Stand Tall

Sadly, almost everyone experiences some form of chronic pain in their lives. Knees and hips ache, low back muscles spasm, necks pinch and shoulders lose range of motion. Aside from impact accidents the source for most of the discomfort is poor body alignment. The body is an amazing machine. It is designed to take the forces of daily life and distribute them through the body as a harmless sensation. When there is an imbalance, the force slams into the area affected. This means your body weight and gravity, at least, repeatedly hit the area like a hammer. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that the area eventually aches consistently.

How do these misalignments occur? Well, life is the simplest answer. Driving and hours in front of a computer cause the shoulders to hunch forward and the chest muscles to shorten and tighten - this will eventually make the chin thrust forward limiting the range of motion in the neck and choke off nerves. This can also result in rotator cuff issues in the shoulders, limiting motion there as well. Walking on one side of the foot over another causes us to put angled pressure on the knees. This will eventually result in either bowed knees or knocked knees, this will further the bodies discomfort by placing angled pressure on the hips. If left untreated, the misalignment will spread from the hips to the low back then continue up the spine into the cervical (neck).

There is hope! There are a few things that can be done to help correct the misalignments caused from daily life. The body basically breaks into 3 parts. The lower body (from the hips down), the Core (or middle of the body), and the upper body (which encompasses the ribs up through the head). There are 1 stretch and strengthening exercise for each of these areas that will greatly benefit the bodies alignment by re-training the brain how to communicate with these areas properly.

Treat the body as 1 entity. Even though you may feel discomfort in only one area, you want to perform the stretches and strengthening on all 3 of the areas. Hold the stretches for about a count of 10 - or until some of the tightness relieves. Perform about 12 repetitions of the strength exercises with 2-3 sets.

Lower Body:
Strap Stretches
Lay on your back with the towel (strap) wrapped around the ball of your foot. One foot flat on the floor the other leg extended straight.
1) Slowly life the straight leg up toward your head, pulling lightly on the strap until you feel a slight stretch up the back of the leg.
2) Hold each end of the towel in each hand. Pull slightly with one hand, angling you foot. Keep the knee straight, until you feel a pull on the in/out-side of the calf/ankle. Repeat to the other side by pulling with the other hand.
3) Keeping leg straight up to the ceiling, with the knee straight, slowly open the leg wide toward the floor, keep your opposite rump pressed into the mat. Hold once you feel a slight pull on the inner thigh.
4) Leg straight up toward the ceiling. Keeping the same rump pressed into the mat, angle the leg across you body until you feel a slight pull on the outside of the leg (anywhere from the foot to hip).

Strengthening:
Lunge: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, you can hold a medicine ball or dumbbells in your hands for added resistance if you'd like. Step one foot back about 2 feet - keeping your feet shoulder width apart for added balance. Roll your shoulders back and tighten your abs like you are trying on a tight pair of jeans, lift up your rear heel so you are balancing on the ball of the foot. Slowly bend your rear knee toward the floor. Your lead knee will also bend, be sure it stays over your ankle. Also, you can shift your weight to ensure your weight is distributed evenly across the surface of your lead foot. Press through the lead foot to straighten your legs as you step the back foot up next to the lead foot - back to the start position.

Core:
Stretching: Most people do not realize that much of their lumbar discomfort comes from having tight hip flexors. This is the result from sitting so much of the day.
Sit on the edge of a chair. Keep your back straight and tall. Take one foot around the outside of the chair, balancing on the ball of the foot behind you (in a lunged position. Slowly tighten your abs, rolling your hips forward until you feel a stretch in the front of the hips.

Strengthening:
Stability Ball Crunch: Sit tall on a 55-65 cm stability ball. Walk your feet forward as you lay back until the ball rests under your lumbar spine. Tighten your abs as you place your hands behind your head, relaxing your shoulders. Inhale. As you exhale, slowly lift your shoulders toward the ceiling. Lift only as high as you can maintain your sucked in abdomen - at some point you'll reach a hight that your ab muscles just pooch out no matter how hard your try to keep them tight, this is your strength thresh-hold, don't try to push past it.

Upper Body:
Stretching:
Stand on one side of an open door. With your feet flush to the thresh hold. Place your forearms on the frame of the door, so that your elbows are level with your shoulders. Tighten your abs. Lean your entire body forward until you feel a stretching in the upper chest/front of the shoulder.

Strengthening:
Row: Sit on the edge of a bench or chair, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Feet flat on the floor, shoulders rolled back, chin slightly tucked. Tip forward from the hips until your torso is at about 45 degrees. Keep your spine straight - don't hunch. Let your arms dangle toward the floor. Slowly lift both arms, close to the body, until the weights are next to your ribs - squeezing your shoulder blades together. Slowly release your arms. **Keep aware of your spinal alignment, you'll get no benefit out of the exercise if you allow your shoulders to round forward.