Lateral Line
The lateral line frames both sides of the body.
It’s one of my favourite lines as I can really feel this line when I play with my poses and how effective the stretches can be when I include the entire length of the line.
It passes through muscles including the:
- Fibularis Longus and Brevis (The fibularis brevis is a muscle in the lateral compartment of the leg. It is located deep to the fibularis longus)
- Iliotibial Tract
- Tensor Fasciae Latae
- Gluteus Medius and Maximus
- External/Internal Obliques
- External/Internal Intercostals
- Splenius Capitis (is a thick, flat muscle at the posterior part of the neck)
- Sternocleidomastoid
The lateral line is responsible for stabilising the trunk and legs in a co-ordinated manner to avoid collapse during a movement or activity. It’s also plays a large part in communication amongst the other superficial line including the SFL, SBL Spiral Line and the Arm Lines.
How to lengthen and strengthen the LL
A simple side stetch does the job but again you can be creative and recognise when you are performing an ideal stretch sequence that can either strengthen or lengthen this line.
You can play with many stretch poses to enhance a fascia stretch. Here are a few examples:
