Here’s the latest installment in the Stephen’s blog about re-mobilising his hips.
PPS – Everybody should do them
It’s been 2 weeks now since my last update and things are still going well(ish). I have now developed a regular morning routine that I complete each day while getting ready for work. It goes as follows, and I apologise if I am giving more detail than you would like, but I did say that this would be a warts’ and all blog.
First of all, I complete my PPS, otherwise known as ‘Pre-Poo Squats’. This involves doing 10 squats before making my final descent to get on with business if you know what I mean.
When I first started doing these I was a good 10 inches from reaching the seat but I am now reaching the seat with relative ease and so may need to move onto the “advanced PPS”. I’m not sure what these are yet but I’m sure Jill will think of something.
Next, I do my “groin” stretch which is an exercise that is difficult to describe (quite rude to see, unless you know what I am doing) but is great for firstly identifying those tight areas and then working them loose.
See below link, it’s an exercise done by Paul Chek (one of Jill’s guru’s).
The shower then goes on and as I am waiting for it to heat up I do tabletop exercises. Once showered it’s time for my leg rotations.
I have found it really useful getting into this morning routine as without it I fear I wouldn’t be doing enough to keep moving forward and anything else I manage to do during the day is a bonus.
Root Cause
I keep on saying how much I have progressed, and I most definitely have done with regards to my hip mobility, however, I am now getting discomfort in other areas, namely my lower back.
While I’m tempted to use this as an excuse to take the easy way out and resort to my comfort zone of doing basically bugger all, Jill has assured me that this is actually a good thing. Apparently, we are peeling away the layers of symptoms to reveal the root cause of my problem which may well be one of my sacroiliac joints, and no, I don’t really know what this is and what it does.
All the muscles in my pelvic area have tightened up around this area of weakness in order to protect it, as is the bodies want. Jill has said that once my mobility has improved a bit more then we can start to work on exercises to strengthen this area.
The Full Monty
Any of the Friday night Pilates Ninjas will know that when it comes to moves where you need to spread your legs, I am RUBBISH. There are some exercises where it just isn’t going to happen – yet! I currently struggle to get my feet shoulder width apart so Jill has got me doing wide legged pelvic tilts amongst other things.
If you can imagine the scene – I am stood, hands on hips, legs spread as far as I can get them thrusting (sorry Jill, tilting) away. I can’t help but have Donna Summers “Hot Stuff” going through my head when doing this – not sure why?? I might need to dig out my Policeman’s hat and red leather thong!
Now that I have put that image into you minds I will leave till next time – Sorry.