Welcome to the first blog for SusannaEng Fitness. What started me on this “fitness” road was the idea of growing older with less pain. As I continued working with people, the word “fitness” began to have many different meanings depending who was speaking. I slowly realized all of it is related to one’s posture. There. The word many folks have heard about, often as directed at them as something they don’t display well. Many people cringe at the sound of the word.
The alignment of the human body was designed to withstand the pulls of gravity, and usually work WITH the constant pull of gravity. Looking at the lower body first (everything below the waist), where we hold our body weight is affected by the placement of the feet (do you put more weight on the outside or inside edge of your feet or just one foot, is your weight in the ball of the foot or heels, do your feet point out and always wider than your hips), the angle of the ankle and knee joints (do the ankles break a little to allow weight in the outsides or insides of the feet and rarely allowing much weight in the heels, are the knees locked out all the time), and the placement of the hips (do they stay level when you’re standing or cock to one side or the other, does the low back sway and the bum stick out). And I have just mentioned a few of the bad habits we all get in to that affects our posture.
Now, the upperbody has much influence on one’s posture as well: how the weight of the torso/head/arms sits on the hips, i.e. forward or back. Does the head and chest/shoulder areas lean forward, contributing to rounded back with shoulders rolling forward and chest caving, and the head tipped back (although usually everyone is also looking down to see where they are stepping).
Adding to this poor upperbody posture are outside factors we have very little control over: the design of furniture, automobiles, plane/bus/train seats, and anywhere we “put” our bodies when we’re not standing or moving around. The design of seats, all manor, do not promote “good” posture, but force us to lean forward and round our backs to settle in to the seat. Ideas for combating these design flaws will be discussed in another blog.
Now you may be asking what “good” posture is. Well, Joseph Pilates wrote “Your Health” in 1934, using this picture on the cover. This picture explains a lot, especially looking at the body in terms of standing in gravity. The majority of my clients, and I’ve been teaching and studying Pilates for 17+ years, while standing, have their chest dropping forward as though to rest on the ribs with their head tipped slightly back and shoulders rolling forward, their knees locked (as though that is a resting spot so they can rest any muscles helping to hold them up) and hips pushed forward. You can see in the picture how this adds extra weight on the lumbar spine (low back) and hips (again, locked forward to again not have to use muscles to hold them up right). And of course the belly hangs out (muscles again not being used) and the ankles/feet develop their own habits to survive and keep you from falling over.
So, what should we do? If you have pain in your feet, knees, back, neck and/or shoulders, there are many changes that YOU can make before running to a doctor. If you don’t have any pain, then you have a choice to either do nothing and hope you will not develop pain, OR you can begin NOW to use more of your muscles to support your body and its movements. Everyone is talking about Core Strength, working on your core, abdominals, 6-packs, etc., etc., but learning to use and strengthen your core will affect not just the obvious neck and low back issues and keep your belly from sticking out, but also help take weight off of your hips/knees/feet so they can operate more efficiently. Notice I said use more muscles……More on this later.
If you are part of the group that already has pain, I suggest you try this exercise to help loosen and strengthen areas in your core. First, stand up against a wall with your hips and back leaning against the wall and your feet about 5 inches from the wall with your knees unlocked and your arms hanging by your sides. Another sideline: unlocking your knees means to bend your knees just a little so pressure can come off of the knee joint. This is not a very obvious bend it is so small, but if you place each hand at the crease of your torso and legs, or front of the hips, and feel the tightness under your fingers when your knees are locked and hips pressed forward, you can feel a softening when the knees are just slightly bent – you want the softer feeling. More on this later. As you are leaning in to the wall, allow your natural curve of your low back to remain. Feel your upper back, shoulder blade area flatten to the wall. If your head can touch the wall without having to tip it back, then touch the wall. My rule of thumb is to not create a crease in the back of your neck. Now, when you flattened your upper back against the wall notice your chest lifts slightly, causing you to feel like you’re sticking your chest out. I’m going to sideline for a moment and challenge you to think about whether you feel uncomfortable allowing your chest to be wide and open, or if it actually feels better. This lift of the chest is extremely important in the “finding your proper alignment” effort: this lift helps take pressure off of the heart and lungs, allowing them to function more freely and efficiently. You’ve probably heard about belly fat being more dangerous than fat in other areas of the body because of the pressure and obstruction that it creates on the heart and lung muscles. This is the same idea. If you feel uncomfortable maintaining this lifted, open chest when you are out and about because you feel like you’re sticking it out, get over it! It’s a new feeling and at first uncomfortable but trust me, all other people will see is you standing taller and carrying yourself with more confidence. For the women who are well endowed, again, get over it. Flaunt it if you’ve got it! Or, what my master instructor said to me years ago, “Wear your chest”. Truly, get over thinking about what others are thinking and focus on your own body beginning with your posture and how much easier it is to breathe. Those who have had trauma in their lives, of the heart variety, who have been “covering” their heart to protect it, this may be your time to finally make a change and not let the past affect you now. I don’t mean to minimize the deep, deep affects trauma can cause to your heart, but give you one piece that may start you on your road to moving on and leaving the trauma behind. OK, back on track.
Now, move your feet and legs wider than your hips, and at least 5 inches from the wall. Beginning with your eyes looking directly forward, place your hands on your ribs and exhale completely, out of your mouth and feel your ribs come together, tightening the hold they have on your torso. Calmly Inhale through your nose (you don’t need a big breath) then exhale completely, through your mouth. These are smaller muscles (intercostals) that allow the ribs to move, thus you are beginning the training of these muscles, expanding then contracting. After a few breaths in and out, then inhale some air, and as you exhale allow your head to fall forward, allowing a bit of a stretch in the back of the neck and shoulder area. As you inhale allow the head to return to starting position (upright). The first few times you do this, you may feel your shoulders come away from the wall as well. Do not let the shoulders come forward yet! Separating movement of the head from the rest of the body is very important, and should be doable providing you don’t have any disk/vertebra issues. After 4 or so of just allowing the head to fall forward then returning to original position, allow the chest to fall forward as well. Completely exhale here and feel the “band” around your ribcage, the strength of this belt holding your head and shoulders in position. As you inhale, allow first the upper back and back of shoulders to return to the wall before the head returns to position. Each time you exhale, you can allow a bit more of the spine to leave the wall, but the point is to try to separate as many pieces of your body as you can, rolling down, as well as rolling up. When you have rolled down to where your hips are beginning to tip away from the wall, stop. Keep your hips in their original position, but finish your exhale completely: the goal is not to roll down further and further, but the goal is to allow movement in as many separate parts of your spine as you are able with the assistance of your core muscles. The goal is to become very aware of these muscles that allow movement in the ribcage, strengthening them (and allowing heart and lung muscles to operate more efficiently!). Here goes another sideline: The majority of us are wimpy exhalers. We inhale just fine due to the intuitive need to get air, to suck it in because it keeps us alive. But exhaling, fully, we are not trained to do very well: it is not intuitive, and without bringing your focus to exhaling deeper, it is hard to understand. I see people hunch over to assist them in exhaling fully, but this is not what I mean, but to exhale while remaining in position, as though to shrinkwrap your body. I think of a balloon that’s crumpled up in a drawer. When you first try to blow it up, it sticks and you have to work at unsticking spots so air can go into it. But as you keep working with it, it loosens up, and by the 10th time or so of blowing it up, it expands very smoothly and easily. I think of your lungs being the same way, and as you get more able to exhale deeply, your inhale can be fuller as well. Now, there is more about the breathing, but I will touch on that later.
Ok, back on track. While you are “peeling away from the wall”, keep your knees unlocked and equal weight throughout your feet (feet and knees facing forward). Do not pull your head or body forward, but just allowing gravity to do the pulling once the body begins rolling away from the wall. The more you exhale, or empty the air out of the body, the more the body (spine) can bend, allowing more separate pieces to move.
Once you have peeled away to the point that your hips haven’t tipped away from the wall, pause to inhale a little (you don’t have much room to inhale lots), then while you exhale, use the back of the upper thigh (right under the buttocks) and belly button area to pull the body back up onto the wall. If you are able to do this without your hips falling away from the wall, then you can challenge yourself by moving your feet closer to the wall, JUST A LITTLE like ½ inch until you learn about where your feet need to be to challenge you. Be aware of the knees wanting to lock, but that just makes you fall away from the wall faster. Locking the knees also prevents you from using the hamstring/glute and abdominal muscles to assist in your rolling back up. Much more on this in later blogs.
The point of this exercise is:
- You can feel where your challenges are in your upper body posture and can feel what it should feel like when your chest and shoulders and head are aligned more correctly.
- You begin to wake of your breathing muscles (heart and lungs) and understand how exhaling deeply helps engage (use) your CORE muscles more thoroughly, in particular the ribcage and lower belly areas.
- You encourage more movement throughout your spine, not just the few places you’ve tended to bend through the years as other areas have “stiffened” up. If you don’t use it, you lose it!
- Helps oxygen flow more thoroughly throughout the body.
- Many more…feel free to write in areas that you feel this exercise helps.
