I use to pop several advils before and during each round of golf but after working with Yoda at the Pine Needles workshop I haven't needed an advil ever since to play golf. Good TGM mechanics are priceless. I know this is not the answer for everyone but I have a history of bad backs and have none playing golf since.
...The head drifts forward, the front neck muscles become tight...
Hi Physioguy
In the position you described (foward head, rounded shoulders) wouldn't the muscles in the back of the neck become tight?
TC
Well, certain muscles (the small ones at the base of the skull called the suboccipitals) basically tighten, from having to hold the head up (the suboccipitals are notorious for headaches starting at the back of the skull). But, generally, the muscles on the back of the neck are called extensors. If the head is drifting forward (in a flexion direction), the muscles are actually getting stretched. Due to the forward pull, they often feel tight, and the tone does increase, again because the muscles are on tension, holding the head up. You see, with balanced posture, the head basically sits or balances on the spine. When then head drifts forward, something has to hold it up against gravity. This is part of the reason most of us need a massage to our shoulder and neck muscles. Because the head is in a forward position, the muscles in front of the neck, the flexors, are in a shortened position, so they really are tight.
So, we may be talking semantics here, but the upper back and neck muscles tend to get into a "stretch weakness" with a forward head posture - but they have increased tone. Does that make sense? Tight, to me, refers to shortening of a muscle, while tone refers to the texture of the muscle itself.
Yikes, this stuff is hard to explain in writing!
__________________
After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Your mattress is really of critical importance. You should look at your warranty but if you've had a mattress for more than 7 years it will probably be showing wear in the posture your body settles most. I don't adhere to the sleep posture postulations. I think your body will move around and should move around and this should all be a part of your recovery for the day. Make sure your pillow is high enough for your shoulder height but be sure when you are on your back you aren't feeling like your neck is protruded forward. I personally use the pillows from brookstone and then put a feather pillow on top of it. This combination gives me support and movability; I move a lot during sleep. Some people move less, you just have to support your rythm.
Yes, strength and flexibility training re-establish the muscle memory that remind you to maintain your posture without continually pulling back your shoulders. You will just find yourself looking for the right position. Appropriate tension will allow you to keep your chest lifted, your abdominal wall long and engaged to give rest to your neck and back. Imagine that you've learned a new language and you don't speak too well. you take it to the native country and learn to become fluent. If you come back home and don't use the language for an extended period of time you will loose your memory of the language. Such is the language of the body. Use is appropriately and often and it will maintain itself without so much mental intervention.
It sounds as if stretching and proper exercises help to encourage and set up one's posture.
Should not one consciously adjust one's posture when they find themselves getting tired and slipping into a slump or poor posture? This seems to help me.
While we are on this... what about matresses, chairs, and special pillows? I have heard that these things can make quite a difference.
Also, what about sleeping positions? I heard that stomach sleeping, for example, is bad for certain back and hip ailments.
Sorry, missed this one.
While it is great to remind yourself about posture (and it helps if your loved ones remind you about it, too), I find that it doesn't completely do the trick. Good posture has to become not a habit, but the way your body naturally wants to be in. And that has to come with proper flexibility (i.e. nothing is being strained to maintain good posture), and strength/endurance (i.e. again, nothing is being strained to maintain proper posture).
The average person is basically succumbing to gravity, as discussed with the rounded back, head-forward, rounded shoulder posture. Many people can't get close to the "ideal" posture, they need to work on flexibility big time, not just of the muscles, but the joints as well.
As far as mattresses, chairs, etc. I don't think you need to do anything fancy. For chairs, sit up straight. Period. (Mom was right all along) For sleep, try not to prop your head up on a bunch of pillows. You want to maintain normal alignment, you want to SUPPORT your head and neck.
Sleep - well, sleep gets complicated. Prone lying tends to encourage a rotated neck (otherwise you couldn't breathe!). Side lying, while comfortable, encourages hip flexor tightness - if you use this position, try a pillow or spacer between the legs to maintain spinal alignment. Supine lying would be great, if you can tolerate the position (many people cannot due to hip flexor tightness)
Hope this helps.
__________________
After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
It sounds as if stretching and proper exercises help to encourage and set up one's posture.
Should not one consciously adjust one's posture when they find themselves getting tired and slipping into a slump or poor posture? This seems to help me.
While we are on this... what about matresses, chairs, and special pillows? I have heard that these things can make quite a difference.
Also, what about sleeping positions? I heard that stomach sleeping, for example, is bad for certain back and hip ailments.
Sorry, missed this one.
While it is great to remind yourself about posture (and it helps if your loved ones remind you about it, too), I find that it doesn't completely do the trick. Good posture has to become not a habit, but the way your body naturally wants to be in. And that has to come with proper flexibility (i.e. nothing is being strained to maintain good posture), and strength/endurance (i.e. again, nothing is being strained to maintain proper posture).
The average person is basically succumbing to gravity, as discussed with the rounded back, head-forward, rounded shoulder posture. Many people can't get close to the "ideal" posture, they need to work on flexibility big time, not just of the muscles, but the joints as well.
As far as mattresses, chairs, etc. I don't think you need to do anything fancy. For chairs, sit up straight. Period. (Mom was right all along) For sleep, try not to prop your head up on a bunch of pillows. You want to maintain normal alignment, you want to SUPPORT your head and neck.
Sleep - well, sleep gets complicated. Prone lying tends to encourage a rotated neck (otherwise you couldn't breathe!). Side lying, while comfortable, encourages hip flexor tightness - if you use this position, try a pillow or spacer between the legs to maintain spinal alignment. Supine lying would be great, if you can tolerate the position (many people cannot due to hip flexor tightness)
There is also a great book on the subject highly recommended: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/ also available at Amazon for less.
All you need to get started is a large super ball or lacrosse ball. Using a wall or the floor start deep massage on the trigger points. Depending on the injury and history it can take days or months to completely dissolve the trigger point. It is painful (in a good way) work but well worth the effort. Best of all you heal yourself at your own rate and at no cost.
Once you have the trigger points unlocked begin a strengthening program
to prevent future injury. Keep using the trigger point therapy to keep the muscles free of pain.
There is also a great book on the subject highly recommended: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/ also available at Amazon for less.
All you need to get started is a large super ball or lacrosse ball. Using a wall or the floor start deep massage on the trigger points. Depending on the injury and history it can take days or months to completely dissolve the trigger point. It is painful (in a good way) work but well worth the effort. Best of all you heal yourself at your own rate and at no cost.
Once you have the trigger points unlocked begin a strengthening program
to prevent future injury. Keep using the trigger point therapy to keep the muscles free of pain.
Muscle stiffness and lack of function, including pain associated with physical activity in sedentary people can be due to atheroscleroses in the extremities of inactive people. The pain, the weakness and the stiuffness are caused by lack of oxygen in affected tissues. It is, to some extent reversable if not too far gone, you can regrow new blood vessels to the affected regions. However, if it is too far gone, it is not reversable. You will go from a walker to a fancy chair that is provided at no charge to you, thanks to the US taxpayer!
These are the same sorts of lesions in blood vessels that cause most heart attacks. When you watch a commercial talking about how some remedy prevents platelets from "sticking", look at the underlying lesion, the atherosclerosis. These things are the real issue here, and they happen all the time in your extemities (or so they say, my wife is the real expert here...but she is not here at the moment). If you are active, you will pretty much have a functional system for maintaining blood supply to the extremities, but if you get too sedentary, they more ot less shut down, and if they get really bad, you lose the ability to regrow blood vessels in certain parts of the extremities.
Yes, Lagster, You are talking about the temperapedic bed, I think. I have seen it, layed on it and think it feels great. I have your basic (not inespensive) Sealy Posturpedic Firm Mattress and find it quite satisfactory.
When I start with a client there are three places we begin. With their mattress, with their supplements, and then with the workout program they already use. 50% of the time we replace the ten year old mattress, most of the time I have them finish their supplements and reduce the amount they take, and I try to work always with what a person thinks they need and build from there in their exercises.
Being comfortable in your body and your sport is not rocket science but it is science and takes a certain amount of attention. As Mike posted, however, the TGM technique has reduced the torquing problem I have had with most of my clients. For people on this site, Golf should not provide additional incentive for back pain. In fact, the mechanical specificity should be considered a plus as it makes you more aware of your "alignment" mechanics in general
There is also a great book on the subject highly recommended: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/ also available at Amazon for less.
All you need to get started is a large super ball or lacrosse ball. Using a wall or the floor start deep massage on the trigger points. Depending on the injury and history it can take days or months to completely dissolve the trigger point. It is painful (in a good way) work but well worth the effort. Best of all you heal yourself at your own rate and at no cost.
Once you have the trigger points unlocked begin a strengthening program
to prevent future injury. Keep using the trigger point therapy to keep the muscles free of pain.
I am dealing with lower right/hip issues right now. I found a guy that does trigger point therapy and it has been helping me a lot.
The main culprit is my hip flexors. Learning to stretch those properly is critical to the sciatica issue. However, the sciatic is just a symptom of some of the other mucsles in the low back pulling on the vertabrae. According to my guy, this can cause bulging and pressure on the nerve. Many doctors recommend drugs and surgery for this type of injury. But I remain hopeful that surgery will not be needed in my case.
The type of treatments I'm getting are based on the Chinese healing art known as "qigong anma". Westerners do a similar thing and call it trigger point therapy. By the way, these sessions can be brutal. But they work.
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