Let’s Talk About Your Lower Back

At Fuse Pilates, we always start every class by asking our students, “What would you like to work on?” It could be a request for a specific muscle group work, or it could even be a tender area that one would like to stretch and mobilize.

If you talk to any of our fantastic instructors at Fuse you’ll also hear that a frequent request is to strengthen and stretch the low-back. Therefor, I thought this would be as good of a time as any to address a few common questions when it comes to all things low-back! 

One common question is if supine abdominal exercises are better performed with a neutral spine or imprinted spine. When starting a Pilates routine, generally you should use a more imprinted spine, and work towards eventually keeping your lumbar spine in a neutral zone. This is due to many reasons including the individual's abdominal strength, body awareness, and familiarity with the exercises.

Keep reading to learn more about your low back and how to feel better in your everyday life! We will also note that we are not doctors, and merely summarize the knowledge we’ve gained from comprehensive Pilates training and reference of modern scholarly articles and resources. 

First, let’s define our terms.

What Does ‘Imprinted Spine’ Really Mean?

‘Imprinted’ refers to a specific way of holding the lower (lumbar) part of your spine when performing supine (laying down on your back) abdominal exercises. Many have been taught and believe that to achieve an “imprint” they must smash their entire lower back onto the ground. Old school Pilates taught “flat back,” meaning essentially to flatten the curve of their lower back when doing Pilates stabilization exercises and put the pelvis in a posterior tilt. 

An imprinted spine refers to an ever so slightly posteriorly tilted pelvis. To achieve this, use the abdominals to draw the lower back slightly toward the floor, leaving a “breath” of air between the floor and your lower back. When supine and imprinted, the pubic bone will sit slightly higher than the hip bones.

Imprinted Spine does not mean posteriorly tilting the pelvis so far that the tailbone lifts off the floor and one feels their lower back “smashed” onto the ground fully. During spine abdominal exercises the tailbone must always maintain contact with the floor, otherwise, the transversus abdominus will not work effectively.  Every person’s imprinted spine will look different, the distance between the lumbar spine and the floor will be different for each person. Again, the spine does not have to be touching the floor.

Should I Exercise In Neutral Spine or Imprint?

Knowing that everyone’s body is different than the next, it’s more effective to talk about a neutral zone rather than the ‘perfect neutral spine’. The neutral zone (NZ) refers to the alignment of the lower spine and pelvis in a standard lumbar curve. Keeping the lumbar spine in the NZ while moving helps protect and stabilize it.

The philosophy behind neutral posture is to give your body the most stable position from which to begin stretching and strengthening. The strong focus on the core or deep abdominal muscles during pilates further brings the body into balance and ideal personal posture.

Research has confirmed that doing stabilization exercises such as Mat Pilates with a neutral pelvis/spine is more effective than a “flat back.” Because the muscle groups that support the spine (transversus abdominis, multifidus, pelvic floor, and diaphragm) include the back muscles, it is essential to maintain the lumbar curve in order to recruit these muscles. When in “flat back” the back muscles are stretched, and cannot effectively stabilize the spine. 

It is crucial to note that most people are not inherently strong enough in their abdominals and lower back muscles to hold a neutral lumbar spine position when performing many of the supine abdominal Pilates exercises, especially when both feet are elevated off the floor and unsupported. This is why it is a good idea to use a more imprinted spine for these exercises until you have built up the abdominal strength required to prevent overarching and potential strain to the lower back muscles.

For a visual example of these different spine positions, please see this YouTube video from Courtney Klocke where she explains the difference between an imprint and a neutral spine. At about 2:50 she shows the difference between a pelvic tilt reminiscent of early Pilates teachings of a ‘flat back’, and a true imprinted spine.