Fitness
Tips
WORK WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE
by John Stepien and Gary Rego
When you look in the mirror what part of
the body do you see? Your thighs, chest, or arms? The common
thread is that these parts are all in the front of you. We often
get lured into expanding the muscle that we see. How often there
is a muscle magazine that has a picture of a person's back on
the cover? We need to stop trying to impress ourselves with
our reflection and start focusing on the muscles that we don't
see in the mirror.
When I coach my defensive football players
on how to safely tackle during summer camp, I'd say, “Keep
your back straight, butt out, neck extended.” The front
part of the body doesn't come in until after contact. The muscles
that predominantly “protect” the spine are all on
your posterior. The abdominals, which resist hyperextension,
are the exception. The spinal erectors and others act together
with your abdominals to stabilize the spine. The complete circumference
of your abdomen is a crisscross of muscles that “protect”
your back in all directions. “Protect” means to
resist forces that would cause extreme bending in the spine.
Over-bending sideways or backwards has a propensity for spinal
fractures. When bending too much forward, the spinal discs are
usually injured. A disc is just like a haupia-filled malasada
when you squeeze one side too much. It shoots out posteriorly
into the spinal cord. You know what can happen as a result of
that. Maintaining spinal positions is crucial in sports to prevent
traumatic injury and in everyday life to reduce wear and tear.
Now let's not forget the upper back. The
thoracic region carries the shoulder blades and in that rests
the life of your shoulders. As a physical therapist, I see a
strong correlation between rounded upper backs and “wear
'n tear” shoulder injuries. In support of my observations,
there is a plethora of laboratory studies that prove improper
shoulder blade positioning leads to weakness and incorrect shoulder
joint mechanics. Basically, these faulty mechanics lead to over
stressing certain structures of the shoulder during movement.
The key is to pull your shoulder blades back and down to allow
your rotator cuff to properly control your shoulder joint. Without
a straight upper back, you will not be able to pull your blades
in the correct position. Theses principles apply to any exercise
that uses your upper extremity. So when you're working on your
upper body, take a side view of yourself in the mirror and stick
out your chest to see if you can make your upper back go a little
straighter.
The spine is the base of the entire body.
Our limbs and the nerves that supply them originate from the
spine. We tend to take our back for granted which can lead to
a lot of pain later in life. When you strengthen legs and arms,
make sure you do not use a weight that compromises the position
of your spine. Again, these principles do not only apply when
you are working out. Posture is very important on reducing wear
and tear attributed from job and house duties. Remember, humans
stand erect so let's try to keep it that way.
| LOG IT DOWN! |
| Do you track your fitness progress? Keeping a log book can improve your progress towards your fitness goals. By writing it down, you can clearly see what exercises you performed and how much weight/intensity you executed. By doing this, you can see how much progress or lack thereof you are attaining. You can also see if you are adding variety into your workouts by not performing the same exercises/cardio everyday. Try it for a month and you'll definitely see the difference! |
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