Trunk awareness exercises from Anne Howard, MPT
Her contact is below if you like her services.

These exercises will teach us to maintain that sweet spot of the neutral spine while we are riding and going about our chores. It takes a minute of thinking and getting on the floor, but will pay off for the rest of your life.

"MARCHING"
Lying on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor, feel for the bony knobbles on the front of your hips (the ASIS). Get yourself into a neutral position with a small hollow under your low back... Lift one knee up a few inches. Did your two knobbles stay still/even? Likely the one on the side you lifted the foot dipped down a bit. Did you lose your neutral spine? Try again. Your goal is to maintain absolute stillness through your trunk/pelvis as your hip joint stays mobile (lifting the knees alternately). Play with different levels of tone in your back muscles and tummy muscles. Have someone push into your tummy with a fist (gently, please!) and then use your tummy muscles to lift their fist so your tummy isn't "deformed". Try lifting a knee with that level of tone...does it help? Did you lose the neutral spine the other direction?

This exercise can be built upon in practically infinite ways to increase the demands on your stabilization...

"ANTI-CRUNCH"
I use this exercise for riders in particular to help strengthen the "front-line" muscles (abs, psoas/iliacus) especially needed for dressage riders in collection. (Same as in the horse...hmmmm! Coincidence, I wonder! *sarcasm here*) In the same start position as before, recheck for neutral spine. Lift one knee then the other to nearly perpendicular to the floor. Keep a slight hollow in the lower back. Place your hands on your knees (harder) or lower on the thigh (easier) and push. The goal is to go nowhere - hard! Recheck your spine position frequently, do remember to breathe before someone finds you out cold! Hold this for short periods at first, building to a minute of strong pressure.
If this is too hard, try with one knee at a time at first.

"TARGET PRACTICE"
(If you can come up with a better name, let me know...the "real" name for this one is "PNF: LTR R/S". And believe me the non-shorthand isn't better!)

Same start position, this one requires a helper. Check for Neutral Spine. Put your hands together and point towards the ceiling as if about to shoot a target. Your goal is to hold this position in netral spine despite external forces. HELPER on your right side: kneeling beside the victim-uh, make that exerciser, gently push their knees to their left, and pull their hands to their right, and then release the pressure and reverse so that you pull their knees and push their hands. The helper's goal is to apply enough pressure to be a challenge but not so much that the exerciser fails. You need to monitor how they are doing in keeping their trunk still, both buns on the floor, no odd contortions through the middle, both shoulders on the floor. You may need to remind them to breathe, when they turn hot pink is a good cue. :-) Remember to apply and remove pressure slowly so they can decrease the hold and not be bounced around.

These are basic starters for trunk awareness and stabilization training, there are many more, which I'll do next edition... If there are specific questions on these or topics you'd like addressed, please let me know. Otherwise I'll do a few back ex and add balance training.

Anne "Yes, I'm available for clinics and seminars" Howard
(still removing furox, betadine, cotton wisps, epsom salts, and other unmentionables from under my nails before heading to work... Patients should appreciate this... :-)
Horses are all definitely in recuperation mode! Lindgren clinic was GREAT!)

##############################################################

V A L L E Y P H Y S I C A L T H E R A P Y --> 408/338-4458

Anne Howard, MPT
American Sporthorse - "Serious training for the serious rider, with a good measure of silliness for sanity."