You need rib cage mobility to expand your chest and move efficiently
Have I mentioned ribs cage mobility lately? I have probably done so in one of the last few posts. Before I get to today’s video of the movement, let me share a few things to help you increase ribs’ mobility. Maybe I will sound like a broken record. Still, your energy level will depend on how well you position yourself daily to do anything, even when doing Pilates. When you set your posture well, you facilitate your muscles to work better as one piece – there’s no wasted energy in good alignment.
As I mentioned before, building upper body strength means looking at all the parts that form the upper body rather than just a muscles group.
- Wrist to arms. Arms to shoulders
- Shoulders to back and spine
- Head and neck to spine.
As you can see, the connection keeps going to involve the whole body in a complex movement efficiently and safely. Let’s see how the ribs work. Example: When you twist when golfing, you stabilize your hips over your legs and use your upper body strength to rotate your ribs over your spine. Without ribs mobility, you might pull on your lower back muscles. Let’s take another example. In The Hundreds Pilates exercise, expanding your ribs gives you the power to lift your chest to activate your abdominal muscles.
The long-term effect of Pilates is his: Building the mental energy to stay focused while moving your body faster without losing shape. And you do that by training your ribs to expand fully every time you inhale so that you build endurance week after week. And when you go about your day, you will apply the same focus.
As I am typing this, the image that usually pops in my head is an accordion. Can you see the graceful, flowy movement of that instrument? That’s how I think of my ribs when I want them to move. Now it’s your turn; you don’t have to use my image; it’s even better to find yours. Your nervous system will store that image in its memory and use it to create a proprioceptive connection from mind to body and movement. Go ahead and try today’s rib mobility exercises.
