Strengthen Your Back Body to Master Inversions

Inversions are something many clients struggle with for various reasons, The Pilates Journal spoke with Brad Inness from Byron Bay, NSW Australia to discuss ways you can strengthen your back and create a more harmonious integration of inversions into your practice.

Brad shares a selection of Pilates exercises that will not only strengthen and support our back body but also lay foundations for achieving inversions with grace and stability.

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“Navigating the symbiotic relationship between spinal mobility, stability, and rotation, three essential elements that empower us to move with fluidity and control, both in our Pilates practice and when exploring inversions in our practice. These exercises below are designed to progress your inversions over time,” said Brad.

“Let’s start on the Cadillac.”

Cadillac:

1. Supine Double Leg Press with Pelvic Lift:

   - Benefits: This exercise engages the core muscles, particularly the lower abdominals and pelvic floor while offering a stronger shoulder girdle stability challenge! It targets the glutes and hamstrings, aiding in hip stabilisation and alignment.

   - Improving Inversions: By strengthening the core and stabilising the shoulder girdle, this exercise can enhance overall body control and support when transitioning into inversions.

2. Pull Ups:

   - Benefits: Hanging Pull Ups are excellent for developing spinal stability, engaging the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles. This exercise targets the muscles of the back, shoulders, and arms, promoting upper body strength and endurance.

   - Improving Inversions: Enhanced spinal stability from the engagement of these muscles can contribute to better control and alignment during inversions, aiding in overall balance and control.

Reformer:

 1. Chest Expansion with Single Arm:

   - Benefits: This exercise promotes stability by engaging the core muscles, shoulder girdle, and back extensors. It helps in strengthening the spine, improving posture, and enhancing control.

   - Improving Inversions: By enhancing stability and control in the upper body, this exercise can lay a strong foundation for executing inversions with proper alignment and strength.

2. Chest Expansion Round Back:

   - Benefits: Focusing on thoracic extension, this exercise engages the upper back muscles, shoulders, and chest. It helps in improving flexibility, spinal mobility, and promoting a strong back.

   - Improving Inversions: Increased flexibility and mobility in the thoracic spine through this exercise can aid in executing inversions with fluidity and ease.

3. Roll Over:

   - Benefits: The Roll Over targets the core muscles, hip flexors, and lower back, promoting spinal articulation and hamstring flexibility. It strengthens the abdominals and improves pelvic stability.

   - Improving Inversions: Building core strength and enhancing spinal flexibility through the Roll Over can contribute to the stability and control required for successful inversions, especially regarding pelvic positioning and control.

Ladder Barrel:

1. Swan:

   - Benefits: Swan works to strengthen the erector spinae muscles along the spine, promoting extension and flexibility. This exercise engages the muscles along the back to improve posture, enhance spinal mobility, and prevent issues related to poor posture.

   - Improving Inversions: By strengthening the back muscles through Swan, practitioners develop the necessary support and control for inversions, enabling better stability and alignment during inverted poses.

2. Side Over:

   - Benefits: Side Over targets the obliques and lateral muscles, promoting lateral flexion of the spine. This exercise helps to improve core strength, mobility, and stability, contributing to a well-rounded back workout.

   - Improving Inversions: Strengthening the obliques and lateral muscles with Side Over can enhance the ability to control and stabilise the body during inversions, allowing for smoother transitions and better alignment in inverted positions.

Chair:

1. Pike:

   - Benefits: The Pike exercise on the Wunda Chair engages the deep core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and hip flexors. Additionally, it strengthens the erector spinae muscles along the spine, promoting spinal stability and control.

   - Improving Inversions: By strengthening the core and spinal muscles, Pike helps improve body awareness and control, essential elements for mastering inversions in Pilates practice.

2. Reverse Plank:

   - Benefits: The Reverse Plank targets the posterior chain, including the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles. It also activates the trapezius and rhomboids for upper back support.

   - Improving Inversions: Enhanced strength in the posterior chain and upper back contributes to better stability during inversions, allowing for controlled movements and alignment.

3. Mermaid with Rotation:

   -  Benefits: This exercise targets the obliques, intercostal muscles, and deep stabilising muscles around the spine. The rotational component promotes spinal mobility and flexibility.

   - Improving Inversions: Improved mobility and strength in the obliques and spinal stabilisers from Mermaid with Rotation can aid in fluid transitions and alignment adjustments necessary for inversions.

Pilates Circle:

1. Jackknife:

   -  Benefits: The Jackknife targets the deep core muscles, including the transverse abdominis and obliques, for spinal flexion and extension. The exercise promotes spinal articulation, offering a stretch to the spine while engaging the abdominal muscles.

   - Improving Inversions: By strengthening the core muscles and promoting spinal flexibility, the Jackknife helps to stabilise the spine and enhance control during inversions, facilitating a more controlled and supported movement.

2. Roll Up:

   - Benefits: The Roll Up engages the entire length of the spine, promoting segmental articulation and mobilising the core muscles. It targets the rectus abdominis, hip flexors, and the deep stabilising muscles of the pelvis and spine.

   - Improving Inversions: Enhancing core strength and spinal mobility through the Roll Up can improve the ability to execute inversions with control and precision, facilitating smoother transitions and reducing strain on the back.

3. Latissimus Activation:

   - Benefits: The Latissimus Activation exercise targets the latissimus dorsi, the broad muscle in the back. It promotes scapular stability, shoulder mobility, and upper back strength.

   - Improving Inversions: Strengthening the latissimus dorsi muscles through this exercise can enhance shoulder stability, which is crucial for supporting the body weight during inversions. By activating these muscles, practitioners can improve their inversion technique and control while reducing the risk of strain. 

Now that you've put in the work with the back-strengthening exercises and building up the stability and awareness needed for inversions, it's time to have some fun trying out different upside-down moves. Starting off with spinal mobility exercises like Pelvic Curl, Seated Roll Through, can be great to warm up the spine and shoulder stabilisers. Moving into exercises like The Roll Over and Roll Up can help you ease into more advanced poses such as Control Balance or Jack-knife. Winding down your practice with a chill inversion like Legs Up the Wall can wrap things up nicely, giving your body and mind a chance to relax and recharge.

In the world of inversions, many people face hurdles due to not fully grasping the importance of engaging their core correctly, stabilising their shoulders, spinal mobility and stability and nailing down proper alignment. Missing out on these key elements during inversion practice can lead to compromised form, less control, and a higher risk of injury. Prioritising things like transverse awareness and control, building shoulder strength (stability and mobility), and taking things one step at a time is super important in inversion training to keep things safe and effective.

They should feel good – like a stretch, but highly challenging at the same time, a harmonious balance between the two...

By offering cues to help your clients understand a two-way stretch and improve their overall alignment awareness, you can assist them in getting into the best positions, safely. It’s very important to understand the client you are with, and what cues would work best for them. Remembering everyone responds differently to tactile, verbal, and visual cues. If one cue isn’t sitting right, try cueing them in a different way. Cues to remind them to engage their core, link their arms to their back, and maintain a neutral spine will bolster their stability and offer the support needed for inversions. Highlighting the significance of controlled breathing, a steady gaze, and making personalised alignment tweaks based on each person's unique body mechanics can level up the inversion game, leading to safer and more effective practices. Even simply just by relaxing the jaw, some clients can make their inversions go from feeling like a struggle to an effortless approach.

Bradley Inness owns Ateom an intimate boutique studio nestled in the Byron Bay Hinterland, NSW, Australia.

Photography: Joel Benguigui owner of Blanc Studio Byron Bay.