Dynamic Posture
Having good posture while you are standing still looking in the mirror is all well and good, but what makes a real difference in your spinal health is your dynamic posture, or your posture while moving. Simply maintaining good posture and alignment throughout the day can help you prevent many common back injuries.
Most important is to consistently use your postural support muscles to do their job in supporting your spine. By stretching your spine and lifting your torso you increase the spaces between your vertebrae. Think of your spine as being like a big spring. If you compress it down, pressing the coils into each other, you are not going to get much freedom of movement. And when you do move or bend the spring in this position, the coils will scrape against each other, possibly causing damage. In contrast, when you stretch the spring, the coils are separated and there is plenty of space between them to allow a large range of movement without any scraping or contact.
Just like the spring, the vertebrae of your back will sink down onto one another, compressing the vertebral discs if your spine is not supported. By lifting tall and stretching your spine, you provide room for the vertebrae to move without compressing the discs. The musculature of your torso is designed to do this, but most of us do not use our postural support muscles correctly or consistently.
Your spine is designed to move in a wide range of motion in order to allow you to function throughout the day. The basic movements of your spine are:
Flexion – forward bending
Extension – backward bending
Lateral Flexion – sideways bending
Rotation – twisting or turning to the side
All of these motions are normal movements of the spine, as are combinations of these movements. If your spine is supported and your body is in correct alignment, they are not dangerous moves in and of themselves. What can make a movement dangerous are:
Incorrect body alignment – Try to maintain good posture throughout the day, and always set yourself up with good posture before doing any bending, lifting, or pushing tasks. Make sure your torso is lifted tall and use your postural support muscles to stabilize your spine in a neutral position, with only the normal spinal curves. Bend from your knees and hips, keeping your chest lifted; never lean forward with straight legs to pick something up. If you need to bend from the waist or move your spine beyond the neutral position, think of lengthening it first to allow plenty of space for your vertebrae to move without compressing the discs in between.
Lifting a heavy load – If you need to lift something, use good lifting technique and tighten your core muscles. But never lift anything that is too heavy or unmanageable for you. Chances are, if you can’t push it easily with your foot, it is probably too heavy for you to lift.
Forcing a movement too far – Know your limits and stay within them. Never push a movement beyond your comfortable range of motion. Stretching and straining to perform even the smallest, simplest tasks puts your spine in a vulnerable position and can lead to a painful injury. Think before you make a move – take a step closer, get up out of your chair, use a stepstool, wait until your stopped, unbuckle your seatbelt and get out of the car to reach into the back seat. Again – lengthen your posture and tighten your abdominal core for twisting, bending and lifting motions.
Quick, forceful movements – Move slowly, with control. Start with good posture and be conscious of your alignment as you bend, stretch, tighten your core muscles and lift. Give yourself time to think about what you are doing as you do it, and give your trunk muscles time to do their job correctly.
Lack of strength – Incorporate two to three days of strength training exercises into your schedule. Twenty minutes is enough to do a basic routine to strengthen the major muscle groups of the body, especially the postural support muscles. Strengthening these muscles will help them stabilize, support and protect your spine, as well as keep you standing tall all day. Regular IMX Pilates workouts will greatly strengthen the core and develop spine mobility so if possible, take some classes.
Lack of flexibility – Stretching out short, tight muscles can help even out postural deviations by allowing the postural muscles to lift the torso into correct alignment. Adequate flexibility also allows you to perform everyday lifting and stretching movements, such as reaching into the back seat or picking something up off the floor – without getting hurt. And don’t let the word “flexibility” conjure up images of impossibly flexible gymnasts – that’s much more flexibility than the average person will ever need. A few simple stretching exercises done regularly can work wonders for most of us.
By Elyse McNergney, MA, M.Ed, Founder of IMX
IM=X® Pilates, Inc.
265 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10016 | 800.IMX.1336
www.imxpilatesstudio.com | www.imxpilates.com | www.imxpilates.net
References
Hagen, P.T., ed. Guide to Self-Care, second edition. Mayo Clinic: 1999.
Kapandji, I.A. The Physiology of the Joints: Volume Three, The Trunk and the Vertebral Column, second edition. London: Churchill Livingstone, 1974.
Tortora, G. Principles of Human Anatomy, fifth edition. New York: Harper & Row, 1989