That’s a Wrap - The Deep Six: The Bridge PART 1
A broccoli rubber band is all you need to find the deep six (your wrap) and connect the bridge! Fun nails not required!
The deep six. Sounds like a rock band, or maybe it's because I just finished Daisy Jones and The Six (highly recommended) all about a rock band. Ever wonder why Pilates foundation work is so big on wrapping six tiny muscles around the back of the pelvis? When I meet a beginner to the practice of Pilates, they can be so strong, but chances are these six little muscles have never been introduced. And as little as they are, they lead to big strength connection! They are the bridge on the back of the leg: Connecting the foot down into the ground, then back up the leg, crossing that deep six bridge to the pelvic floor, which is the base of the core. The pelvic floor, also considered the pelvic diaphragm, mirrors many diaphragms in the body, creating a vital structural element. It also has a spiritual foundation: mula bandha in yoga, and as an initiator of movement in Hsin Tao practice. Perhaps we will explore the full expression of the pelvic floor at another time. Let’s stand at the foot of “the wrap” bridge, and see how it helps lengthen the body and creates deep core activation.
But what is “the wrap”?
What will help drive home the point are the pictures from my Complete Anatomy app. I can say “it's important”, but the visuals can help you see why and make more sense engaging them! Mind body connection is a very powerful way to understand how the whole body integrates.
It’s not even necessary to know what each muscle is called, but thinking of how the body connects through visualization helps keep a body working with a high level of connectedness!l! Below is a video of a simple exercise to try to find your deep six using a broccoli rubber band (eat your veggies!)
Have you heard of the rotator muscles of the shoulder? The wrap muscles are the rotator cuff of the hip. They help support the hip joint by snuggling it deep into the socket, but in the practice of Pilates, they help to lengthen the legs too. That’s the bridge! Lengthening the legs activates the entire cylinder of the core to lengthen too. But if you work with me, I also cue the wrap in parallel as well, which also helps deep core activation. The wrap muscles in parallel are loaded in a lengthened position while the inner thighs do their job. In Part 2, I will talk about the inner thighs and their connection to the core. But finding the wrap will deepen your practice and strengthen and lengthen the cylinder (core). Pilates has most exercises in that small turnout in order to activate this chain of length and support. You will be able to see this in your footwork, series of five, and even standing heel raises. Dance engages these muscles too!
How to visualize them
Instead of just telling you to wrap or narrow, look at these amazing pics to get a good visual! It will help you see their close proximity to each other, therefore having a relationship together where they can affect each other in contraction and stretch phases of the muscles. You can see how their lines create the spiral of the small turn out in Pilates to help deepen your practice.
Here are some photos courtesy of my Complete Anatomy app:
The back diagonal view of the pelvis.
Here are five of the six external rotators of the hip, isolated with no pelvic floor.
Only counted 4? There is a sneaky small one between the bottom square-ish one and third going up.
Looking down into the pelvis. Birds eye view.
The sixth rotator lives inside the pelvis and one from the back connects below it.
Let’s meet the neighbor, Pelvic floor…
This is looking up from the front of the knee into the pelvis.
Pelvic floor is a bowl-like muscle, it breaths just like the diaphragm in the lungs if we allow it! My model here is female.
You can see the proximity of the rotators to the right.
Looking from ground up from the back and underside of the pelvis.
The deep six and the pelvic floor - What great neighbors!
And I mean, WOW! This is why the wrap is so important to engage the base of the core and connect the top of the leg to the ground!