Posture mistake you didn't know you were making
and how to actual fix it
EXTREME posture is worse than “bad” posture
I'm gonna tell you about 3 patients
2 from early in my career
1 from Wednesday
Early in my career I saw 2 extremes of posture
65 year old female that was a ballerina for a several decades
65 year old lady that had only been sitting watching tv the past several decades
65 year old lady #1 stood up extremely straight
Perfect posture was beat into her brain all her life. Ballet life does this.
She had all kinds of arthritic changes in her neck that were causing a bunch of problems
65 year old lady #2 could NOT stand up straight
Her head hung down and she was basically looking down when she walked. Strangely enough she only really hurt when she tried to be more upright
This was her comfortable posture.
What's the moral of this story?
Variety is the spice of life.
Being in ONE posture all the time is an EXTREME. And if you do it long enough, you're gonna be stuck there. Potentially to your own detriment.
Fast forward to Wednesday - 40 year old male with a bunch of neck issues.
He's seen multiple PTs throughout the years and they say the same thing
"you need to sit up straight"
So, being the career military man he is - has been standing at attention... non stop.
Now he's on his way to look like 65 yo lady #1 because "perfect" posture was beat into his head. And his muscles are sore and stiff all the time.
Why?
Because they are ALWAYS on.
Try this.
Bend your elbow/flex your bicep. Hold that until your bicep starts to feel tight. Then hold it some more.
If it gets unbearable (eventually it will) you can just relax.
All muscles work this way - you use them, they get tired. This is not an unfamiliar concept.
Luckily with the bicep, you can just relax it and continue with your day.
Only way to relax the muscles around the neck (and spine) is to lay down. They have to stay somewhat active since they are holding you up.
The goal of posture is to be efficient. If should use the least amount of muscle.
Keeping all your muscles ON all the time is the opposite of efficient.
Anyway I gave him elements of our desk monkey mobility flow program, and he had immediately relief.
I made him MOVE his spine, hips, and shoulders in ways he hadn't done in years.
After reading all the above it should be obvious how all that works.
You can have this same program that gave my guy instant relief in 5 minutes for free.
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