With so much talk of plastic surgery, pills, supplements and all types of methods to getting a flat tummy I think it’s always best to understand what people are saying.
For example my friend mentioned to me years ago that when I had a six pack, my abs looked long.
I was like, ok.
But in my head I was thinking, what is this guy talking about.
As I began to learn the cue knitting my rib cage together, I began to understand what he was saying.
Although I was kyphotic I also had an anterior tilt. With tight hamstrings you wouldn't believe this is possible. You should and more than likely would believe that I was in a posterior tilt or living life in a C curve, The C curve which is another important position in pilates means that your spine is in a curve from the top of your head to the bottom of your spine that would resemble a C. This is a normal spinal shape to make for those who have ideal posture and flexibility in the right areas within their spine. If you have deviations along the spine, you may create more of a curve within your upper back (thoracic spine) than in your neck (cervical) or low back (lumbar) region. A lot of people actually over emphasize this shape especially when they do a cat stretch.
As I began to recorrect my spinal alignment I realized quickly that I needed to get out of my habitual forward head and hunch back posture and work more flexibility into my lower back ( lumbar spine). Work to even out the curve and the shapes I was making. To keep myself upright my body made compensations. My lower to mid back hyperextended to keep my upper body overtop of my hips thus leaving my upper abdominals lengthened giving them the appearance of being longer than what fully engaged abdominals would look like.
My friend was correct. My abdominals were longer. Also weaker than what they should be. I couldn’t access them because my back extensors were over active. I needed to stretch the back but also engage my upper abdominals.
This is where knitting is better than paying for your abs.
The cue commonly known as knit your ribs together meant to bring the ribs together by engaging the upper abdominals. Easier said than done. This is the fifth and final area to focus on to get the powerhouse to be fully active.
If you are laying on your back and just working on breathing it may be better to push your mid back into the mat than to try and bring the ribs together. If you are in a cat stretch, it may be better to first slide the lower abs into the pelvis and then bring those ribs to the ceiling. This movement done after going into a tuck ( posterior tilt) will give a more even stretch of the back. You may need to master the low back ( lumbar spine) cat stretch first so that the movement doesn’t always end up right in the upper back (thoracic spine).
I am a big fan of engaging the powerhouse first then moving the limbs so that stability always precedes mobility.
This is a longer route but one that has paid dividends for my mobility in life.
It takes patience as well as awareness and discipline to do this.
It builds up your mental fortitude as well as focus and calmness.
You have to have a long breath to be able to achieve this level of engagement.
All good things and all great things come from hard work.
Surgery used to be the last resort. So did taking medication. Supplements only existed after our bodies couldn’t absorb nutrients. There are many theories out there on how to get a flat tummy. Nutrition is definitely key to making sure you don’t have too much glycogen stored on your body (glycogen is the stored version of glucose, glucose is what our body breaks carbohydrates down to, simple carbs are broken down easily, giving us too much glucose in our bloodstream, making insulin work overtime to push it into our cells to store as glycogen making us overweight). No one is really fat, they just have too much glycogen stored on their body.
We live in a world of convienence. What’s not convenient is draining your bank account or life savings when illness or injuries arise.
Observe people living in their golden years. Many have personal support workers, live in a seniors home or have many different walking aids. All these things cost a pretty penny.
You can work your whole life to save to enjoy your golden years but what’s to enjoy if you can’t move?
We are living longer but are we living happier more fulfilled lives?
Some movie a long time ago a line was said, “you get busy living or you get busy dying”.
I made a choice in my thirties to ensure that my forties, fifties and sixties would be different.
I decided to go Benjamin button.
and as I think about Andy dufrain….
I rather get busy living, how about you?