Tuesday 29 April 2008
Wednesday 12 March 2008
2 Very Good Glute Strengthening Exercises
Hi,
in my last post, I mentioned how your posture can be affected by spending long periods of time in a sitting position.
So, here are a couple of Glute Strengthening Exercises that will help you. I have posted a couple of videos of these exercises on youtube, and if you click the download link below, you will get a pdf which explains these exercises in detail, along with pictures.
Enjoy !!!!
Click here to download pdf
in my last post, I mentioned how your posture can be affected by spending long periods of time in a sitting position.
So, here are a couple of Glute Strengthening Exercises that will help you. I have posted a couple of videos of these exercises on youtube, and if you click the download link below, you will get a pdf which explains these exercises in detail, along with pictures.
Enjoy !!!!
Click here to download pdf
Monday 11 February 2008
Can Sitting Down all day and Office work affect your posture?
Over the next few weeks I will be discussing ways to improve function and recruitment patterns that may be affected by our modern way of living. I will start by looking at what can possibly happen to a person who spends many hours sitting down at home or at work, especially office workers, IT consultants etc.
Potential Imbalances caused by sitting down for too much time during the day may result in these imbalances:
Muscles such as your Hip-Flexors (Iliopsoas,) and Rectus Femoris are at their best tension when standing up, as such, due to you spending long periods of time sitting down, these muscles become slack/saggy. The body’s neurological system does not like saggy muscles, as such, it will send a signal to these muscles to “Tighten up” Thus resulting in tight Hip-Flexors.
Tight Hip-Flexors can have a detrimental effect on the posture in 2 ways.
1st, by the process of Reciprocal Inhibition, having tight Hip-Flexors may result in Inhibited Gluteus muscles (Bottom) .
2nd, the Hip-Flexors will pull down upon the Lumbar Spine (Psoas muscles) at the same, time the Rectus Femoris will pull down upon the front of the Pelvis, thus leading to a possible Anterior Tilt of the Pelvis, which is a main contributor to a Postural Dysfunction called Lordosis
On the back of the legs, other things start to happen. First of all the Hamstrings may begin to tighten/Facilitate due to the fact that whilst you are sitting down, the muscles become slack (remember the point above, where the body does not like slack/saggy muscles). The calf muscles may also become tight/ Facilitated for the same reason.
The Hamstrings may also become tighter due top the fact that as the pelvis tilts Anteriorly (Tilts Forward) and pulls upon the Hamstring like a “Rack”.
Now we shall move onto what may happen in the upper part of the body, especially if you work in an office environment.
Using a computer and/or writing for long periods of time may also result in: short and tight Pectoral muscles and Anterior Deltoids. As a result of these muscles being short and tight, the Rhomboids and Middle Trapezius may become weak and inhibited resulting in possible winging of the scapula.
Also, as a result of having short and tight chest muscles you may have long and tight upper back muscles, Trapezius and Levator scapulae. Due to the fact they are long and tight they become ‘noisy’ i.e. very sensitive and thus potentially painful.
Whilst you are typing, these upper back muscles are moving through a small range of motion and as such are burning a small amount of fuel, this produces a small amount of waste products ie. lactic acid and urea. As only small movements occur, we do not get a large amount of blood circulating, and do not benefit from what I call the “sponge effect” of compressing and releasing of the muscles like in big movement exercises, thus increasing blood flow and flushing out the waste products. The waste can build up and create knots and adversely affect the muscle movement. At the same time, the muscles also can become quite Ischemic
As most people look down and forward at a computer screen, this can cause the head to migrate forward resulting in tight Sternocliedomastoids, which can pull the head forward. The Splenius Capitis, Erector Spinae and upper Trapezius will then become tight as they tilt the head up in order to keep the eyes horizontal. Muscles at the front of the neck, the Longus Capitus and Longus Coli will become long and possibly weak. Also some studies have stated that for every 1cm that your head is forward of where it should be, you add the equivalent weight of another head upon your shoulders. I hope you don't have big heads heh heh.
As you can see, there are potentially quite a lot that can be affected. That is why at Dax Moy Personal Training Studios, we insist that all our clients do a Kinetic Chain Assessment, which will identify any imbalances and/or bad recruitment patterns. This assessment helps us devise our strategy and training programmes to suit the individual, and correct these potential imbalances.
If such an assessment is not carried out, the client could be given "standard" exercise programmes and actually increas the imbalance. For example, a tight lower back and forward rounded shoulders would not really benefit from loads of Bench Pressing and Lat Pulldowns. What they would need to do is improve the flexibility of the chest and strengthen the Middle Back, whist stretching the Lats, as an example
Potential Imbalances caused by sitting down for too much time during the day may result in these imbalances:
Muscles such as your Hip-Flexors (Iliopsoas,) and Rectus Femoris are at their best tension when standing up, as such, due to you spending long periods of time sitting down, these muscles become slack/saggy. The body’s neurological system does not like saggy muscles, as such, it will send a signal to these muscles to “Tighten up” Thus resulting in tight Hip-Flexors.
Tight Hip-Flexors can have a detrimental effect on the posture in 2 ways.
1st, by the process of Reciprocal Inhibition, having tight Hip-Flexors may result in Inhibited Gluteus muscles (Bottom) .
2nd, the Hip-Flexors will pull down upon the Lumbar Spine (Psoas muscles) at the same, time the Rectus Femoris will pull down upon the front of the Pelvis, thus leading to a possible Anterior Tilt of the Pelvis, which is a main contributor to a Postural Dysfunction called Lordosis
On the back of the legs, other things start to happen. First of all the Hamstrings may begin to tighten/Facilitate due to the fact that whilst you are sitting down, the muscles become slack (remember the point above, where the body does not like slack/saggy muscles). The calf muscles may also become tight/ Facilitated for the same reason.
The Hamstrings may also become tighter due top the fact that as the pelvis tilts Anteriorly (Tilts Forward) and pulls upon the Hamstring like a “Rack”.
Now we shall move onto what may happen in the upper part of the body, especially if you work in an office environment.
Using a computer and/or writing for long periods of time may also result in: short and tight Pectoral muscles and Anterior Deltoids. As a result of these muscles being short and tight, the Rhomboids and Middle Trapezius may become weak and inhibited resulting in possible winging of the scapula.
Also, as a result of having short and tight chest muscles you may have long and tight upper back muscles, Trapezius and Levator scapulae. Due to the fact they are long and tight they become ‘noisy’ i.e. very sensitive and thus potentially painful.
Whilst you are typing, these upper back muscles are moving through a small range of motion and as such are burning a small amount of fuel, this produces a small amount of waste products ie. lactic acid and urea. As only small movements occur, we do not get a large amount of blood circulating, and do not benefit from what I call the “sponge effect” of compressing and releasing of the muscles like in big movement exercises, thus increasing blood flow and flushing out the waste products. The waste can build up and create knots and adversely affect the muscle movement. At the same time, the muscles also can become quite Ischemic
As most people look down and forward at a computer screen, this can cause the head to migrate forward resulting in tight Sternocliedomastoids, which can pull the head forward. The Splenius Capitis, Erector Spinae and upper Trapezius will then become tight as they tilt the head up in order to keep the eyes horizontal. Muscles at the front of the neck, the Longus Capitus and Longus Coli will become long and possibly weak. Also some studies have stated that for every 1cm that your head is forward of where it should be, you add the equivalent weight of another head upon your shoulders. I hope you don't have big heads heh heh.
As you can see, there are potentially quite a lot that can be affected. That is why at Dax Moy Personal Training Studios, we insist that all our clients do a Kinetic Chain Assessment, which will identify any imbalances and/or bad recruitment patterns. This assessment helps us devise our strategy and training programmes to suit the individual, and correct these potential imbalances.
If such an assessment is not carried out, the client could be given "standard" exercise programmes and actually increas the imbalance. For example, a tight lower back and forward rounded shoulders would not really benefit from loads of Bench Pressing and Lat Pulldowns. What they would need to do is improve the flexibility of the chest and strengthen the Middle Back, whist stretching the Lats, as an example
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