Hi, and welcome to the Balanced Body Podcasts.
I'm Kerri Rie Stemler, here from Paragon Pilates and Physical Therapy in Minneapolis.
And I'm here today with Wahida.
And we're talking about working specifically with the dancer in this series.
Today, we're going to be working on upper back extension, working like a Combre.
So you're working that lift and openness in the upper chest, while not flaring the ribs out, again.
And really pulling up through the core to support the low back.
Oftentimes, what happens is when dancers go into a back bend, they kind of dump into their low back
and you get something that looks like that, but you really want to keep the pelvis tucked under
and you want more of a lift and an openness in the front of the chest.
So we're going to work on that in a prone position, doing pulling straps in T.
So Wahida, go ahead and lie on your belly.
She's going to be in a prone position.
So being in that prone position, we really want to see the pubic bone planted into the mat.
And then it's the hamstrings that are floating the legs up.
You really want to see an extension throughout the whole body.
So you get that two-way stretch, almost like her whole body is pulling taffy.
She's going to grab the straps with her hands.
And then I'm actually going to have her start inflection.
So she's going to let the upper body come down and forward over the box.
And then those elbows are going to be really extended long.
Go ahead.
So in the low back, so we don't get that crunching in the lumbar spine,
I'm really going to have her open from the rib cage to the top of the pelvis
and keeping the pubic bone planted.
So on the breath in, I want you to draw the straps back, working the upper back first.
Inhaling, come all the way up into that little baby back bend, little swan.
And as you exhale, lengthen the spine forward and coming down, all the way to flexion.
And again, breathing in.
So she's initiating from her upper back, really building that upper back strength.
Rolling the chest open and kind of shining her sternum forward.
And then exhale to come down, keeping that length.
And again, inhale to draw back.
So if she could, these shoulder blades would peel up and stand right on the end.
That's where we're looking at bending the spine, right from that T8 position.
And then coming down all the way.
Good.
One more time.
Inhale, keeping the length, stretching the body long.
Open the chest.
Almost like the sternum is coming through the shoulder blades.
Beautiful.
Exhale to come down.
So now we're going to move into a T pull.
But I want to see that same Combré action in the upper back,
the same sort of mini-swan position and the same core activation.
We're just working different musculature through the back of the arm.
So bringing the arms out to the side.
She's keeping that same length, keeping the pubic bone planted.
Neutral wrist alignments.
You really want to reach out like you have wings,
or you could touch the sidewalls with your arms.
And then you want the humerus bones externally rotating.
Good.
Inhale, draw the straps back.
I want to see that she can almost touch her humerus bones to her rib cage.
And then exhale as she opens, she's going to go to neutral spine.
Inhale as she comes up.
Again, she's going into that Combré position.
Opening the chest and shining it forward.
And then opening those arms wide to the side.
And do that two more times.
Inhale as you draw back.
She has a nice length from the crown of her head to her tailbone.
And she has a nice clean arc in the upper back.
So she's really bending right from that point.
Beautiful.
Go ahead and come down and rest.
Thanks for joining us.
Looking forward to seeing you again.
