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| The Psoas Major as a Pulley |
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Mechanically the body is a series of arches, hinges and pulleys.
The psoas fits in the mechanical model acting as a pulley as it curves over the front rim of the pelvis on the way to the femur. This serves to multiply the force generated when the iliopsoas contracts. Its alignment determines whether or not it can be employed this way successfully.
The power of its psoas is based on its placement. In and of itself the psoas will not live where it should. There are muscles that, when properly toned, allow the psoas to be perfectly positioned. When in this position the psoas provides powerful support for the spine all the way up to the head.
The key again is its proper placement. In physics, pulleys are pretty simple systems design to make lifting a supporting easier through the intervention of the pulley itself. A 500lb weight is not coming off of the floor with just my hand lifting it, but if I tie a rope to it and run that rope through a pulley attached to the ceiling, the weight will come off of the floor rather easily.
It is important to note that the psoas attaches on the back half of the inner thigh. If you are standing with your feet parallel, not too far apart, and your thighs back and under the pelvis you should have the sense of the psoas connecting to the inner thigh which will be in the back half of the body. Turn the feet out, tuck the pelvis under moving the thighs forward and feel where the connection of the psoas is. It moves to the front plane of the body. When this happens there is no longer any tension created by the pull of psoas over the rim of the pelvis. As a result you don’t get benefits that could be derived from the support that could be offered by the pulley action of the psoas.
As a simple test see if you can feel the difference in the spine with the butt tucked under and the feet splayed out versus the sticking the butt out and turning the feet in. There should be two very different feelings as a result. Try to tune in to which is more supportive.
Try to feel this while walking. Most people are doing a variation on the “keep on truckin” dude from the sixties pulling themselves along by the tops of their thighs. When the psoas is working as a pulley the legs are underneath the trunk and moving backwards to take you forward.
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| Walking and Breathing |
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The psoas major is the main muscle of walking, an action ideally initiated deep in the core of the trunk. The psoas connects the spine to the legs attaching on the lower spine (T12, L1-4), before crossing the rim of the pelvis to attach on the back half of the inner thigh. The psoas if properly aligned is capable of supporting and moving us through space. Its downward pull on the front of the lower spine allows many muscles at the back of the body to lengthen and tone upwards providing support for the head at the top of the spine. When walking it is the work of the two psoas muscles moving in opposition that stimulates a natural and healthy rotation in the pelvis and throughout the spine. Most people use their big thigh muscles (quadriceps) to pull them through life but if everything works according to design the psoas is generating our movement and many overworked muscles get to relax.
The diaphragm, a dome shaped muscle at the base of the ribcage, is the essential muscle of breathing. When we inhale the diaphragm is meant to descend allowing air to be drawn into the expanding lungs. At the base of the pelvis three layers of muscle support the weight of the organs. These pelvic muscles and the diaphragm work synergistically. With each inhalation the diaphragm and pelvic floor should lower and with each exhale they should rise back up moving the contents of the trunk with them. Add to this up and down movement the rotational possibilities of the psoas and every breath and every step we take can tone and massage the entire contents of the trunk.
There are also literal connections between the psoas and the diaphragm. There are two tendons for the diaphragm called the crura that extend down and connect to the spine right alongside the psoas connection. One of the ligaments of the diaphragm (medial arcuate) wraps around the top of the psoas. Finally the diaphragm and the psoas connect through fascia, the webbing that encases the body in both safe and sorry ways. There is a particular fascial grouping that connects the diaphragm, psoas and other hip muscles.
The body is a machine designed to work very specifically. The relationship between these two titans of walking and breathing cannot be understated. Health in one can and will encourage health in the other.
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I'd always assumed my bad posture
was a glitch of biology that I had little control
over. It wasn't until I signed up for the FitzGordon
walking program that I realized there were steps
I could take to reprogram the way I carry myself.
Jonathan's a great teacher, and he offered an
intense focus on anatomy that made intuitive
sense to me. For the first time in my life,
I actually paid attention to the way I walked
and stood, and I feel like it's made a world
of difference. I'm a still a work-in-progress,
but I finally know what I have to do - Kerrie |
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