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."
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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 If you watched the U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials recently you've seen some amazing swimming by both veteran swimmers and lots of new up-and-coming swimmers. If you're like me, you also noticed some terrible postures. Here are some of the main questions people have about swimmer's postures:
You've heard of vitamin C, D, and E, but what's vitamin N? Well you don't get it by eating fruits and veggies or drinking milk. It doesn't come from red meat or black beans. It's not contained in your multivitamin or superfood shake. Vitamin N you can only get by going outside, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and heading to the hills where the birds and squirrels hang out. Vitamin N stands for "Nature". And getting a lot of vitamin N is the only way to prevent NDD: Nature Deficit Disorder. Nature Deficit Disorder was coined by Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods", "The Nature Principle", and his latest book "Vitamin N". Nature Deficit Disorder is not a medical term but rather a way to discuss the relationship between less time spent outside in nature and the negative health consequences that come with it.
A yoga practice can be wonderful both physically and mentally, but only if your body is capable of performing the poses. Many people, because of our sedentary lifestyle, are taking a body that is imbalanced posturally and incapable of performing many of the poses correctly. This not only makes yoga difficult and not enjoyable, but can lead to injury and chronic pain issues. The video below takes you through a series of pre-yoga and post-yoga sequences that are designed to balance your body's posture, restore function, and prepare your body for the demands of yoga. If you regularly practice yoga, at home or at a yoga studio, do this routine daily for the next week and see how it changes your yoga practice and how you feel all day long.
Comment below and let me know how it went and what changes you felt. Traveling for work or for fun can take a toll on the body. Sitting on planes, trains, and automobiles will tighten your hips and round your shoulders. Busy schedules don't give us much time to exercise. Working out in the tiny hotel gym isn't very appealing and finding a good running route in a new busy city can be overwhelming. What can you do? The Busy Traveler's Workout can be done in a hotel room in less than 20 minutes and will improve your posture, increase your energy, improve your mood, and lengthen and strengthen your body. Try it, you will love it!
Related videos/articles: Simple airplane stretches for a long flight Daily at work stretching routine 10-minute after work workout Prevent back pain from driving Don't believe everything you hear |
About Matt WhiteheadI'm an Egoscue Institute® certified Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) and Advanced Exercise Therapist (AET), certified personal trainer, PatchFitness performer, ultra trail runner, mountain biker, dad, music lover, environmentalist, and wanna-be slam dunk champion. I will be providing you with the latest posture exercises to help you live, play, and be pain free. Archives
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