What are muscle slings?
The human body is truly an amazing machine! Muscles slings are the connection between muscles and when the muscles then activate together they can enhance the stability of your body. When we injure our self, we can often create a dysfunction not just in the local area of injury but over time it can start to affect the areas that the muscles are connected to. This can then go on to create problems with the way we move or perform tasks.
These muscle slings are depicted in the picture below.
(Myer, 2013)
Left to right: Anterior oblique sling, Deep longitudinal sling, Posterior oblique sling, Lateral sling
What is the anterior oblique sling and how do I exercise it?
Anterior oblique sling consists of external oblique abdominal muscle and the opposite adductor (groin muscle). Exercises you can use to train this sling are abdominal oblique curls with a ball squeeze between knees, or Lunges with a torso twist.
What is the Posterior Oblique sling and how do I exercise it?
Posterior oblique sling consists of gluteus maximus (buttock) and opposite latissimus dorsi. Exercises you can use to train this sling include bridges with an arm pull, or lunges with an arm pull.
How do I exercise my slings?
Sometimes people who have sustained an injury they will need to retrain various muscles as a system in order to return to full function.
For example, exercises to train your posterior oblique sling in order to return to running after sustaining a hip injury would be a step up with an arm pull. This mimics the running action our body goes through. The goal of this exercise is to activate your gluteal muscle and latissimus dorsi.
Does Pilates train your slings?
Your physiotherapist can assist you to ensure your rehabilitation involves the right sling/s for your injury. The Physiotherapists at SPS can assist with the diagnosis and rehabilitation of your injury and assist to ensure you minimise dysfunction elsewhere.
Pilates is a great way to retrain dysfunction within all sling systems to allow efficient movement and peak performance. Each of our exercise classes is designed to address the various sling system. Contact us to find out more about our classes.
Picture Reference:
Myer, T. (2013). Anatomy Trains 3rd Edition . Churchill Livingstone.
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