Jackknife

Let's talk about the jackknife. The jackknife is an advanced spinal articulation that also requires a great deal of work in all of the extensors of the body. So very actively we'll be using the shoulder extensors. Very actively, we'll be using the spinal extensors and very actively we'll be using the hip extensors to achieve a long, hopefully, vertical line. Something to be cautious about with this movement is that if somebody has, any sort of function in their cervical spine because the exercise requires the body to put a lot of weight into that area, this can be contraindicated for those individuals.

So choose carefully this exercise for people who have healthy cervical spines and who have a lot of strength and control. Let's have a look. The spring is light. One spring. One red spring. The exercise begins with the back of the body on the reformer and the hands in the straps.

We set the shoulders up underneath the hand. So the hands come straight up from the shoulders, and I am already starting to apply a little pressure into the straps from the muscles under the muscles that stabilize my shoulder blades. So the mid back, the lat underneath the arms, and then we bring the legs. The initial movement is to exhale, press through the arms and straighten the legs. Here, when the legs are straight, it's imperative that the low back stays imprinted into the reformer.

The next action is to lift the legs and then to roll the body over. So here I'm really focusing on my shoulder extensors. And now as the body lifts, here's where the back of the body starts to come into play. The back extensors are working and the hip extensors are working like crazy to take the legs up and think push the legs away. The legs then come back into over the body as the body rolls down.

The arms are reaching all the time to stabilize the shoulder blades. And then as the legs lower, the arms return to the start position. Inhale, press the arms, lift the legs. Exhale roll the body over. Reach down.

Inhale, lift, press with the arms, lift with the spine, push up and away with the legs. XL to roll the spine down. When the pelvis is down, the arms lift and the legs go back to the start position. Reaching, arms pressing, spine lifting, hips pressing. To exit the exercise, we bring the knees in.

We can place the feet down. We can release the spring and place the straps back. Take care in that exercise. There's a lot of pressure in the neck area You could not lift quite as high and stay more balanced over the shoulders if you are concerned about the pressure in the neck, but in order to achieve the vertical line, it's just something that can't be avoided. So once again, just take care.

Choose carefully the jackknife.