Restless Reader

Bookcover of PSOAS
Bookcover of PSOAS

Psoas: Strength and Flexibility

By Pamela Ellgen, CPT (Ulysses Press, 2015), paperback, 135 pages, $15.95 or $9.99 for Kindle eBook.

What is a psoas and how do I know if I have one?

If your upper body attaches to your lower body, chances are good you have at least two psoas muscles -- one psoas major muscle linking your spine to your right leg and another linking it to the left leg. Some people also have psoas minor muscles running alongside their psoas majors.

However many psoases you might have, they're inside you where you cannot see them, in between your hips.

They work in concert with other muscles and sinews, for instance, a famous helper muscle called iliacus that puts them in touch with the hips. Dancers and runners are familiar with the term "iliopsoas," as in "iliopsoas stretch"; iliopsoas is a shorthand reference to the cooperation between psoas and iliacus and the good work they do together among the body's hip flexors.

Squint at the bookcover printed with this review for help understanding why you have never laid eyes on these deep-inside-you muscles.

Why should I care that I have these invisible psoas thingies?

They are not invisible. You just can't see them.

Other than the fact that it's handy to have one's upper body attached to one's lower body ... knowing one possesses a psoas is trendy these days. The baby boomers who limp about on arthritic hips enjoy updating one another on the stiffness of their psoas muscles; and the growing horde of yoga and Pilates practitioners enjoy describing how those disciplines have corrected their soul-destroying psoas aches.

But seriously, psoas and its interactions with other muscles are central to most daily movements, from walking and bending to twisting.

Psoas and its little buddy iliacus are tightened, stiffened and weakened by the demon Sedentary Lifestyle, contributing to back pain and injuries of the kind that keep a body from getting decent sleep.

A sore psoas is misery.

So now I have to add special exercises for my psoas to my workout routine?

As Pamela Ellgen explains, no, you probably don't need to dedicate your training to your psoas. Normal exercise regimens can handle it. But if one or all of your psoas muscles stiffens or becomes weak, then it would make sense to include motions known to address those problems.

She helpfully supplies simple self-tests the reader can use to check for tightness or weakness. And then she provides instructions for 50 exercises, illustrated by black-and-white photos.

Sharp readers will notice that, by and large, these movements are for general strength, flexibility and balance. The instructions, while good, are not impossible to find in the guhzillion other exercise "cookbooks" already teetering along the top of your bookcase.

Should a sensible person rush-order a copy of this book and get started following her advice ASAP?

First ask yourself why a book about the psoas needs to tell us how to eat.

Ellgen is a certified personal trainer (CPT) and a writer -- not a dietitian -- and that shows in nutrition advice that says desperate ancient people didn't eat grains or legumes and therefore neither should we. Paleontologists have found evidence that ancient people ate differently in different parts of the planet, and in some places, they did eat grains and legumes. Also, we have no evidence that what ancient people ate kept them healthy.

Also, her list of protein sources doesn't mention the plant sources. And she advises the reader to take Omega-3 fatty acid, magnesium and potassium supplements.

You go take the magnesium pills if you wish and I'll stay here and read the label on this bottle of Milk of Magnesia.

She also asserts that "research confirms low carbohydrate diets are more effective than low-fat diets for long-term weight loss," which is true, except for the part about confirming anything. Other research disputes such findings: Nutrition science isn't settled.

Ellgen's not a kinesiologist, either, or a certified Pilates instructor, which shows in a workout program labeled "Psoas Strength and Flexibility for Sedentary Population," which prescribes Pilates roll-ups for beginners. By her recommendation, a sedentary beginner would start out doing 10 repetitions of an exercise usually taught in stages and one that, done incorrectly, would be as risky for the lower back as full situps done with straight legs.

Wisely, she quotes expert sources for general guidelines on Pilates and yoga, and the section on yoga's persuasive. But as her expert source advises, readers should take Pilates classes. In other words, don't try to learn Pilates or yoga from this book.

ActiveStyle on 03/23/2015

Upcoming Events