The Muscle You've Never Heard of But Need to Know

By Leslie Goldman When it comes to a tight core, most people picture six-pack abs. But a truly toned core is much more than what you see on the surface. Deep within your loins, the psoas (pronounced SO-az) muscle group partners with other muscles to stabilize and girdle the lower spine, promoting proper body alignment. "It's our most important skeletal muscle," says Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones, an advanced Pilates and Hatha yoga instructor and author of The Vital Psoas Muscle: Connecting Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being. "The psoas is the only muscle connecting the spine to the legs, so it serves as the sole link between the upper and lower extremities." Even though you've never seen it, it creates movement and flow throughout the body, constantly contracting and releasing. Just like other muscles, the psoas can grow stronger or weaker, depending on your lifestyle. Sitting all day is a killer, as one might expect. In today's sedentary society, Staugaard-Jones says the average person spends five to 11 hours a day sitting, hastening muscle atrophy. Between computer use, driving, flying, reading, watching TV, and sitting at a table to eat or write, we are constantly placing our bodies in a relaxed hip flexion position, with the full weight of the torso hovering on top and the lower extremities inactive. Such a position can inhibit circulation, muscle conditioning, and nerve response, leading to lower back pain, sciatica, and poor posture. "If you sit for a good porti...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news