Have you wondered?

What a morning...stomachache all of a sudden. You are grabbing your stomach from the pain. What muscles did you use?

The next morning, you placed an order at the Starbucks drive-thru but oops, you just realized your purse is in the backseat. Have you wondered what muscles you used here?  

The muscles you used for your stomach pain is rectus abdominis…A.K.A the six-pack.

Considering muscle actions occur when Origin and Insertion (attachments) move closer, and picturing a sit-up you can tell where attachments could possibly be located…yes, somewhere in the upper torso and somewhere in the lower torso. To be specific, the Origin is pubic crest and pubic symphysis, and the Insertion is the cartilage of fifth, sixth, and seventh ribs and xyphoid process. When you bend your upper torso and lower torso toward each other, your six-pack engages.

COORDINATION

The muscles you used while reaching back at Starbucks are obliques. Obliques have two muscles, external and internal, and we primarily use them when doing side bends and rotating the trunk.

The Origin of the external oblique is external surfaces of the fifth to twelfth ribs, and the Insertion is the anterior part of the iliac crest, and rectus sheath to linea alba. The Origin of the internal oblique is lateral inguinal ligament, iliac crest as well as thoracolumbar fascia, and Insertion is internal surface of lower three ribs, and rectus sheath to line alba.

ROLL-DOWN WITH OBLIQUES

As a Pilates instructor, my goal is to become fluent in anatomy as I believe I can recognize how the body responds to exercises and instruct with confidence through a solid grasp of anatomy.

Interested in knowing more about anatomy? Please email me at systematicpilates@gmail.com or leave a comment!