neutral

Neutral Pelvis (and other joints)

When we hear the word neutral we typically think of a neutral pelvis. We don’t always consider that every one of our joints has a neutral position. That includes every vertebra in the spine through the neck, the shoulders, the knees, the elbows, the wrists, and the ankles. All joints have a neutral.

Spending time neutral reduces wear and tear on the tendons and ligaments that connect all your joints.

Neutral

Yes people stand the way I am on the right.

Luckily the body is incredibly versatile. You don’t have to exist in neutral all the time. The body is capable and, in fact, made to come out of neutral at different times for different activities and needs. That being said there is benefit to understanding when your joints are in neutral and enabling them some time to exist there. Due to tightness in our body, sometimes some of our joints rarely get to be neutral—a problem that can wreak havoc over time.

Neutral Knees

Consider your knees. If you are someone who tends to lock your knees when standing, your knees are regularly not in neutral. That locked position is going to put more pressure […]

Neutral Pelvis (and other joints)Maggie Downie2020-08-06T12:33:06-04:00

Finding Neutral

When talking about fitness and posture, you’ll often hear people refer to a neutral spine, but finding neutral can be harder than it seems for a natural position our body is supposedly supposed to have. Most often in fitness when instructors say neutral they are referring to the low back and pelvis, but all our joints have a neutral position. Experimenting with where your neutral is in the low back and pelvis is usually the easiest place to start. So let’s experiment with finding neutral in different positions.

Neutral Lying Down

The easiest way to find neutral is to lie down on the floor with knees bent, feet on the floor. This is the easiest position to find neutral because you can actually feel the floor (or not feel it). When you press the lower back toward the floor, known as imprinting, you can usually feel the floor touching your lower back. Conversely, or neutral you should have a slight arch in the lower back. There should be some space between your spine and the floor. There doesn’t have to be a lot of space and everyone’s neutral can be different. Generally, the rule is that you should be able to […]

Finding NeutralMaggie Downie2018-02-14T16:23:08-05:00

Pilates: Beginner vs. Intermediate

Maggie doing Spread Eagle on the Cadillac with Fuzzy Straps…Intermediate

Most of Personal Euphoria’s group classes are mixed level, but a couple of our towns offer intermediate classes. People regularly ask me what the differences between beginner and intermediate classes are. So here are some basic guidelines I like to follow:

Pilates Basic Principles

You know and are familiar with all the basic principles. It doesn’t mean you absolutely have to have perfected each principle, but you know it when you hear it and while you may require a reminder, you can make the adjustment needed if cued to. The general basic principles are: breathing, imprint vs. neutral, shoulder stability, neck placement during exercises, and knitting the ribs. Again, this doesn’t mean that you never need to be reminded to relax your shoulders, but when you hear that reminder you are able to. It doesn’t mean that you never feel an exercise in your neck, but when you do, you have ways to move your body to release that tension or you know to lower the head.

Control Imprint vs Neutral

This is […]

Pilates: Beginner vs. IntermediateMaggie Downie2018-02-14T15:28:07-05:00