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How good is your posture?
Do you feel stiff after a day sitting at your desk?
Back aching, tension in your shoulders or between your shoulder blades?
This is how I feel after sitting for a couple of hours and I do a lot of movement in my day!
Your posture is important
We were built in such a way that our muscles can hold our frame (skeleton) up and help us move. They do other things as well but here we are concerned with our posture.
If we have poor posture, the muscles have to work harder to maintain our standing state and this in turn puts stresses on our joints , ligaments and ultimately the spine. In the long term causing weakness in the muscles and creating problems.
By improving your posture and strengthening your core you are giving yourself a chance
What can you do?
Does your job involve sitting for long periods then you need to be aware of what this is doing to you. My blog from “What happens to your muscles when you sit all day?” explains which muscles are effected.
Your regular workout needs to bring some strength work into your workout e.g squats and lunges to target the glutes and leg muscles.
Pilates is also a great way to strengthen your core. I always describe your body as a big circle. The heart etc and your muscles are on the outside of the circle and your core is in the middle holding it all together. Just a bit like your body. The stronger your core then this helps the muscles around the pelvis and lower spine do there job by supporting your body.
Stretching is important too
Working out a few times a week this is great but not enough! You need to get up and move once in every hour to wake those muscles up and stretch too, to relive tension especially in your upper body.
Have a go at the following videos next time you get up from your desk. There are a couple you will need to get onto the floor for but a carpet will be fine and you don’t need to change.
The Video’s
Video Three – Hip Flexor Stretch
Moving and strengthening our bodies regularly can help us improve and maintain good posture. By doing Pilates regularly will help you become more body aware and improve you posture.
