Angela Smith of Classic Form Pilates in Burlington, Vermont writes:
Help Me Sister!
I have a new client who has presented me with a puzzler. It's a man, in his 40s, athletic all his life, in good shape, no flexibility at all. The issue is his ribs - he can't drop them. There's no movement at all. I've tried every trick and visualization I know to help him out but it's not working. He has a fairly broad chest and his ribs are just stuck. Any thoughts on how to help him (and others who are like him) to learn to funnel those ribs?
Dear Angela,
Sorry about the delay in responding, I was abducted by aliens and only this morning was set free. Sheesh!
I know this is going to sound weird but when the big stuck guys can't move their ribs you have to go off-road.
Lay him out on the mat, if his back is tight you may need to put something under his knees to take the pressure out of his lumbars. Let him know that all you're doing is trying to help him move his thorax, no other exercises or activities are at hand.
Ask him to cough and see if they move. Ask him to laugh (if your relationship permits, tickle his feet to get him to giggle) and see if they move.
Take him through some deepening breaths, start counting with 1 second for an inhale and 1 second for an exhale and work up from there, eventually counting him up to a 5 second inhale and a 5 second exhale. See if they move.
Show him pictures of the bony structures of the ribs, spine, shoulders and hips. Make sure he appreciates the dimension of his body - he's round, he's deep, he's oval, he's holographic. Have him close his eyes and imagine the circular shape of the base of his rib cage then have him imagine that circle broadening and narrowing with breath. Paint a word picture of the association between his sternum and his spine as he inhales and exhales.
This is what's called "bucket handle rib mechanics" and "pump handle rib mechanics" but he doesn't need to know that; all he needs is to be put into a mental and physical state where he can overcome the muscular inhibition that has him stuck. That's the key to release.
Oddly, this is a mental challenge, not a physical one. Unless he's hypertonic, he should be able to release from a mind-to-muscle sequence.
Getting back to visualization, once he's got an image of the movement of the ribs with respiration, then ask him to begin to sustain the feeling of compression in the ribs while inhaling.
If we removed the lungs from a healthy adult and fileted them, they'd be the size of a badminton court, 1/3 the size of a tennis court. We are a nation of panters - we rarely inhale past the point where the lung hits the rib but, in fact, the expansion and contraction possible in the rib cage is dramatic and he can do it, he just doesn't know he can.
That's where you come in.
Teacher, you must teach.
You can't go on as if he's not stuck; he is stuck and, sorry m'dear, but it's your job to unstick him! He won't get the strength and flexibility gains promised by the work until he can move his ribs in strength, not through stretch as in Yoga.
In Pilates, we stretch through strength just like athletes do; we do not stretch by hanging weight off the joint and letting time pass like Yogis tend to.
Google the rib mechanic stuff and make sure you know all that, then try this stuff and let me know if it helps.