Torso Rotation Exercises Using Therabands

[Ballet Mom]

I agree that this information is important enough that it should be broken off into its own topic. So here's the link of the thread that started the discussion.


You can do the rotation exercise with a thera-band but you have to get a grey or gold band. I suppose black would work as well. The point being that it needs to offer enough resistance. Stick it in a door frame and get a stable chair that won't slide or roll across the floor. Then slide away from the door, i.e. stretching the theraband, sit in the chair, arms across your chest while gripping the t-band, and rotate. The important part with this is to make sure your hips remain stable. An exercise ball is good to sit on as well. If you have access to a bar stool type of chair, i.e. a seat that swivels but does not have wheels on it, is a good test for pelvic stabilization. Sitting on that chair, when you rotate, if you are moving your hips the chair will rotate with you.

I can further explain this if anyone is interested and this doesn't make sense.



And, yet, oh so helpful. (Thanks to Dr. McIntire - actually just emailed his last post to my son.)


By sticking it in a door frame, do you mean looping it around the outside door knob and then closing the door, with the theraband coming through the crack in the door frame? The rest of it I get...

Hdugger...for neck and thoracic pain, my PT has me do a lot of standing rows with a theraband at home (or in the gym, but that's a couple miles away :)). I loop it around the banister and just do sets - it's barely any resistance but feels great...also I make sure my neck is pushed back and down, like you are trying to make the worst double chin ever, elongating the back of the neck to its max.


Thanks, foofer. I'll pass that on as well.


Either that or tying a knot at one end and putting it through the hinge side with the door open. Then when you close the door, it's locked in place. I usually told people to do it this way (hinge side). It just seems more stable to me. I got popped a couple times by a stretched band while trying to figure all of this out. Kind of funny.


Yeah, I've been wacked myself a time or two. And it is funny - kind of a slapstick pain.

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showthread.php?11637-Pilates-amp-Scoliosis&p=114799#post114799

[Ballet Mom]

Thank you so much for providing that information to the forum skevimc, it's greatly appreciated!

Can you tell me, is the person facing the door when sitting on the chair? And do you alternate hands holding the theraband depending on what side you're twisting to? And I presume that you must put the theraband in the jamb at chest-height while sitting?

I'm glad you've explained this because the picture I had in my head prior to your explanation was completely different!

[skevimc]

Thank you so much for providing that information to the forum skevimc, it's greatly appreciated!

Can you tell me, is the person facing the door when sitting on the chair? And do you alternate hands holding the theraband depending on what side you're twisting to? And I presume that you must put the theraband in the jamb at chest-height while sitting?

I'm glad you've explained this because the picture I had in my head prior to your explanation was completely different!

No problem. Glad someone might find it useful.

For a right direction rotation. Stretch the band, face away from the door and hold the band in your right hand that is crossed so that it rests on your left arm. Kind of like when you fold your arms across your chest. The starting position would be pre-rotated to the left. Then rotate. The rotation will stretch the band even further and will create more resistance the further around you go, so figuring out how much to stretch the band before you do a rotation will take some work.

Switch hands for a left rotation.

Yes, put the band at chest height.

[Ballet Mom]

Got it, thanks!

Did you find that this method was as effective as using an actual torso rotation machine/equipment?

[hdugger]

Yes, put the band at chest height.

Does the position of the band depend on the position of the curve? So, would you move it up for a high thoracic curve, or down for a lumber curve?

[skevimc]

Got it, thanks!

Did you find that this method was as effective as using an actual torso rotation machine/equipment?

The only thing I ever tried to do to validate the effort was to attach EMG electrodes to someone when they were on the Med-X machine and then have them do some theraband exercises. So the idea was to see if their muscles gave the same amount of electrical signal when doing the two different types of exercises. I never did the full analysis on it because the signals were a little messy. I'd say it was at least in the same ballpark though.

I also calculated the torque required to move the t-band versus that required for the machine. It was possible to make the t-band exert as much force as the weight stack, but it was quite difficult to remain upright. The benefit of the weight stack on the machine is that you only have to overcome vertical/rotational resistance, i.e. straight up and down or twisting. But with the t-band you have to overcome both horizontal movement, plus the twisting, i.e. the t-band is trying to pull you backward towards the door and then you're also having to twist.

So they're similar movements but ultimately require different muscle strategies to accomplish.


Does the position of the band depend on the position of the curve? So, would you move it up for a high thoracic curve, or down for a lumber curve?

That's a really good thought/idea/question and I've never thought about that before. I could only guess at an answer. But mostly I think it would be fun to experiment with that to see if there were any differences.