Stable Spine

Elliot is figuring out how to roll. He isn’t quite there yet, but he can get on his side and with the slightest push complete a back to belly roll. It’s been amazing watching him learn how to move, seeing him day by day develop more motor control and better stability.

This morning while we were playing on the floor practicing rolling, I couldn’t help but notice how rolling imitates many of the core stability drills we practice in the gym. Specifically, the hollow position, the arch body position and home base of the dead bug.

In order to get back to belly, Elliot has to find a stable spine in a hollow body shape to get on his side, his missing piece is going from hollow to arch that will give him the momentum to complete the roll to his belly.

It’s amazing to see these shapes and positions us grown ups are practicing emulated in a 12 week old baby. It makes you reconsider the fact that we all had to go through the same developmental patterns to figure out how to move our bodies through space and navigate the world. What surprises me more than that is that so many of us lost these basic skills somewhere along the way.

My goal with Elliot is to keep him moving and keep those basics in check - so when he’s 15 I don’t have to teach him a hollow rock, he should already know it.

Justin Miner