Perfect Posture
Exercises to strengthen and stabilize the spine
Dance can put an enormous amount of stress on your back, especially in the segments that have the most mobility. But a strong dancer can align and balance the spine through the challenging movements. Balance is the key word here—it’s not just about being able to execute multiple pirouettes, but actually securing equal force between your bones and muscles for excellent dance placement. Learning to properly use the entire spine and balance stability and flexibility will improve your performance skills and reduce the risk of injury.
To assess your posture, draw an imaginary plumb line from the middle of the ear down to the anklebone, when looking at your body from the side. (It doesn’t matter whether your legs are parallel or turned out.) If your head, for example, is forward of this line, you are overusing the muscles along the front of the neck and stressing the neck vertebrae. If your shoulders roll forward of the line, then you are creating tightness in the front of the shoulder and weakness in the upper back. And if you are lifting the rib cage or overarching the lower back, you are not utilizing the abdominal muscles and are causing tightness in the lower-back muscles. Use these exercises to strengthen and stabilize the spine, thus building a well-balanced posture. DT
Leg Glide:
1. Lie on your back; bring one leg at a time to a tabletop position. Align the knees with the hips. (Note: In the illustration, the arms are positioned to allow you to view the abdominals.)
2. Inhale. As you breathe out, deepen the abdominal contraction and let one leg at a time glide away from you at approximately 60 degrees. Allow the knee to fully extend. Focus on anchoring the abdominals to your lower back (maintain the natural low-back curve) and don’t allow the pelvis to move. Feel the deep abdominals firing to hold that position.
3. Inhale. Bring the leg back to starting position. Repeat the sequence with the other leg. As you exhale, focus on flattening your abdomen to anchor your pelvis; reemphasize the deep abdominal contraction. Practice this 10 to 15 times on each leg.
Safety Tip: If it is too difficult to maintain lower-back stability, extend the legs higher. Lower the legs when your back is stable.
Dance Focus: The point of this exercise is to use the strength of the abdomen to improve your technique. Focus on the transverse abdominals (horizontal muscle fibers that act as a brace) along with the deep multifidi (muscle fibers on the back of your spine) that compress the spine for support. (This is a cocontraction, the anchor you need before all arm and leg motion.) Remind yourself that only the legs are moving, not the pelvis or spine. This same principle applies to barre, center and jumping combinations. Visualize the navel moving toward the spine for added support; put your energy into the abdominals. Feel your core bracing the spine and connecting the ribs and pelvis. Use this exercise to help students move from their centers with less stress to their spines.
Spinal Brace:
1. Lie on your front, with a small pillow placed under your waist for support, and your elbows bent with your hands under your forehead.
2. Inhale to prepare. On exhalation, feel the abdominals tightening and lifting toward your spine; allow the pillow to give you added support. Hold and tighten the small deep musculature along your spine, as if to hover over the pillow. Visualize the deep multifidi intertwining along your spine like a thick rubber cord.
3. Hold that position as you inhale again. With a strong exhalation, continue the deep spinal contraction and slowly move your spine into a slight extension by lifting the upper back. Allow your spine to move into a slight long-arch position.
4. The deep spine multifidi muscles contract to support and initiate a small amount of extension along with a cocontraction of the abdominals. This provides significant support for your spine. Hold for 4 to 6 counts. On exhalation, slowly return with control. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
Safety Tip: Avoid extreme movement in your neck. Maintain abdominal support for the lower back.
Dance Focus: Use this exercise to help you feel the power and strength of the spine to secure your posture. Without the controlled brace of the deep multifidi and coordinating efforts of the abdominals, your spine would collapse under the pressure that dance motions create. All dance movement of the arms and legs should be initiated by the contraction of the deep transverse and multifidi muscles. This exercise helps to distribute the forces evenly.
Former professional ballet dancer Jacqui Greene Haas is the athletic trainer for the Cincinnati Ballet and the director of the Wellington Orthopedics dance medicine division in Cincinnati, OH. She is the author of Dance Anatomy: Your Illustrated Guide to Improving Flexibility, Muscular Strength and Tone.
Illustration courtesy of Human Kinetics
