I am a pretty straight shooter and the only kind of lying I will barely tolerate is side lying.
I said barely….
Laying on one’s side seems so easy but when you get down on the ground and start to do some of the pilates side lying exercises you will get a quick dose of reality.
Side lying to me is the truth.
It won’t lie to you. It will show you exactly who you are. Exactly where you are weak and how much control you have within your core.
In my heart of hearts, I thought I would be teaching pilates six month after reading my first book. Six months later I was wondering why I chose this as my future career.
My ribs were popped out, my hips were rotated the opposite way and I couldn’t lift my legs against gravity if my life depended on it.
In Raels course, the adductor lift is a fundamental exercise. I thought I was an advanced athlete before I started pilates. I wasn’t even ready to do the fundamental exercises.
Laying on my left side was very painful. When I tried to do side lift, my legs wouldn’t move.
It’s initaiated by the left inside thigh (adductors) and then as the bottom leg lifts past the midline, the abductors as well as the obliques lift the legs higher which creates lateral flexion.
If you think about the head of the femur sinking deeper into the hip socket while sliding the pelvis in towards the ribcage the glute med (abductor) and internal/extrenal obliques will kick in.
My left adductor was so so weak and my hip flexors were so tight that I couldn’t lift my bottom leg. This exercise took me at least two years to do and probably five to be comfortable and smooth.
Patience is a virtue.
Perserverance is a must.
The benefits of side lying:
This is the easiest way to activate your obliques.
***disclaimer***
The hardest thing to do, is activate the obliques
Most of the benefits you receive in a sidelyng position for the core is best done after you have re-aligned your pelvic tilt. This is why it is the hardest thing to do. If you have an anterior tilt in your pelvis most of the work will be felt in the low back. Even the other benefits of side lying for other muscles like the hip abductors (glute med which is on the side of hip) will be hard to activate because the lumbar spine muscles continue to fire first. I won’t go into too many details for benefits or contraindications, I will just throw out my perspective here. Fix your tilt first and then all the benefits of sidelying will appear.
If not, I may see you in class, punching the side of your hips because the muscles are too tight.