Know your anatomy!

Personally I think knowing and understanding your own mechanical anatomy is cool and sexy!

Being the person that can keep up with the majority of your physio’s language is bad ass.

Don’t be that dancer that says this bit feels sore (pointing to some multi muscle site) or pointing at your arm and saying how do I make this bigger. Understand yourself better. Knowledge is power. Power is key. Keys unlock things. Unlock your potential. (True story)

By understanding your mechanical anatomy better will allow your self to understand which muscles move which body parts - allowing you to deepen you understanding of movement and thus allowing you to potentially figure out how to develop certain movements.

Below I have put a bunch of anatomical diagrams together that will help you understand your mechanical anatomy - primarly focusing on 'prime mover' muscles.

The key to understanding these diagrams and translating them into movement is to know that muscles have one mechanical job, and that is to pull its origin (where the muscle starts) and its insertion (where the muscle ends) together. This is how all our movements occur – the muscle contracts and pulls its two connections together, moving them closer together. Even in the most complex of movement patterns it all breaks down to a series of individual muscles working together to create a complex movement like a pirouette.

Soak these images up with your eyeballs.

Khyle

For even more detailed diagrams have a look here.