Terre Pruitt's Blog » Muscles

Quadriceps

terrepruitt — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:50:25 +0000

I subbed a Nia class in another part of San Jose today and so I had a different group of participants, and the routine we did today has a lot of bows in it. Watching the class do the bow stance made me think of how a bow is somewhat of a lunge. Reminded me how we really do work a lot of muscles in our Nia workouts with all of the different exercises we do. The bow stance is one of Nia’s 52 Moves.

Did you know you Quadriceps are made up for four muscles? Maybe, but since we always say, “quads” we might be thinking of them as one muscle. Of course, when we stop to think about it we understand that “quad” means four so it makes sense that quadriceps is four muscles.

Basically they work together. It is not as if you can work just one. Our quads extend the leg and flex the thigh. They move our thigh towards our chest and kick our foot out (as an example). Quads would be included in a “Push” workout. Lunges and squats target the quadriceps.

I am pretty sure you knew that the quadriceps were four muscles, but I thought I would just remind you.

Nia and the Core

terrepruitt — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:50:57 +0000

Nia thinks of the pelvis, chest, and head as the core of the body. Nia is not defining the core muscles or a core muscle group, Nia just includes these three body weights as the core of the body.

The core is Nia White Belt Principle #8.

Alignment of these three weights affects so many things; energy, bones, muscles, organs. If the alignment is not as it should be all of these things could be affected.

Movement can help properly align these three weights. Often times some areas of our bodies are stiff and/or tight and by moving our body as it was designed to be moved the stiffness gets worked out and the tightness goes away. Sometimes that is what is needed to assist in proper alignment. Other times it might be strengthening or just moving your body in a way it is not accustomed to move.

As an example of how we guide a body to alignment, we utilize the bow stance in Nia routines. A great exercise while in the bow stance is to move the pelvis in all directions. Moving the pelvis in all directions while in this stance allows for the body to gain or retain mobility. Mobility in the hips and the spine. Movement of the pelvis releases energy and muscle tension. This type of movement also requires strength in the torso and leads up to the chest and head. While circling or waving the hips the body falls on and off balance and the chest and head must be used to stay upright. All of this contributes to stability, flexibility, and strength.

We often dance our chest in Nia. We move our ribs to open them and keep the muscles in between mobile. We breath deep. We makes sounds. We use our chest to guide us in our workout, giving us a different way to move. This releases blocked energy.

Nia encourages movement of the head in our routines. We are often moving our head on its own or to lead us through a move. We employ our hands and our eyes to help us move our head. Not all cardio workout classes employ the use of the head and it seems as if a lot of people are just plain ol’ not used to moving their head. So caution is always recommended. Since moving the head stimulates two chakras it is sometimes very powerful and some people get dizzy until they are used to it.

When these three body weights are in alignment sense calm. When our body is strong yet flexible and capable of mobility it assist us in keep our body weights aligned correctly even when we move we feel confident and have a sense of wellness.

The Nia White Belt Manual* has over 15 pages addressing the pelvis, chest, and head. I think that means that there will be more posts regarding the core and/or its parts, because Nia has a lot of information that I can share about the core.

*The Nia White Belt Manual was created by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas as was Nia (the Nia Technique). All of this information is based off of information from their trainings and the White Belt Manual and the Nia Technique Book

Core Muscles

terrepruitt — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:46:15 +0000

You can look up “core muscles” and find that different people include different muscles in the group considered the “core muscle group”. But unless you are going to get that specific and train just one muscle in the group then you really don’t need to figure out which person is right. It would serve you just as well to do a variety of exercises that strengthen your “core” and more than likely you are going to be working the various different sets that the different people are including in the “core muscle group”. What can help is to think of the “core” not just as the abdominals. That is very limiting. If you think of the core as center from which you need to be strong and stable then you will possibly have a larger picture of what the core is and understand that it is more than just your abdominals.

You need a strong center to be stable and balanced while you are manipulating your limbs. If you keep that in mind you might realize that it is the back of your body as well as the front AND extending further down your legs than you first might have realized.

Doing a variety of crunches and sit-ups, including V-sit-ups and side crunches, will work your abdominals. Wood chops help with the entire trunk area. Push-ups are great because they require you to keep your abs tight for a great workout of them.

Bridges (lying on the floor and pushing your pelvis up), work the lower back muscles as well as the hips and glutes.

Lunges are great because they work your quadriceps and glutes. If you put some trunk twist into it with or without a weight you are adding another dimension to it and getting your trunk area.

Squats can help as they get the quads and glutes too.

Exercises that require you to balance yourself are going to help you with all those stabilizing muscles. These will strengthen your “core” as well as keeping it trained and at the ready for you when you need them to stabilize you.

So, do you really need to know that in a squat you are using your multifidus and quadratus lumborum (among other muscles) or does it just help to know that if you do them you are strengthening muscles that will assist you in having a strong a stable core? I believe it is good just to think about the “core muscles” as being the groups and groupings of muscles from the top of your chest down to your knees, front and back.

Hamstrings

terrepruitt — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:39:20 +0000

Not the string you use to tie up a pig or a ham, but the muscle group. There are three muscles that make up the Hamstrings; the Semimembranosus, the Semitendinosus, and the Biceps Femoris.

These muscles flex the knee bringing your foot toward your buttocks, extend the thigh, and rotate the hip/leg.

I have been thinking about my hamstrings A LOT the past few days because of a recent workout where I did a few exercises that really worked my hamstrings. There are a lot of gyms in San Jose but where my friend and I were is a tiny gym that does not have a lot of machines, but you don’t need machines to really work the back of the legs.

We did some deadlifts, hamstring curls, and worked with a kettlebell, not to mention our warm up lunges. So, yes, I have been thinking about my hamstrings a bit.

I wanted to point out that the hamstrings are three different muscles and remind you of that.