Summer is winding down and it's back to school time. Going back to school presents several challenges for students of different ages that can negatively affect their posture and health. Here are the challenges preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, and college/graduate school students face and how to combat them:

In celebration of National Golf Month this August, I am offering free 30-minute golf specific posture evaluations. Sign up by contacting me and requesting a golf specific evaluation. ​

July is National Park and Recreation Month which is designed to encourage you to get outside and enjoy the many benefits of nature and play. The theme of 2017 National Park and Recreation Month is Get Your Play On!

Many people, whether they are pro athletes, fitness fanatics, gym rats, or health nuts, are looking for "the perfect workout." Some people believe the perfect workout is a HIIT (high intensity interval training). Others believe the CrossFit WOD (workout of the day) is the best. Super Slow wight lifting is some people's choice. Yoga and Pilates will get a lot of votes also. 

Athletes are always looking for ways to become faster, stronger, and more agile. Athletes are also looking for ways to prevent injury, stay pain free, and extend their careers. And these "athletes" I'm talking about are everyone from LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, and Serena Williams to middle-aged weekend warriors around the world. People will do almost anything to get an "edge." 

A new study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research wanted to look at the question of whether there is an association between a history of running and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. The study looked at over 2,600 people with an average age of 64 years old, of which about 30% had run at some point in their lives. The researchers evaluated the relationship of running with knee pain, radiographic osteoarthritis (OA), and symptomatic OA. 

Fitness trainer Nate Helming from The Run Experience made a video where he talks about head and hip position and how it affects your running. Faulty head and hip position will negatively affect your running performance and can lead to injury just as bad shoulder posture does. Nate shares some good knowledge and tips including:

"Good posture is the key to everything" and my head, low and behold, is attached to the rest of my spine." Both are things I've taught every client, Egoscue University student, and Posture Alignment Specialist I've worked with over the last 15 years.

Nate talks about how you should not hold your phone while looking at it and you can clearly see this is terrible posture:

Intuition and science are two very different things, but it's fun when they start to match up nicely and say the same thing. 

For centuries we've known intuitively that human caused pollution, waste, and destruction of the natural world will hurt us in the long run, and the way for humans to thrive is to learn to live with the natural world. New scientific studies show up all the time now that are showing the same thing. Science is catching up to our intuition that's been around forever. 

Intuitively humans have also know for centuries that physical movement and/or exercise not only helps us look better, but is really good for our health and might even prevent disease. Science in the last decade or two is proving we were right. 

Walking feels great, but sometimes it doesn't. The average person has postural imbalances that are interfering with pain free activity and good health. Going on a walk is wonderful for our health, unless we are not posturally balanced, in which case a simple walk reinforces those imbalances that are negatively affecting our health. This post-walk cool-down done along with the pre-walking routine will realign your load joints and allow you to reap the benefits of walking. 

Walking is one of the most natural and functional forms of exercise and locomotion there is. Humans are perfectly designed to walk, and walk for hours over varied terrain pain free. 

However, if your body is not posturally balanced, walking - like any activity - can cause pain. Even if you don't have pain while walking, that does not mean your body is balanced and working efficiently. Most people have imbalances in their postural alignment and those imbalances are decreasing your efficiency and slowing causing health problems. Postural misalignment can cause all types of musculoskeletal pain including plantar fasciitis, joint arthritis, sciatica, neck pain, knee pain, and lower back pain. Besides pain, postural imbalances can also cause problems with the digestive system, circulatory system, respiratory system, lymphatic system, nervous system, and every other system in the body. Help improve your overall health my improving your posture. This active alignment warm-up designed for walking will start improving your posture and prepare your body for walking.

For a free posture evaluation to learn more about personalized postural alignment therapy contact me today.

Related videos/articles:
10 design perfections in the human body
The perfect workout to boost performance
How posture affects lung capacity
How shoulder posture affects running performance