Exercise of the Week: Stirring in Pigeon from the Handle Series

In GYROTONIC® Training, each family of exercises has a focus. For the Handle Series, the primary focus is the spinal ranges of motion. But there are also many opportunities in each family to branch out, to multitask, so to speak. This variation on stirring adds in hip opening for both the anterior and posterior hip.

If you've done yoga you're almost assuredly familiar with the pigeon pose. It's a great hip opener, the front (bent) leg gets the opening of the posterior hip (the glutes and piriformis) and the back (straight-ish) leg get the opening of the front of the hip (both the joint capsule itself and the hip flexors). This position on the bench puts you in a modified pigeon pose, getting those same benefits while moving through an undulating spine.

Intuitively, it makes sense that if one side of a joint is tight, the other side would be looser, more open. Not with the hips. They're "magical" that way. BOTH sides of your hips can be tight, which is really uncomfortable. And humans, especially in developed countries where most people do not work in agriculture, sit way too much. And that will tighten your hips all the way around.

The benefit of this position as opposed to within yoga is the pelvis being higher than the knee of the straight leg. It makes the pigeon position more accessible to people who wouldn't be able to get their pelvis to the ground in the yoga posture. And people who have tighter hips can also keep the back leg more bent and little by little deepen the stretch without the frustration of feeling like you can't even get into a proper pigeon position on the ground.