Short Spine
Of course, there is so much more to this exercise that I included in this short tutorial.
However, when planning how to approach it, I chose to highlight the most common issue I see people forget to remember:
When rolling up and down articulating the spine, there is no substitute for harnessing the âumfâ to do it from the Powerhouse.
Short Spine is often one of the first exercises where you are introduced to the idea of lifting your body weight against gravityânot moving with it.
Instead of hoisting your body up, you have to organize your muscles to support the movement.
Feeling âupside downâ can be confusing, and thatâs why clear instructions matter.
Even though this is only the first half of the exercise, starting in an organized way prepares you for what comes next.
In the second part, you need just as much clarity on how to articulate your spine down without losing the feeling of lift and control.
Thatâs where the exercise often falls apart if the setup wasnât there.
I like to say that there is âSwanâ in every Pilates exercise.
I say that because the ability to organize the upper back muscles (as one of the aspects of the Swan) is useful in all the Pilates movements.
Before we ask a client to use a skill during an exercise, we first need to teach them what it is and how to find it in their body.
In Short Spine, we ask clients to lift and articulate the spine from their Center rather than relying on momentum. But first, they need to know how to engage their abdominals and maintain that connection as they move through more beginner exercises.
I teach this and other foundational movement skills that prepare your clients for the Pilates exercises in my signature course: What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.
The Skill You Need Before Short Spine
Learning a movement when learning Pilates exercises is as much a physical effort as it is mental.
The body often already has the capacity to move.
The challenge is coordinating the movement with enough awareness, proper timing, and precision, for it to happen efficiently.
I see this a lot.
Understanding an exercise intellectually and being able to perform it well are not the same thing.
The body needs many focused repetitions and time to turn information into experience.
Short Spine is one of those exercises that reflects how well the body and mind are working together on a given day.
That is why the experience of the exercise can vary so much.
Some days the movement feels coordinated, supported, and effortless.
Other days it can feel disorganized, therefore difficult.
Safety first đ
When teaching Short Spine to a client for the very first time, after setting them up with these steps below, I always assist.
I hold the straps lightly so as to not âget in their wayâ but securely enough that the straps donât slip off of their feet in case they donât fully comprehend yet what they are supposed to be doing.
Again, only the first few times.
After a few sessions, I stop holding their straps, but I always include my step-by-step set-up instructions so that they have a safe and beneficial experience each time.
I find that regardless of how many times my clients have performed Short Spine, they always benefit from my concise set-up reminder. đ
"Short Spine isnât about getting up and over as fast as possible.
When momentum takes over, it is very easy to roll onto the neck.
But when the triceps press into the mat...
the upper back muscles engage and the abdominals support the lift
and the movement is executed with precision which prevents us from ending up on the neck.
And thatâs what makes this exercise safe.
I call being in control of your body on the equipment â being one with the equipmentâ.
Centering - the ability to initiate movement from your Center, is a learned skill.
In Short Spine, first you need to know how to engage your abdominals; then you need to maintain that connection as you lift and articulate your spine.
The first is learning the skill. The second is putting it into practice. Centering replaces momentum.
This is what I teach in What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills: how to learn this and other basic movement skills in your body, so you can then apply them to Pilates exercises.