Thighs, Legs and j-pegs

When teaching at JCHS from 2003-2009 it was really important to me for my high school students to gain a vocabulary when talking about their bodies. This wasn't only true of the health/sex ed class, but also of the Pilates, yoga and dance classes.

My adult and teenage students often point to a part of their body and say "this hurts" or "this is tight" without knowing the names of those muscles. This is always surprising considering that the people with whom I work are incredibly knowledgeable about so many other things, just not always about body things.

So I thought I would break it down. The big leg muscles are the hamstrings and quadriceps. The hamstrings and the quads are both muscle groups, not actual muscles. The QUADriceps are made up of four muscles*, and the hamstrings are made up of three muscles** (or it could be four if you consider the biceps femoris two muscles, short and long). The quads are the muscles in front of the upper leg and the hamstrings are the muscles in the back of the upper leg.

The thing that both of these muscle groups do that is so amazing is that they work on the same two joints, the hip and the knee. The quads are all very important in knee extension. The middle quad muscle, the rectus femoris, attaches to the ilium hip bone, so it flexes the hip. The hamstrings are involved in knee flexion and hip extension.

Both these muscle groups cross over the knee joint, so they are really important knee stabilizers. The quads cross over the front of the knee to the patella (knee cap). When the quads are tight, they often pull on the patella, sometimes moving it out of alignment. This sometimes causes clicking or pain but can be managed by rolling out the quads with a roller or pinky ball as well as through stretches. The hamstrings affect the knee from the other side and can be stretched and massaged. Be aware that pain in the back of your knee is something to you should heed. Those are tendons that are asking for attention. Tendons don't stretch like the big part of the muscles. Stretch the big part of the muscle first and you will probably find that your tendons will quiet down.

The other big reason to stretch your hamstrings is, because as I mentioned before, they attach to your hip. When the hamstrings are tight, they can pull on your pelvis, which in turn can cause lower back pain.

The front and back of your leg should balance one another, agonist and antigonist muscles. When walking the quads lift your leg and bring it in front of you. The hamstrings pull the leg behind you. When each muscle is doing its job effectively the other muscle gets to stretch.

So proper gait actually balances the muscles! We will focus on that one another time, in addition to the lower leg muscles and the IT band.

So remember, quads - front of the legs, and hams - back of the legs. Now go for a walk in sensible shoes or no shoes at all. Allow your arms and legs to swing. Let your legs pull the ground underneath you and push the floor away. Then stretch.

*The muscles in the quads are: Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Intermedius, Vastus Medialis. When rehabilitating the knee, we focus on strengthening the Vastus Medialis

**The muscles in the hamstrings are: Biceps Femoris, Semitendonosus, Semimembranosus

Jewish Yoga?

I just got off the phone with the Marin JCC. I can't get specific with my frustrations because the internet is not private. Here is my take on Jewish yoga:

As modern Jews, particularly those of us who live in the Bay Area, we are very aware of our physical health. Many of us find peace and inner strength from exercise and movement. In my classes I hope to convey that this sense of calm is not separate from Judaism.

Granted, working out, doing yoga or dance, is not the same as going to synagogue or studying Talmud. But Jewish life has never been ONLY about studying holy texts. It has been about taking care of your family, passing on traditions, living an ethical life and celebrating community. In a world where we have become more individualistic it can feel like Judaism just doesn’t fit.

For me yoga is a great place to start thinking about mindful movement. Yoga means union. The definition of that union has different interpretations. I think it is the union of the divine spirit inside us and the physical world. It is a time to reflect about how you stand, how you sit, how you breathe. When brought into a Jewish context, one can start asking questions like: where did that first breath come from? We can acknowledge that our bodies are absolutely incredible creations. We can start to appreciate the Divine context in which we live life.

This past summer I visited Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram as well as Auroville, a community that is dedicated to living out Auribindo’s teachings, creating an ethical community that is mindful, environmentally conscious and diverse. I was expecting to find a community that practiced yoga in the way that I knew it – on a mat. However, Sri Auribindo called mindful living Yoga. When one was doing organic farming, that was Yoga. When one was preparing food for others in the community, that was Yoga. When one was contributing to the community by being a security guard or artist, that was Yoga.

Yoga was not something that was done on the mat. In some ways, that community had a different challenge: getting on the mat.

So many of us practice yoga on the mat. So many of us practice mindful movement in Pilates or dance or maybe even on the treadmill. The challenge for us is to take the yoga off the mat. I’m not saying that these followers of Auribindo were perfect – far from it. But they got the idea right. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone who did yoga on the mat spent equal amount of time contributing to the community? One could argue that meditating, praying and mindful movement IS giving to the community. But I would argue that your personal experience is only one part of the puzzle. (I am married to King of Giving and Community Outreach, Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman.) In modern Judaism, you can't get away from Tikun Olam (Fixing/Healing the World) as a core principle.

This experience in Auroville made me feel more confident to take some of the Hindu out my yoga teaching. It is not the core of Yoga. With Judaism as a viable option, we don’t need to use Hindu god stories to explain our purpose in life. We have hundreds of our own stories that are rich and confusing.

We can breathe and think about our ribs expanding, what it means to give a rib to create another being (story of Adam and Eve). We can reach our heels back into the ground and imagine Jacob tugging at our heels (story of Esau and Jacob’s birth). Jewish folktales share the wisdom we have gained through the ages, often with humor. Sometimes we take it all way too seriously.

I often need to remind my clients that there is not pot of gold on the other side of that stretch. Judaism is all about the journey, not the destination. So much of the Torah focuses on wandering, not on living in a homeland. This is something to which so many of us can relate.

So now I need to write a description of a Jewish yoga class. I think I needed to get all that out before I market myself to the JCC’s of the South Bay and North Bay Jewish community. I am putting it out there that I would like to have some offer from SF. So much more convenient.

Butt Trilogy

So we are finally on the most famous of the three glut (pron. gloot) muscles, the Gluteus Maximus. In Pilates, we call the Gluteus Maximus an "on-off"muscle because it doesn't need to be used all the time. Meaning, the GM is not essential for stabilization like the psoas muscle or even the Gluteus Medius. We can stabilize our spine and pelvis without squeezing our butts. Butt squeezing might be a way of toning the muscle but it is not the way one should live life.

The Gluteus Maximus is used when we get up from a sitting position, climb stairs or simply extend the leg in front of us. It is the largest and most superficial of the three gluteal muscles, meaning it is furthest from the spine (so not a part of the "core") but it still important to keep it strong.

When the Gluteus Medius gets weak, it can often affect the piriformis and the TFL, and press on the sciatic nerve. When the Gluteus Maximus gets weak, it too can affect the piriformis, causing it to work overtime and press on the sciatic nerve.

When the GM gets too tight, it can affect the deep rotator muscles underneath it, called "The Deep Six." The Deep Six muscles, which include the piriformis, rotate the legs and stabilize the pelvis and leg. It is important to stretch and massage the GM so that all the rotator muscles that lie underneath the GM can work effectively.

Remember I mentioned the psoas earlier? That's the muscle we need to lift the leg. If that muscle is tight then we can't do the exercises we need to do to strengthen the GM, like climb stairs or run with correct form. This often causes the hamstrings to do the work instead of the GM, causing tight hamstrings that can pull on the pelvis and lower back.

So stretch those psoas muscles (also known as hip flexors)! Stretch those piriformis muscles! Climb some stairs and then stretch your hamstrings and piriformis muscles again!

Gluteus Minimus

The gluteus minimus is another overlooked butt muscle. It is the smallest of the three gluteal muscles. It often works together with the tensor fasciae latae (TFL). My high school students used to comment "There's a latte in your leg?". I will get to the TFL another day.

In Pilates, when we do side leg series, we sometimes feel this muscle as we lift the leg away from our midline in abduction. The gluteus medius also works when we internally rotate. If this muscle is tight, it can interfere with rotation in the hip. One very effective way of loosening the muscle is through massage with a foam roller or with a pinky ball.

Gluteus Medius

I thought I would start my Glut (pron. gloot) review with one of the lesser-known butt muscles, the Gluteus Medius. It is very important for pelvic stabilization.

Here are some additional functions: We use it to push the leg to the side, away from our midline, and it also works when we move the leg back into our midline. We can access it when we internally rotate our leg (anterior fibers) and when we push the legs away from our body in external rotation (posterior fibers).

In Pilates we focus on core stabilization so I watch people walk and look for hip movement. There definitely needs to be some hip movement because of the weight transfer, but it is important to look at the quality of the weight transfer. See diagram above. When we move forward while walking or running the Gluteus Medius makes sure we don't waddle side to side. It works together with the inner thigh adductor muscles to keep balance on one leg. Walking and running is the body's way of propelling ourselves in space by balancing on one leg and then another leg. When we walk we are balancing and then we fall forward and catch ourselves with the opposite leg. It is pretty amazing that most of us don't mess up the process more often.

The Gluteus medius helps us from swaying our hips so we don't pull on our joints and bones which can cause a lot of pain over time. There are exercises we do to isolate the Gluteus Medius but if you already know your butt the way that many of my clients do, see if you can work the muscle while standing on it, keeping your anatomy lesson of the day functional.

Butt Bowl i.e. neutral pelvis

I love this youtube video called Butt Bowl. It uses a fun way of finding your neutral pelvis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhTC_Jm78uk&feature=player_embedded

The QL

The Quadratus Lumborum (QL) muscle is next big culprit of annoyance for many people with back pain. It attaches to the sacro-iliac (SI) joint so it has a lot of responsibility. It needs to stay strong enough to keep your hips nicely attached to your back but loose enough that your psoas and low abdominal muscles can also work. Muscles need to play fair and unfortunately the QL likes to hog a lot of the action. When that happens the hips can easily move out of alignment causing muscles and ligaments to also readjust. Some people feel that their SI joint, to either side of the top of the butt-crack, move out of place, causing sharp pain.

The QL is also responsible for hip-hike and side-bending. Side-bending to one side (shortening the QL) can stretch the other side (lengthening the QL). If you are injured, go easy here because you need give your ligaments a chance to go back into place. This can take time. Ligaments can take longer to heal than muscles.

Another, more gentle way to access the QL for some, is simply to breath. The QL starts at the 12th rib and it stabilizes this rib during inspiration -- so breathe in and you might feel your QL lengthen a little. If you reach an arm to the sky as you inhale and imagine the hips staying nice and square, you are stretching the QL on one side.

The QL needs to work when we move, but we need to keep it relaxed enough that it doesn't throw off our core stability.

The Psoas Muscle

I just updated my facebook fan page with my thought of the day.

Here it is:

I have so many things that I want to share with you today. I have been thinking about the psoas muscle over the past couple of days. I have two clients who are trying to wrap their head around the concept. Liz Koch wrote a book (which I own, so let me know if you want to borrow it) solely dedicated to the psoas muscle. The psoas muscle is actually the iliopsoas muscle. You can check out her website www.coreawareness.com to learn more. I love that her approach is holistic but not in an annoying new-agey kind of way. Okay, maybe some of that music and psoas stuff doesn't really do it for me, but this woman really knows her stuff. When people say that their back hurts, I first try and figure out how this might relate to hip tightness and alignment.

In the summary below, she basically covers the main reason we have lower back pain. It has to do with gravity and how our bodies distribute the weight. She calls it the Pelvic Keystone:

"Gravity passes directly through the bony skeletal core via the spine, legs and feet; it does so by transferring weight from one spine to two legs through the pelvic basin. What creates and maintains pelvic integrity is a web of ligaments called the sacral iliac joints – this pelvic keystone transfers but does not bear weight. The psoas protects and attempts to prevent injury to the lumbar spine, pelvic keystone and nervous system. When torn, frozen or lax these proprioceptive rich pelvic ligaments communicate disturbed weight bearing signals that demand that the psoas, as messenger of the central nervous system, get involved. If weight does not move smoothly through the pelvis (evident by a torque, tipped or instable pelvic basin) it will be impossible to maintain a supple psoas."

So basically what Koch is saying is that we need to maintain alignment and strength of the psoas muscle so that we don't overuse or abuse it. I have worked with Yogis and Yoginis who are incredibly flexible but have very weak psoas muscles. I have worked with strong athletes who don't know how to release their psoas muscles for better athletic performance. And then there are most of us who simply suffer from lower back pain every so often, and there is a simple answer: psoas health. I could go on about this, but I truly recommend Liz Koch's expertise on the issue.

Article on SI Joint Pain

Just read a great article in Yoga Journal about Sacro-Iliac joint pain while researching more about what not to do when a pregnant woman suffers from pubic symphysis diastasis. It seems that the condition is aggravated when pregnant women stand for long periods of time and do exercises that would further destabilize the pelvis. Exercises that one should not do include split leg exercises that hurt. Keep doing pelvic tilts and Kegels, with an emphasis on the release part, not the tension part, to keep those pelvic floor muscles strong.

I haven't seen the belts, but there are also belts that can be purchased online to help stabilize the pubic bone into the spine. Maybe someone can create a belt that sounds a little more cool and less like an old school period pad (which is still what is used in places like Sri Lanka and India.)