Base-Line Healing logo. Stick figure with arms outstretched above shoulder height, legs apart. Rainbow of colours up midline. Red at pelvic floor Base then a line of orange, yellow, green blue extending to the head. Showing the body aligned and balanced, the natural way to treat fibromyalgia. Use your body better slogan.

The 5 Main Muscles Of Movement.

The five main muscles of movement, with your Base-Line at the core, provide the central framework for the body to work as it should: Flexible and balanced, free of tension and pain.

2 images of human skeleton and the five main muscles of movement. When viewed from the front the rectus abdominis muscles extend from pubic symphysis of the pelvis to the ribs, either side of midline up the front of the abdomen. They are long muscles, split into sections, like two ribbons connecting the pelvis and chest. The rectus femoris muscles extend from hip bone to shin.  Straight, pole-like muscles lying in front of the femur and crossing both hip and knee joints. The kneecaps are part of the distal insertion of the rectus femoris muscles. The back view shows the gluteus maximus, big ass muscles, spanning the back of the pelvis.  The trapezius muscles extend from mid-back to the base of the skull, extending out towards each shoulder. They form a kite-shape over the upper back and neck. The pelvic floor is not clearly visible in either image due to the pelvic bones being in the way.

You need to know where these muscles are on your body, not all the anatomical names. So look at the pictures and find these muscles on your body.

The five main muscles of movement are:

Pelvic floor, rectus abdominis, gluteus maximus, rectus femoris & trapezius muscles.

the 5 main muscles of movement on a skeleton, viewed from different angles. The five paired muscles that make up the central muscular framework of the human body. Feel for your muscles, the rectus femoris from shin to pelvis. The rectus abdominis muscles up the front of the abdomen from pubic symphysis to chest, left and right sides like two stacks of panels of muscle either side of the midline linea alba. The trapezius muscles a sheet of muscle from midback to the back of the head, shoulder to shoulder, that should be smooth and wrinkle free supporting the head and arms through a full range of movement. The pelvic floor (a group of muscles) at the base of the body, that should be at the root of all movement.

Links to the 'keeping it simple' sections can be found on the anatomy index page:

anatomy index

How To Work With Your 5 Main Muscles Of Movement.

Learning to use your body better involves connecting with your main muscles of movement.

Work with your main muscles of movement in 3 (over-lapping) stages:

1. Find Your Base-Line.

Pelvic floor 'Base', rectus abdominis 'Line'.

human figure from two angles showing the baseline muscles. The pelvic floor muscles, like a basket of muscles withing the pelvic canal, a crescent shape on midline.  The solid base of the body, like a hook that extends to the rectus abdominis muscles at the front of the abdomen. The rectus abdominis muscles are the body's central line from pelvis to chest. Like two stacks of muscle panels to be activated and elongated in sequence, the core pillar to support movement of the rest of the body.

Think of your Base-Line muscles as your body's core pillar of strength, from where all movement should originate.

1. Base-Line muscles

2. Connect Your Base-Line To Your Legs.

The gluteus maximus muscles link the legs to Base-Line support.

The rectus femoris muscles align hip and knee joints.

2. Base-Line to legs

the gluteus maximus and rectus femoris muscles on a skeleton. Working together to support each leg and align the legs to torso. The gluteus maximus are large muscles covering the back of the pelvis, forming the superficial layer of the buttocks. Convex on the outer side, concave on the inner side, approximating as a square shaped bowl of muscle, tilted across the buttocks. The rectus femoris long, straight muscles at the front of the thigh crossing the hip and knee joints. Also shown are the rectus abdominis muscles up the front of the abdomen from pelvic symphysis to the rib cage.

3. Connect Your Base-Line To Your Upper Body.

The trapezius muscles connect the head and arms to Base-Line support and are responsible for aligning the upper body.

3. Base-Line to upper body

3D outline of human figure, attempting to show the five main muscles of movement at once. The trapezius muscles extend from the back of the head down the neck to midback, extending out towards each shoulder. Thin, sculpted muscles that make up the superficial layer of back of the upper body. The rectus femoris muscles of the front of the thigh, pillars of muscle from lower leg to the main body.  The gluteus maximus muscles the powerhouse in the buttocks. The Baseline pelvic floor and rectus abdominis muscles at the core of the body, from where the rest of the body extends.  The rectus abdominis muscles extending up the front of the body consisting of sections of muscle separated by strips of connective tissue up the front of the abdomen. Like two parallel stacks of blocks supporting the rest of the body. Connecting with your Base-Line muscles awakens your sense of conscious proprioception and the ability to feel how to heal by regaining your natural range of movement and balancing and aligning the body.

Keep looking at the pictures.

Find these 5 muscles on your body and try to activate them.

Move around, find positions that make it easier for you.

Feeling for balance between left and right sides.

Main Muscles And The Body-Mind Connection.

Active focus on the right muscles increases body awareness, enhancing the body-mind connection.

It takes concentration, and practice, to activate muscles if you are not used to using them. Building this connection between body and mind.

Give your brain time to figure out where to send the messages. It may make mistakes along the way (activating wrong areas of muscles), or it might feel nothing seems to be happening, but keep trying.

Relax, take a few deep breaths and think of your midline extending as you breathe with your Base-Line. Move as feels natural.

breathing technique

At some point, the messages will get through to the right destination. From then on, it becomes easier to find the connection again.

By working with the 5 main muscles of movement you can feel how to improve your posture through movement.

good posture

Finding your body's Base-Line will increase your body-awareness - allowing you to experience your sense of proprioception on a conscious level.

conscious proprioception

What if I don't use my
main muscles of movement?

skeleton and the 5 main muscles of movement side-front view. Baseline muscles - pelvic floor at the base of the body within the bones of the pelvis. The rectus abdominis muscles running up the front of the body from pelvis to ribcage. The rectus femoris muscles of each leg are like strong poles down the front of each thigh from hip bone to shin aligning the hip and knee joints. skeleton and the 5 main muscles of movement. The gluteus maximus muscles - big ass muscles. The left and right trapezius muscles form the superficial layer from mid-back to the back of the head, extending out towards each shoulder. The muscles curve down the sides of the neck, extending out  to the shoulders, and then down and in, towards the spine, meeting as a V-shape at the level of the lowest ribs.  The trapezius muscles approximate to a kite-shape (think 4 triangles with a cross), a blanket of muscle that curves over the shoulders and up the back of the neck.  The nuchal and supraspinous ligaments on midline where the left and right trapezii meet - think of this as the vertical line in the kite-shape. Movement should start from the lower trapezius, moving upwards and outwards - the lower triangles of the trapezii spreading like wings. The middle trapezii are like the horizontal part of the cross of the kite that should fully extend outwards. The upper triangles from the shoulders up the back of the neck to the skull should all be free to move and fully extend supporting the head and arms. There is a lot of sculpting in the trapezius muscles. Feel them, feel for where they attach to bones especially the scapula (shoulder blade) and clavicle (collar bone).

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