Remember when your mother told you not to slouch? She was right.
"Forward heads and rounded shoulders are the most common postural faults treated by bodyworkers," according to Erik Dalton, Ph.D. "Myoskeletal pain syndromes develop from tension, trauma and poor ergonomics.
Society's transition from an active group of movers to a sedentary bunch of sitters has created a flexion-addicted population with bodies at war with gravity."
Take a good look at yourself. You filter out too much data when you look in a mirror, so look at some full length photos of yourself. Do you see any of the following?
Head shifted forward.
- Shoulders rolled in and forward.
- Chest caved in.
Excessive curvature in low back.
Pelvis rotated downward in front.
Belly protruded.
Knees locked.
Center of gravity over mid-foot.
One shoulder or hip higher than the other.
These are all signs of Flexion-Addiction and they negatively effect your health, athletic performance, and quality of life. When your posture is in balance you look, move, and feel better. When it is out of balance, some muscles are forced to work overtime to compensate. The greater the distortion, the harder they have to work. This burns more energy and produces more metabolic wastes at the same time it reduces our flexibility and movement. Movement is what drives fluid exchange (from lymphatic drainage right down to the cellular level). As movement is reduced, the muscles become starved for nutrition and the nerve ending become irritated by a buildup metabolic wastes and a lack oxygen. A pain/spasm/pain cycle sets in. Your are fighting your own body to move, your energy is drained, and your stress goes up.
As you become less flexible, you also become more prone to injury. "Flexibility is the most important factor in the longevity of an athlete," according to Aaron Mattes, M.A., RKT, LMT, "and is key in the prevention of and the recovery from sports injuries. The primary obstacle to flexibility is the tightness of the muscles and fascia surrounding a joint."
The good news is that posture and flexibility can be restored fairly easily. First, restore the full physiologic range of motion to the joints. Then restore the proper firing patterns to the muscles. Finally, reestablish muscle balance across joints. As posture and flexibility return, most aches and pains go away on their own. StretchingOhio.com uses The Mattes Method of Active Isolated Stretching and Strengthening plus some Advanced Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques and other massage modalities to help you achieve your health and fitness goals.