Anne Robinson and Your Posterior Chain

I can’t actually remember how the teatime quiz show The Weakest Link actually works. But I know back in the day there was some frantic yelling of ‘BANK’ and original host Anne Robinson was absolutely terrifying in a winky/scary/sarcastic way I am not sure would really be allowed anymore.

But it’s a great hook to use to get into a quick blog on our Posterior Chains and let me get straight to the point: The Best Chains Have No Weakness At All.

But, like in the game show, all our links, aka muscles, are in competition with each other and hoping they can actually just sneakily rely on one another to do all the (literally) heavy lifting. And still win the money. Contestant Mark from Burgess Hill as the mighty multifidus carrying Gill from Abergavenny’s slightly lazier glutes…

In everyday life, our posterior chains can be neglected from many factors but certainly for sitting still for long periods of time. The glutes (bum muscles) are not being used, quads (front thighs) stay in a slightly shortened position, and back muscles (such as the multifidus) support the weight of the spine and head etc. Heads tend to tip forward to look at absorbing screens or books pulling our shoulders (such as trapezius) into a long help position…and often office chairs and sofas are soft and cradling making it just hard to get up and move. And our clever bodies will adapt to whatever it feels is easiest. So, when we do then stand up and in lots of cases this time of year, get right busy in the garden leaning over and digging and lifting and twisting, our bodies are not prepared and will often rebel with a pulled muscle or serious niggle.

So, how do we target the posterior chain in Pilates? Often with the exercises lots of clients find tricky – not just the table tops, spine curls and glute bridges, but really all the stuff we do lying prone on our front such as the diamond press, leg lifts, stars, swimming and the super fun skydive and dart. And our ‘bread and butter’ Roll Downs are a great ‘starter for ten’, that help set up our alignment, scan the body and get the real feeling of pulling energy up our fronts and tucking it all down our backs. And our whole well-structured Vita Pilates classes will ensure we are always ensuring there is no “You are the Weakest Link, goodbye”. Just a regular chance to “BANK!”.