This week’s topic is about the benefits of Unilateral/Split Postures (examples: Power Split Diamond, Power 4, Horse) v. Bilateral/Centered Postures (examples: Chair, Plie, Sumo, etc).  Read on to catch some talking points for the next time you teach a split posture during class! 

Stability

• When you move the body from a bilateral position to a unilateral/split position, you narrow the body’s base of support.
• In narrowing your support, stabilizer function is forced to increase in the joints, strengthening nearby smaller muscles.
• By activating the body’s stabilizers in the core, hips, ankles, knees, and feet, you are increasing muscle functionality and resilience. 
• Split legged training equates to improved reactivity and coordination!
  

Strength with Flexibility

• Staggered stances provides the opportunity to build single-legged strength, while maintaining balance. 
• For example, the back leg (of a Power Split Diamond, Power 4) provides stability and balance to the posture, while the front leg leads the movement (this is a reason why you must work both sides in a Split series!)
• When your legs become split, it forces each leg to move more individually, and in doing so, demands more from your core.
• Split stance training improves hip mobility, whereas bilateral training does not.  More mobile hips can decrease low back stress.
• Clients with limited ankle mobility may also find that a split stance provides for a greater range of movement v. a bilateral posture.

Spinal Alignment

• A common misalignment in class is an anterior pelvic tilt (overt arching of the low back).
• By effectively cueing a split stance (e.g., in Horse Pose, the extended leg’s hip is in line with the knee and the stationary leg’s knee is over the ankle), you are helping to keep the lower ribcage down and the pelvis facing up (encouraging neutral spine).
• Wider/longer stances can further increase spinal extension/anterior pelvic tilt.  This, in turn, keeps the hip flexors and low back always “on,” making it harder for the breath to circulate through the body.
• By encouraging a neutral spine in a split stance, you are training proper posture, as well as aiding the body to stay oxygenated.
• Proper alignment in a split stance will help clients breathe more effectively and be able to stay in posture longer! 

Mindfulness

• The body is naturally designed as a bilateral being, meaning that the body can more easily balance on two legs rather than one.
• In bilateral/centered postures, more emphasis can be placed on the forms/range of movement, since balance comes more naturally.
• In split postures, the mind has to focus more on finding and maintaining the center of gravity to then find the movement.  

Keeping and maintaining the body’s center also requires the deep core engagement, belly button drawn to spine!