The psoas muscle is the most important muscle in the body and the main engine of walking. It is essentially responsible for holding us upright while standing. We believe that knowing how your body works is the first step to relieving chronic aches and pains. Issues with the psoas can lead to any number of problems throughout your body-both physical and emotional. Lower back pain and other joint discomfort as well as disturbances to the nervous system can be linked to the psoas. This book will teach you about the Psoas and its core function within the body as well as how to release the psoas muscle for immediate relief from chronic pain.
Located deep within the anterior hip joint and lower spine, the psoas major (usually just referred to as the psoas) is critical for optimal postural alignment, movement, and overall well being. The psoas is the only muscle in the human organism that connects the upper body to the lower body, and its importance extends to the nerve complex and energy systems. As modern-day populations grow more sedentary, psoas-related lower back and hip pain, and the ailment of "sitting too much," are on the rise. Even the most active of athletes can suffer from psoas imbalance and pain. The Vital Psoas Muscle demonstrates how to keep the muscle in balance through specific exercises designed to strengthen and utilize this amazing muscle, and discusses its vital role in the emotional and spiritual state of the human being. The interconnection between the psoas and the root chakra is explored, along with yoga poses and postures that stimulate the psoas. Eighty full-color illustrations depict anatomical details, and show the key stretching and strengthening exercises in this practical and comprehensive treatment of the most important skeletal muscle in the human body.
This book is a basic collection of exercises that we offer to clients of the FitzGordon Method Core Walking Program. Any one who walks in our door will receive a series of exercises meant to create a workout tailored for them specifically. We all need to work on different parts of their body to create a balanced whole and no two people are the same. At the FitzGordon Method we analyze our clients to help them rebuild their bodies in a conscious and specific way. While we work with all of these exercises and more, the idea is to only do the exercises you need to bring balance to a certain part of your body. You should test your ability in all of these exercises and, as long as you are doing them correctly, focus only on the ones that seem more difficult. The work is a search for ease in the body and ease in the mind. Once an exercise is easy enough you might do it once in a while for maintenance but continually focus on the muscle groups that don't work as well as others and maintain the discipline required to develop a balanced body.
The first book to comprehensively discuss the function of the psoas in posture, movement, and exercise, The Psoas Solution identifies the functional anatomy, biomechanics, and motor control of the psoas and its role in core and hip stabilization. Integrating research with clinical experience, Evan Osar identifies the psoas's role on the hip, pelvis, and low back and demonstrates how to incorporate the psoas into functional movement patterns including squatting, lunging, and bending. The Psoas Solution includes corrective and functional exercise progressions for improving and integrating the psoas into daily activities. Health and fitness professionals will find this a valuable resource full of applicable strategies and exercises to incorporate into current rehabilitation or training programs. Abundantly illustrated with full-color images throughout, this book also provides most complete review on the relevant research on the psoas available. For years the psoas has been a muscle mired in controversy. It has been linked to common postural and movement dysfunction including anterior pelvic tilt, hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine, and low back pain. Strategies to improve posture and reduce pain have primarily involved stretching the psoas and strengthening its antagonist, the glutes. However, recent clinical research has revealed that the psoas is much more than a simple hip flexor and plays an integral role in both posture and movement. This professional treatment manual for health care practitioners and students gives an overview of the ways that non-optimal use of the psoas can affect breathing, posture, and movement. It outlines specific treatment strategies that enable patients to develop awareness and utilization of the psoas muscle to achieve three-dimensional breathing and improve balance and body mechanics.
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO PREVENTING BACK AND HIP INJURIES BY STRENGTHENING THE MUSCLE GROUP CONNECTING YOUR UPPER AND LOWER BODY Connecting the lower spine to the hips and legs, a strong and flexible psoas muscle is vital for everyday movements like walking, bending and reaching, as well as athletic endeavors like jumping for a ball, holding a yoga pose and swinging a golf club. With targeted information and exercises, this book’s step-by-step program guarantees you’ll transforms this vulnerable muscle, including: •Develop a powerful core •End back pain •Increase range of motion •Improve posture •Prevent strains and injuries Packed with 100s of step-by-step photos and clear, concise instructions, Psoas Strength and Flexibility features workouts for toning the muscle as well as rehabbing from injury. And each program is based on simple matwork exercises that require minimal or no equipment.
In Tight Hip, Twisted Core you will: Discover how this muscle impacts your body from head to toe Determine if you are one of the millions of people with a tight iliacus muscle and why Release the tension in the muscle for good Get your body aligned for pain-free performance Prevent this muscle from getting tight ever again
Weaving together biology, living systems thinking, and somatic movement, these nine short essays will inspire somatic therapists, bodyworkers, and movement educators Liz Koch, author of Core Awareness and The Psoas Book, seeks to dissolve the objectification of "body" in order to reconceptualize human beings as biologically intelligent, self-organizing, and self-healing. Specifically addressing educators and therapists, she delves into the conceptual framework of core by decolonizing the popular mechanistic thinking of psoas as muscle, inviting the reader on a journey toward reengaging with life's creative processes. The book illuminates the limitations of the predominant paradigm of body and actively explores psoas as a vital, intelligent messenger that links us to an expansive network of profound possibilities. Employing biomorphic and embryonic paradigms, Koch redefines psoas as smart, expressive tissue that is both elemental and universal. Named after her popular exploratory workshops of the same name, Stalking Wild Psoas encourages all readers to nourish integrity and claim self-efficacy as creative and expressive individuals.
This open access book focuses on imaging of the musculoskeletal diseases. Over the last few years, there have been considerable advances in this area, driven by clinical as well as technological developments. The authors are all internationally renowned experts in their field. They are also excellent teachers, and provide didactically outstanding chapters. The book is disease-oriented and covers all relevant imaging modalities, with particular emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging. Important aspects of pediatric imaging are also included. IDKD books are completely re-written every four years. As a result, they offer a comprehensive review of the state of the art in imaging. The book is clearly structured with learning objectives, abstracts, subheadings, tables and take-home points, supported by design elements to help readers easily navigate through the text. As an IDKD book, it is particularly valuable for general radiologists, radiology residents, and interventional radiologists who want to update their diagnostic knowledge, and for clinicians interested in imaging as it relates to their specialty.
Pain is an epidemic. It prevents you from performing at your best because it robs you of concentration, power, and peace of mind. But most pain is preventable and treatable, and healing is within your grasp. Hundreds of thousands of people around the globe have taken life “by the balls” and circumvented a dismal future of painkillers, surgeries, and hopelessness by using Jill Miller’s groundbreaking Roll Model Method. The Roll Model gives you the tools to change the course of your life in less than 5 minutes a day. You are a fully equipped self-healing organism, and this book will guide you through easy-to-perform self-massage techniques that will erase pain and improve your performance in whatever activities you pursue. The Roll Model teaches you how to improve the quality of your life no matter your size, shape, or condition. Within these pages you will find: • Inspiring stories of people just like you who have altered the course of their lives by using the Roll Model Method • Accessible explanations of how and why this system works based on the science of your body and the physiological effects of rolling • Step-by-step rolling techniques to help awaken your body’s resilience from head to toe so that you have more energy, less stress, and greater performance Whether you’re living with constant discomfort, seeking to improve your mobility, or trying to avoid medication and surgery, this book provides empowering and effective solutions for becoming your own best Roll Model.