When practicing yoga, we all know that the four pillar support is a particularly important pose in the series up and down dog pose.
But many practitioners have found that the four pillar support is difficult to do well.
Today, let’s take a look at the positive prompt in the four pillar support! Where do these clues of “correct” alignment in four column support come from? Why is alignment important? Because four pillar support is a yoga pose that is easy to get hurt.
So is there a “correct” alignment that can solve these problems? Specifically, we need stability around the shoulder straps.
We need the stability of the whole body core to maintain the integrity of posture and avoid injury.
Where does the stability of four column support come from? There are many muscles that must remain stable in postures such as four pillar support.
In and around the shoulder belt, the anterior serratus muscle is trying to stabilize the scapula to the chest.
We have some activity in the chest from the pectoralis major muscle.
Moreover, the triceps also works at the back of our arms.
Moreover, the rotator cuff muscles are trying to dynamically stabilize the shoulder joint itself.
Common orthostatic tips in four column support today we break down some common tips in four column support.
The elbow joint is 90 degrees: keeping the elbow at a 90 degree angle or aligning the elbow with the wrist usually makes the shoulder move forward, while most people can keep it without pulling the shoulder.
It just puts too much upper body weight on one side of the center of gravity (in front of the forearm line).
This is beyond the reach of most practitioners’ shoulders, hands and wrists.
It also puts the wrist at a smaller angle, increasing the potential pressure on the wrist.
Elbow clip: another tip I often hear is that your elbows should always be folded on both sides of your body.
For most people, this is a good way.
But not necessarily immediately.
People who practice four pillar support have different levels of experience.
Some students who are just beginning to practice may have good strength in the pectoralis major muscle.
But they may not have developed the strength of the triceps to reduce eccentric contraction while retracting the elbow.
You can make your elbows slightly outward and use some of the strength of your chest muscles to do this position.
Specifically, as I said, you are trying to strengthen your relationship with the anterior serratus muscle to stabilize the scapula.
If you practice too much four pillar support and rely only on the rotator cuff muscles to keep your shoulders in a weight-bearing position like four pillar support, it may not be very good in the long run.
Instead of looking for a single “correct” alignment in a four column brace, consider modifying the exercise to choose the best method for the ongoing exercise.
For example, lower your knees to reduce the weight of your shoulders.
You can also lower slightly, rather than all the time, during the transition from four pillar support to upper dog.
If you take the time to find a four pillar support variant for your body and slowly increase the number of repetitions, you may build a better relationship with the four pillar support in the long run…