9 - Improves posture.

How great is exercising, it offers so many benefits and the best thing is that it’s free! This week we are looking at how it improves posture. Last week we learnt how exercise can improve and strengthen our lower back. Following on from this, strengthening our back is exactly what helps to improve our posture.

When we aren’t moving, our body gets lazy and starts using fewer muscles to support the frame.  It does this to use less energy so you last longer, because when we aren’t active we usually have poor diets, lacking nutrients for energy.

Have you ever heard someone say after exercising? “Wow I feel amazing, and have sore muscles I didn’t even know I had”. This relates to when we exercise, we put more exertion onto our body’s systems. This creates added workload and your muscles need to all work together to perform the activity.

This principle is fantastic; this means that the more we exercise the more our muscle will be activated when we are relaxed. Improving our posture and reducing the risk of injures strains, stiffness and sore joints in the future.

We have good posture, when the muscles of the body are properly align, allowing for efficient and efficient movement. When our body’s muscles and joints are balanced and supported properly, we are better able to perform everyday activities, such as squatting to pick up laundry or running down a flight of stairs with more easy and fluid movement.

 When we are poorly aligned, the joints in our body (e.g., shoulders, spine, hips, knees and ankles) do not function together properly. This will cause some muscles to work harder than others. Over time, those muscles become tense while the others weaken, creating muscular imbalances that slowly devolve into poor posture. As posture deteriorates further, joint movements become restricted and the differences between tense and weak muscles places greater stress on your joints, which then have to compensate. This will cause pain, stiffness and loss of movement throughout our joints. But fix these imbalances, and your posture (and the pain associated with it) will improve.

To improve our posture, it is always best to start with our back. Our back supports the spinal cord, the essence of our movement.

To analyse our alignment, strip down to a pair of shorts, ladies wear a crop top or bra, so you can analyse your shoulders. Then ask a friend to take two full-body photos, one from the front and one from the side. Keep your muscles relaxed but stand as tall as you can, with your feet hip-width apart. Now compare your photos with our photo to diagnose your posture problems.

This is an extremely basic diagnosis, if you are concerned with your posture, we recommend you consult with you chiropractor or physiotherapist.

Cheers, Xenus Fitness