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FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY Client Homework— Triangle Pose 1. Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart 2. Take a large step, spreading your feet 4–5 feet apart. 3. Turn one foot 45 degrees away from the body, with the other foot remaining facing forward. 4. Raise your arms to the side until they are parallel to the floor. 5. Breathe deeply and fold your body toward the angled foot as you exhale. 6. Maintain an elongated spine as you point one arm to the ceiling and the other to the floor. All of the muscles in the transversospinalis group lie very closely to individual intervertebral joints. This proximity allows them to steer and stabilize the joints as larger and more superficial muscles act on the trunk. Similar in function to the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder, the transversospinalis group positions individual segments and maintains spinal alignment as the large abdominal and erector spinae muscles provide global posture and gross movement. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Figure 07.48 Dragonfly Media Group 01/20/09 04/22/09 05/05/09 PALPATING THE TRANSVERSOSPINALIS GROUP 1. Standing at the client's side, facing the spine, locate the spinous processes with your fingertips. 2. Slide your fingertips laterally and deeply toward the transverse processes and into the lamina groove (the channel between the spinous and transverse processes). 3. Palpate deep within the lamina groove staying medial to the large, superficial erector spinae muscles. 4. Have the client gently lift and rotate the trunk toward the opposite side to ensure proper location. 90 massage & bodywork september/october 2011 CAEL: Functional Anatomy: A Guide of Musculoskeletal Anatomy for Profs therapist, certified athletic trainer, and certified strength and conditioning specialist. Her private practice focuses on injury treatment, biomechanical analysis, craniosacral therapy, and massage for clients with neurological issues. She is the author of Functional Anatomy: Kinesiology and Palpation for Manual Therapists (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009). Contact her at functionalbook@hotmail.com. Christy Cael is a licensed massage 7. Relax and breathe, return to upright, then repeat on the other side. Editor's Note: The Client Homework element in Functional Anatomy is intended as a take-home resource for clients experiencing issues with the profiled muscle. The stretches identified in Functional Anatomy should not be performed within massage sessions or progressed by massage therapists, in order to comply with state laws and maintain scope of practice.