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From our Anatomy Concepts series

When working with clients, we are constantly balancing concepts of stability, force, mobility, and flexibility. After all, these are the foundational principles of Pilates and movement.

Despite this fact, I’m sure most of us have attended workshops and conferences where speakers have waxed lyrical about a “new” technique or promoted some “revolutionary” discovery. While concepts can be repackaged and rebranded an infinite number of times, the saying “everything old is new again” holds true. Yes, new trends emerge and a muscle, nerve or joint may have its day in the sun, but when it comes down to it, we are always working with our trusty friends—stability, force, mobility and flexibility. This holistic way of working with the body will never go out of style.

Putting these concepts into practice requires a strong foundational understanding of anatomy and biomechanics. We will be producing a series of workshops that explore specific anatomical concepts and techniques. I hope these will be beneficial to you as discerning movement practitioners.

This initial article will explore the concept of “rotational force”. Understanding this concept is important when applying principles of alignment, implementing muscle activation techniques and transferring your skills outside the studio.

Understanding rotation and muscle patterning to support movement

Our body moves in many different ways with a key element of this movement being rotation. To thoroughly understand rotation we must consider the concept in conjunction with:

• Force coupling

• Torque

• Spiral movements within a joint (“the spin of the head of the long bones”) .

What is a force couple?

Force coupling is a physics concept that can be applied when looking at how muscles create a push and pull effect on the skeletal system. It involves the balancing of muscles on either side of a rotational joint to support joint alignment and movement in that joint. Force-couple relationships are important for facilitating smooth, coordinated movements and for ensuring an even distribution of load across joints. Incorporating and adapting techniques that support the mobility of specific joints and the flexibility of muscles can help us achieve our broader goal of whole-body movement and greater stability.

There are many force couples of muscles in the body. Some you may frequently work with include:

1. Deltoid – rotator cuff force couple

2. Upper trapezius and serratus anterior force couples

3. Anterior-posterior rotator cuff force couples

4. Muscles of hip and femur

5. Oblique muscles

When we consider movements involving the ball and socket joints of the upper and lower body, we can see that the muscle patterns work to support the spin of the ball of the long bone. This leads to congruence (alignment) of that bone in the socket. In other words, when we lift our arm forwards, the deltoid and rotator cuff muscles help spin the humeral head and place it into the glenohumeral socket.

We can see how the force coupling of muscles supports the stability of the joint, but at the same time the muscles need power or force. This force is called torque.

To read more about Torque and how all of this relates to movement, go to Body Organics MoveMent, the link is below.

https://open.substack.com/pub/bodyorganics/p/torquing-about-force-balance-and?r=2ggw1y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false