Do you suffer from regular neck and shoulder pain? You are not alone; you’re among thousands of other sufferers.
Have you heard of using your core to alleviate this pain? Very few have, but you can help decrease your pain by using your good posture and engaging your core.
First, what is good posture? Sitting or standing tall with your chest lifted and eyes up, returning your spine back to its natural position. You may feel like you are sticking your chest out, but after years of sitting in chairs or standing for hours without your realizing your chest is falling toward your lap causes your spine to round and become a habit, your normal.
If you lift your chest and eyes and try to make your spine as tall and long as possible, you aren’t sticking your chest out but returning to safe, proper posture. Your heart and lungs will have more room to fill up and empty, and your neck can be long again because your shoulders can now slide down your back.
This is a simplified description but if you picture this, you can feel tension leave your neck and shoulders. One thing for you to remember though is that lifting your chest does not mean lift your chin and tip your head back – keep your eyes and nose facing forward. I have a client who wears her ponytail high on the back of her head, and she will feel me pulling the base of her ponytail toward the ceiling to settle her head in the proper place. But even if you know how to use your proper posture, maintaining it is not an automatic habit for most people. Un-learning a habit like melting into a chair, letting your body become rounded and your belly muscles relax, takes practice, repetition, and focus. Is it hard to do? Not really. But is it challenging to focus on it, so it becomes second nature? Oh yes. Very. Undoing old habits and relearning new takes time, and diligence.
Second, do you know what work is involved to “engage” your core? You may have heard the word core used to refer to your belly muscles, which is true, but only partially. Your core muscles are all the muscles surrounding your trunk, the section of your body from your armpits to the tops of your thighs.
If you focus on your belly muscles (the muscles in the front of your trunk), or abdominals (abs), you can pull them in much more easily when you are sitting tall, using your proper posture. You also will use your back muscles (all the muscles around the back of your trunk) more efficiently when you are sitting tall using your proper posture.
Think of someone pulling your ponytail, real or imagined, toward the ceiling while your chest is lifted. Now keep this position while you exhale, letting your lungs empty as air comes out of your mouth. The act of exhaling helps you contract, or engage your abs. As you exhale try to make your waistband looser, and your bra strap around your ribs looser. This image can help you engage those abdominal muscles a little bit. The old cartoons where army men stood at attention is an image you may have, but it is not correct for two reasons:
1:) your chest and ribs look like a barrel and your waist pencil thin, and 2: you can’t keep this position for very long. It is not realistic.
If you have a realistic image, it is easier to mimic good posture and engaged abdominals. Can you maintain this posture and tightened abdominal muscles as you walk around, sit down, stand up, climb stairs? That is your next challenge, to strengthen these muscles and keep your proper posture automatically. You can learn to make this your normal.
Now that you have a realistic image of your proper posture and engaged abs, stand against a wall. This is one of the best ways for you to feel your proper posture. Feel the back of your hips and shoulders against the wall with your feet at least 6 inches away from the wall. Unlock your knees and let your natural curve in your low and mid back remain (in other words don’t flatten your entire back against the wall). Lift your chest enough for the back of your shoulders to be flatter against the wall. Adjust your head so your eyes and nose face forward.
The back of your head may not touch the wall without tipping your head back, and that’s OK for now. You may be able to change that with practice but for now pull your chin back toward the back of your neck like you are creating a double chin. No, I don’t mean for you to force your chin back, but just enough to straighten the back of your neck just a little. Now exhale, out of your mouth, and make your waist band and bra strap around your ribs a little looser. As you inhale through your nose try to keep the waist and rib bands a little loose. Be sure as you exhale not to let your chest fall forward to “squeeze” the air out. Use only your muscles to squeeze air out, making your rib cage smaller. You can’t inhale as much air initially but that’s OK. And then exhale, completely. By keeping your core engaged and spine long and tall while breathing and moving around, you are:
1: strengthening your core muscles
2: supporting your upper body so your neck and shoulders are not trying to hold you head and chest up
3: letting tension leave your neck and shoulders
4: taking pressure off your heart and lungs because your lifted chest allows more freedom for them to expand and deflate.
Why don’t you give it a try? What have you got to lose? Nothing except some of your pain. Let me know how you do with these tips by going to my website susannaengfitness.com and schedule a Free Core Call. These calls are 30min long and you can ask any questions you have about the above process, how to address your specific body, how to incorporate what you learn into your daily activities, and about my training techniques.
Want to try working out via FaceTime? You can go to my website, susannaengfitness.com, schedule a Free Core Call, learn more about the benefits of hiring an experienced personal trainer, and options for training digitally with me.
