Injury Prevention Tip: Week 3: Do any of these complaints sound familiar… “I have shoulder pain when I raise my arms out to the side” “I have tingling down my arms “I have headaches.” These are several of the complaints I have had in the recent weeks. I’ve decided it would be a fun game to pick the injury prevention tip of the week. This week is POSTURE. Audience Participation Time: Everyone take 5 seconds and try this --- (honestly, you’re going to be intrigued after you read this and will want to try it out, go ahead and give in and give it a try) 1) While sitting or standing – get yourself into a bad posture (slump/round your shoulders/forward head) 2) Keep your arms straight and try to raise them up above your head then back down… then raise them out to the side 3) NOTE: you cannot get your arms all the way up in EITHER direction… it’s like you hit a road block 4) NOW try to sit or stand up nice and tall – pull your head back so your ears are over your shoulders and shoulders over your hips and try the same arm raises (to the front, then to the side) 5) Ahhhhh --- notice how much more motion you have?! You will be putting less stress through your shoulders and have better range of motion if they are in the right orientation. Think about how much more strength and stability you can gain working through your entire range of motion. Another scenario to think about is this…. I give you a 10-lb bowling ball and you get to carry it around ALL day. You do not get a break from carrying it. You are given the option of holding the ball in one of two different positions: 1) holding the ball with your arm straight out and far away from your body or 2) resting the ball on your shoulder. What’s your pick? You would pick to hold the ball resting on your shoulder right? It’s closer to your center of gravity and puts less stress on your body. Most of us are choosing to hold our bowling ball (ie: head) WAY out away from our body. Our neck/spine/shoulders/etc cannot tolerate that stress and over time you will end up with pain. Take an extra couple seconds to check your posture BEFORE you lift/do push-ups/squats/etc. Are you ears over your shoulders? Are your shoulders over your hips? Are your shoulders pulled BACK AND DOWN (like you’re pinching a $100 between your shoulder blades AND pulling it down towards your pockets)? If we are doing an arm exercise, make SURE you’re feeling it in your shoulders and not in your head, neck, low back, etc. If you are --- ask one of our amazing trainers to check your technique. They are awesome! Challenge for the week: Look around – have your friends look at your posture. Where is your head? Where are your shoulder blades? How do you feel after – headache, shoulder pain, pain in other areas than you should… ask for a technique check. I catch myself letting my posture go all the time– the trainers call me out on stuff often – that’s the awesome part of having people hold you accountable. Strive to improve your technique this week.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 02:22:48 +0000
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