Hello dear community!
During the foundation course we were told to focus especially on the small hinges during the day as they get forgotten very easily. I think this makes a lot of sense and I am on that now.
But whenever I perform a "small" hinge forward, like for example washing dishes or brushing teeth, my lower back gets very tense - which makes sense as it is holding my body against gravity. What makes me wonder is that the rest of my back does not seem to work quite as much, compared to my low back which tenses up to the form of wire rope.
During every small hinge it also feels like most of the movement is happening in the pelvis area: buttock shifts back and pelvis drops forward, while the upper back just leans for a few centimeters, so maybe it is completely natural that the lower back has the most work to do during small hinges.
Nevertheless we also got the notion of "hinging with an even groove" which sounds like the muscles should be working in a more balanced manner.
Does the description sound like I am doing something wrong? Or is it just a sign of, for example, my low back being too weak still? Tips and thoughts are very appreciated!
Thank you so much for your help!
Kind regards
Ramil
EDIT: Actually Tallstanding itself (which would be the smallest possible hiphinge I guess) also causes quite some tension in the lower back. So those two might be connected somehow.
1 hour 22 min ago
11/03/2015 - 2:37am
Hi Ramil,
I’m impressed by your motivation to look at small hip-hinges - nice work! And it sounds like you are very in touch with your body.
It seems to me that you may be over-anteverting, in both hip-hinging and tallstanding. You’re correct that the erector spinae muscles either side of the groove are working against gravity when you bend, but they should be quite relaxed when standing.
Anteversion takes time - keep doing the bolster exercise, stacksitting, stretchlying on the side and squeezewalking - all help the pelvis to default passively to anteversion. You want to avoid forcing the pelvis into anteversion to protect your erector spinae from tension. Remember that your natural L5S1 angle may be quite subtle.
I know it’s hard to go slow when you’re motivated - I did the exact same thing as you when I was first learning!
Good luck :)
Best,
Tegan Kahn
Gokhale Method Teacher (Canberra, Australia)
1 year 1 month ago
08/13/2020 - 9:13am
Hi Tegan!
Thank you so much for your advice. I will pay more attention to whether I am anteverting my pelvis too much. I am definitely not doing it conciously, but maybe there is some unconcious thingy going on :)
Of course I will keep continuing with the other exercises like stacksitting and co.
I have the feeling that my lower back has to work a lot because of my quite strongly protruded head. I have observerd that whenever I force myself to straighten out (like with Inner Corset for example) the tension in my lower back gets lower. Is that a possible explanation?
Thank you so much for your help!
Kind regards
Ramil
1 hour 22 min ago
11/03/2015 - 2:37am
Hi again Ramil,
Yes, necks are relatively slow to change compared with other body parts. In the meantime, you want to avoid creating new tension in your lower back by trying to compensate. Let the pelvis and the neck position evolve in synergy at their own pace :)
With inner corset bringing your tension lower, my guess would be that your muscles are just resisting the stretch a little. Perhaps they are not used to it. But it's hard for me to say for sure without seeing your body.
Best wishes,
Tegan Kahn,
Gokhale Method Teacher (Canberra, Australia)
8 months 3 days ago
03/25/2024 - 12:07am
Thanks