In her book, Ida wrote a chapter called “The Joint that Determines Symmetry”. She writes about the importance of the hip joint.

I have developed a series of exercises which work the individual muscles of this joint. The exercises themselves produce remarkable structural changes. They pinpoint the individual muscles and can be used to balance the tone in the connective tissue, because they will increase tone in a flabby area and relax tone in an over tight area.

The exercises can be used preceding Rolfing on the epimysium or tendon of the muscle. You might be quite surprised how much you can increase the effectiveness of your manipulation using these exercises as a preliminary.

The principle behind the exercises is very simple. After you use a muscle, it relaxes. So the idea is to use the muscle.

Ida wrote a paper about the problems of exercise in a disorganized body. The person will tend to use the muscles that they already overuse and thus create a further imbalance organization structurally. Why not give the person exercises where they use the muscles that they otherwise avoid?

I believe that this not only creates an obvious, immediate improvement in structure, but also is a training for the neuromuscular patterning so that the person moves better in the future. Improved functioning continues the improvements that you achieve structurally in your session.

The principle behind the exercies comes from a secret tradition of training in Tai Chi and Kung Fu called Nei Ching. I learned these exercises several years ago from my teacher in Boston, John Li, who taught us Six Combinations and Eight Methods of boxing. The traditional Nei Ching exercises are done in a standing position, holding the arms still. You contract a single shoulder girdle muscle holding the humerus against the pull of gravity. You maintain the position without moving. In Nei Ching training, you start holding the static position for a few minutes and then steadily build up to an hour or two a day in that one position. The result is that the muscle is stronger, faster, and more relaxed. You get strength, speed, and power without bulk.

I wondered, if the exercises were so good for the muscles of the shoulder girdle, couldn’t we find similar exercises for the legs. I worked with the knowledge of kinesiology telling which way the body moved under a contraction of a single muscle. I tried to find most of the positions where we could use gravity to give the opposing force. Here are my findings.

In doing the following exercises, it is important to keep breathing.

Also, by making slight rotations of the joint, you will find which part of the muscle is weak. For example, you might be working on the gluteus medius. You will find that either the anterior or posterior part of the muscle is weaker than the other part. This is obvious because you have to work so much harder to use that part of the muscle. The rule of thumb is to work that part of the muscle which is weak to get the greater results.

Holding any one of the positions for a minute is enough.

If you want to work with all of the exercises as a routine for you or for your clients, use the following information:

If a position is extremely easy, if the person does not feel a difference when standing up after the exercise, and if you do not see any structural change, the person did not need the exercise and it should be avoided in the future exercise patterns.

About half of the following exercises will be very difficult. They can make up an excellent training program. You will have more gain by doing only those exercises that you need than from doing all of the exercises!

The first time through the entire series of exercises for some people, some exercises that are easy and relevant to their structure will be seen to partially return their structure in the direction of their original disorganization.. Do not worry, the total effect of the entire series will be positive. but be sure to drop the exercises that do not move the person in the right direction. This is a remarkable demonstration of what Ida said in her article about the possible negative effects of exercise on un Rolfed bodies.

When using any of the positions yourself, make sure that you feel yourself working with the targeted muscle. If you are giving the exercise to a client, make sure that they are in the right position to use the targeted muscle. What we want to avoid is substituting nearby muscles that approximate the desired movement, but do not use the targeted muscle. This is what most people do most of the time and why their daily function adds to the effect of gravity to further disorganize their structure in time.