I needed the cadillac and private training for him. After a number of privates and a new brain in his shoulders and upper back he was ready to start to tackle the roll up. My suggestion is get to the root of what you are wanting them to experience. Always ask yourself what is my primary focus and goal. And don't be focused on the final product or the picture perfect shot of that particular exercise. Find the details and skill sets accomplished within the choreography and celebrate those small victories. Keep these great questions coming. Love Jen

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Anna A
On: February 17, 2015 13:02 PM

I have several clients who are very flexible in their mid back (back bends and rotation are not a problem) however as a result there is almost a disconnect from upper to lower back making bridge, roll ups, & plank not ideal. I have put together a series of exercises for these clients based on guidelines from BBU but wanted to get more insight from other instructors regarding exercises, queues and propping. Thanks for your input.

Casey H
On: February 17, 2015 19:12 PM

Hi Ann, This is a great question and wonderful insight about the imbalances that present themselves in our spine. Most of us have a lot of habitual patterns when it comes to our flexion and extension. It would be interesting to really detail and pull back the range of motion in Back bending and rotation especially with your clients that are having difficulty with some of the positions you mentioned. I suspect they have a dual ( or multi) personality in their spine. Some places probably articulate with ease and some are bound into immovable chunks! I suggest down train in all of these positions and make the primary focus the stabilization, articulation and balance of the spine. In plank , for example, you might start at the wall standing. Here you can give more detailed alignment, grounding and sharing the work throughout the whole body cueing. They can then take all that information to a kneeling plank and then to a forearm plank kneeling ....So that when they finally come into their traditional plank position they have lots of tools to work with. At times the skill sets you have to refine so a client can do a certain exercise or movement involve NOT practicing that exercise to improve. For example, I had a client that would only come to mat classes and could not do a roll up to save his life. I could see that what was holding him back in a big way were shoulder mechanics. I needed the cadillac and private training for him. After a number of privates and a new brain in his shoulders and upper back he was ready to start to tackle the roll up. My suggestion is get to the root of what you are wanting them to experience. Always ask yourself what is my primary focus and goal. And don't be focused on the final product or the picture perfect shot of that particular exercise. Find the details and skill sets accomplished within the choreography and celebrate those small victories. Keep these great questions coming. Love Jen

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