Let’s figure out how to align our lumbar spine and pelvis to improve shock absorption and keep our intervertebral disks happy!
You can find it at the front of your pelvis to the sides. You'll often refer to your ASIS to tell if your lower back is neutral (optimal for shock absorption) or imprint.
You can find it where the two sides of your pelvic bones meet in the middle at the front.
You can tell if you're in a neutral lumbar spine and pelvic position if your ASIS and pubic symphysis are lined up give or take a few degrees. You should then have a little arch of your lower back.
You can imprint your lower back and pelvis, by using your obliques to gently draw your pubic symphysis up to your lower rib cage.
Allow the weight of your sacrum to rest on your mat. That will usually arch your lower back just a little.
You don’t need to squeeze your rectus abdominis (6 pack) – it only takes a gentle engagement of your obliques.
The neutral arch is the most shock absorbing position for your lumbar spine. Your Pilates Instructor will let you know when you should find your neutral arch and if you need to adjust your position.
At first, you imprint during exercises with an open kinetic chain (like the hundred) to help stabilize and protect your lower back. But as your torso stabilizers get stronger, you can start to perform those exercises in neutral safely. Since your body will differ from day to day, if your lower back feels uncomfortable in neutral during an exercise, gently rock your pelvis into imprint.
It helps us avoid back tension, power our movements and stabilize our core joints.