So I’ve always heard about the neutral spine position in classes I have been in, and even learned how to cue it up when training; “Don’t arch your back,” “keep your shoulders, hips and ankles in line,” “keep your head facing the same direction as your chest.” However, until this past Monday, I do not think that I have ever done floor exercises in a true neutral spine position. Especially when performing planks. I have always found those certain core stability exercises to be challenging, but I never thought that I was doing them an easier way. By really dorsiflexing my ankles, and keeping my elbows under my shoulders, I instantly began to feel my body shaking simply because of the weight distribution that I was not used to. Next, I focused on the posture of my back, and brought myself to what I thought was a neutral spine. I quickly realized that had I done planks the right way since I was first introduced to them, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have an enviously defined core. I was shocked to think that none of my professors had ever coached their classes through performing floor exercises in a neutral spine position, especially with it being so simple to teach. All you do is get down on your hands and knees (hands under shoulders, knees under hips), round your back, then arch your back, and then try to find that happy medium between the two. It’s not extremely hard to see if someone is not neutral from that position, and in our activity classes at Bridgewater that usually consist of 25 or fewer students, it would be easy to correct anyone who is even slightly uneven. After learning what neutral spine feels like, and seeing what it looks like, I will be much more focused on maintaining that posture especially when performing floor exercises. Not to mention, I will be able to help my clients make bigger gains by guiding them towards exercising with correct form.