#TuesdayTips: What's the Difference between Imprint & Neutral Spine

Today's Question: What's the Difference Between an Imprint Spine & Neutral Spine?

Another question I get very often, and there are subtle differences between the two! So in my last blog post "How to Find Neutral Spine", a neutral spine is present when:

1. The pelvis is level (across the pubic bone and hip bones). Remember the triangle analogy?

2. All 3 natural curvatures of the spine are present. They are the cervical, thoracic and lumbar curves.

Let's bring back the good ol' spine diagram to refresh your memory!

An Imprint Spine, as the word suggests is when we lengthen our lumbar curve so that the lower back flattens out onto the mat, therefore having no gap between the lumbar spine & the mat/floor.

If we were to use this screenshot as an example, the lumbar spine is lengthened across the mat. Due to this lengthening, there is a pelvic tilt where the pubic bone is higher than the hip bones. So we are imprinting the lumbar spine onto the floor.

To find your Imprint Spine,

1. Lie supine on your mat, heels in line with your sit bones, knees up and feet on the floor.

2. Place your thumbs and index fingers together to create a triangle shape.

3. Place the heels of your palms on the hip bones, and the fingertips on the pubic bone.

4. Begin by finding neutral spine - hip bones in line with your fingertips. It should create a level pelvis, like balancing a teacup on the front of your pelvis.

5. Inhale to prepare.

6. Exhale to gently lengthen the lower back to the floor, closing the gap between your lumbar spine and the mat. You should feel a small lift in your lower abdominals, and your fingertips slightly higher than your hip bones (pelvic tilt).

7. Gently bring it back to neutral spine again.

8. Repeat this process a couple of times to help you find your imprint spine. On the very last one, maintain your imprint spine.

If you require a video tutorial, do click here!

Benefits of an Imprint Spine

We mostly use Neutral Spine when our feet are on the floor, such as shoulder bridges. An Imprint Spine is applied when our legs are off the floor (open chain). Some examples of such exercises are tabletop position, or when you are executing sequences where your legs and feet are not touching the ground.

For clients who has a more excessive lordosis curve, we will encourage them to work from an imprint spine to help actively engage the correct use of abdominals and avoid arching in the lower back when performing any leg extensions.

Again, breathing through the length of your spinal column is one of the core principles of Pilates! Give it a try, and I hope this helps you to tell the difference between a Neutral Spine and Imprint Spine.

P.S If you have a curiosity that you want satisfied, drop me a message in my CONTACT page. Or click here to a link on my Quora Space.