The Range of Spinal Motion

Humans have asymmetrical bodies; one side tends to be tighter or more inflexible. It might not be the same tighter side for all movements. Our muscles sling across diagonally, and different movements stretch out different muscles. No matter how strong I feel, each time I practice pilates or Gyrotonic, I'm reminded to work those small little muscles that fatigue easily. In all these exercises, the intention is to maintain flexibility in order to prevent any early onset of osteoarthritis or osteoporosis. Also, I feel really uncomfortable if the body is not kept well-oiled. 

Gyrotonic focuses loads of movement of the spine. There're six primary spinal motion — flexion, extension, rotation, lateral flexion, lateral glide, and circumduction (internal and external). Besides depending on the instructor to explain each movement, I also read up loads about it. There's a ton of information when one googles 'lumbosacral biomechanics'. Each Gyrotonic class takes me through the range of spinal motion. What movements these are, would be entirely limited to the creativity of the instructor. I'm lucky to have J who's a contemporary dancer by training. As a Gyrotonic instructor, she totally gets it.

I have a tight middle spine. The thoracic is extremely reluctant to move from T7 to T12. It partially explains why it's for my ribs to go under to do spinal rotations. Making the stubborn thoracic curl is a pain. Scooping to push out the thoracic takes a fair bit of effort and breath. Pilates is great for keeping the spine nimble (and the core strong), but Gyrotonic movements work much better at coaxing the middle spine to work harder than it normally does. They don’t strengthen the core that much or that quickly. This is not a weight loss program. 😂 Gyrotonic also emphasizes on a smooth flow, a soft 'undulation', if you will. That is achieved when the muscles stretch out well together. I can't seem to do it yet. Oof. Gotta stop jerking!