Lagster, I have to tell you that I deal with SI with low back issues with every golfer. If they haven't developed sciatic nerve symptoms before they create a balance between the cervical and sacral regions of the vertebrae it is unavoidable. It has been completely reversable or managed without surgery with 100% percentage of my clients that have not already had surgery and do not have some other malformation of scar tissue or herniation that has created adhearance or fusion of the vertebrae. I sent a guy to an orthoped a few weeks ago and now he's on the natural path to stop the degeneration. I encourage everyone to re-visit the earlier thread and look at the information shared by physioguy. He is very poetic in verifying tha fact that most people, even non golfers, carry their body in a manner that promotes these hip and back problems. They just don't expose their pain and disfunction because they aren't passionate in their ability to use their hips.
I am finding that it's unusual NOT to find some sort of sacro-iliac dysfunction in most clients with low back pain, among other problems (eg. hip flexor tightness). The culprit seems to be a lack of movement. Today's fast-paced, ultra convenience lifestyle has made most activities automated and sedentary, and, people don't make the time to devote to a regular exercise routine. We tend to sit too much, which causes the SI joint to stiffen up, as well as promote tightness in the hip and thigh musculature, particularly the hip flexors. The whole core tends to "gum" up and weaken (I recently treated a 27 year old construction worker. You would not believe how stiff his spine had gotten. He almost moved exclusively at the shoulder and hip joints, and not much in between).
Vickie has posted extensively to some of the imbalances that develop in the body, which affect our posture and movement (sit at a bench sometime, and simply watch people walk. Even without any training in biomechanics, you should be able to pick up some obvious deviations and assymetries in walking/gait). All of this puts abnormal or excessive stresses on the tissues of the body, which WILL eventually lead to tissue breakdown, such as a disc herniation. As we should all know by now, back pain tends to be cumulative. Of course, my clients always say, I never had a bad back, to which I say, "until you had a bad back!" Meaning the damage started long before the pain was actually felt.
What this all means, is that this tightness and movement restrictions at one or more joints, will demand that the movement occur elsewhere. The low back, unfortunately, often takes the hit. Many people are literally wearing out their backs day by day. Even the sacro-iliac, which has a very liimited amount of movement, can harm the low back if that little movement isn't there to feed into the system.
Hamtrings stretches and lunges are a good start, but because the SI joint has such jagged articulations, and huge, thick honkers of ligaments, the joint may have to be mobilized manually first. Following, exercises such as lunges may help keep things moving.
(An aside - it will be interesting to see how the current generation does with musculoskeletal problems. The current rates of childhood obesity, and the onset of adult diabetes in kids is alarming. Due to computers and video games, todays kids seem to be more sedentary than ever, which could mean big problems down the line)
Sorry for the length of the post, and the possibly scattered ideas. I could post pages about this subject!
I am finding that it's unusual NOT to find some sort of sacro-iliac dysfunction in most clients with low back pain, among other problems (eg. hip flexor tightness). The culprit seems to be a lack of movement. Today's fast-paced, ultra convenience lifestyle has made most activities automated and sedentary, and, people don't make the time to devote to a regular exercise routine. We tend to sit too much, which causes the SI joint to stiffen up, !
I play 1.5 hours of rather intense racquetball every weekday. I feel good when I get off the court--tired, but good. I try to get in some post match stretching but more often than not it's a quick shower than back to sitting in front of the computer. If I get busy and don't get out of that chair for an hour, when I finally do get up I can hardly walk!! I just assume not sit for awhile after I play if I could.
Heh, you are not alone! There's comfort in numbers, no?
At least you are somewhat active.
I think the toughest thing to do in my line of work is convince people that they NEED to do some form of regular exercise. I don't mean joining a gym, although that might be a good thing to do.
A good program could take as little as 15-20 minutes a day, 3-5 days per week. (although I would still ask people to stretch multiple times per day)
I feel like crap when the clinic is crazy, and I don't get a chance to work out. I am just now returning to regular exercise after about 1 1/2 months of relative inactivity due to a health problem. It is amazing how quickly you lose your conditioning. Felt as weak as a kitten today! The good news is, the soreness will go away, and the strength will return in 3-4 weeks.
What about POSTURE? I have found that working on good posture... feels nearly military to me... seems to help with the back and SI pain.
In your opinions... what should correct, or good posture look and feel like?
I know there are various opinions on what correct golf posture should look like, and this is important. I am talking here, however, about standing, walking, and sitting posture in daily activities.
Posture is one of those things that we always assess, but ultimately posture is a result of your habitual positions and activities, including resting activities, your flexibility, your strength/stability, gravity, etc. You've heard the phrase "you are what you eat"? Well, a similar saying for posture could be "You are what you do."
I know Vickie has talked about postural alignment in the past, so I'm hoping she will pop in.
In the textbooks, there is an "ideal" posture, where you look at where certain anatomical reference points line up. With regard to the spine, it should have three curves, looking like a shallow "S" when seen from the side. This is considered a neutral posture, and places the least amount of stress on the spine, as the stress is spread out around the column.
Of course, I have mentioned that many things affect posture. If we tend to slouch, the body basically succumbs to gravity, and typically the anterior (front) structures of the body tighten. The head drifts forward, the front neck muscles become tight, the chest muscles tighten, the shoulders round forward, the arms internally rotate. As we get older, the abdominal musculature tends to weaken, and, maybe combined with a little spare tire, stomach protrudes, and the low back becomes hyperarched. The hip flexors, if tight from too much sitting and lack of exercise, are so strong, they literally can "pull" the pelvis into a forward tilted position, which also contributes to an arched lower back.
You are correct that good posture may feel "military." Correct "textbook" posture, is so rare, that those people tend to stand out.
Here's the thing - I have basically stopped giving my clients traditional "posture correction" exercises. I have found that I don't get success by getting the client to "think" about their posture. I get better results by prescribing exercises which drive the body regions where I think they need to go, and then the good posture basically develops naturally.
I'll stop here, and wait to hear others' thoughts on the subject.
Physioguy is right on the money,as usual, the best way to correct your posture is by putting yourself in postures that "allow" your muscles to "remember" the way they are supposed to support the spine in action. Exercise is not natural and when you are doing a stretch or a strength movement your body is your machine. But you're right when the workout is over you don't want to feel that rigid.
If you stand facing a mirror and the back of your palms are mostly flat then you are probably rounding in the shoulders and your neck is probably protruding forward. If you look at the vitruvian man (think Leonard di Vinci's naked man in the circle) and you will see palms open, this is an over corrected posture, the one you use to workout. People with good posture will have their shoulders back, their ears up and back over their shoulder bones and the web of their hand (between the thyumb and index finger) will be reflected in the mirror instead of the hand surfaces.
Your body has a priority protocol to keep the atlas, the first cervical vertebrae (that your head sits on) and your sacrum in positive alignment. The extent to which your body can maintain this healthy aligment is a function of your repetative movements in your lifestyle. If you keep your body in alignment it will repeat that mechanical behavior, if you misalign throughout the day and don't correct then, you guessed it, it will move to the aligned postures you create most often; even to it's own detrement An easy example: The reason most golfers have a high shoulder is that they put their body in that posture frequently and repetitively to hit a golf ball without following up with a request, a correction in the alignment, to come back to a more balanced posture.
See your bones go where your muscles take them. So if the weight of your head is forward and your shoulders are rounding then the muscles will create a tension to maintain this posture. Your stretching program and your strength training program are critical to remind your body of the proper relationships of the muscles to the spine. The body has a preference for balance but can only comply with the physiclal movements to which it is exposed.
Reversing misalignment, bad posture, can take some time. Remember, when you start a program your body isn't performing the complete stretch so you can't get frustrated and say the workouts aren't working until you have been able to perform the movements perfectly and repeatedly. There aren't a lot of people who can do that. Everyday, when I stretch, yes everyday, I give my body an opportunity to revisit the appropriate balance of tension on my right side relative to my left side throughout the length of my spine, from my head to hips. As a consequence I don't have any back pain (I spent most of my young life in continuous but not too much crippling pain) If I feel my low back tightening up because of the activity of my life (whether it's golf, tennis, gardening, sitting at the computer) I will drop right down on the floor and do the torso twist at my first opportunity.
I start every day with about six stretches;that takes about ten minutes. I do almost the same thing at night but add or take out movements and substitute stretches that 'feel right'. Three times a week I have a stretch workout that lasts about 30 minutes where I am really working on a lot of different movements and I hold the positions for up to 90 seconds. This is usually on a shorter strength workout day immediately after my workout or later in the day in front of the news.
One of the reasons I like dumbbell work in strength training programs is that it really forces you to see your bilateral strengths and weaknesses. That is, you can see if you have a stronger side that helps out the weaker side. If you are holding a weight in each hand you can see when the weaker side is strugging. This tells you what you should be doing in your workout more accurately than following any single program someone else suggests. With every client I walk into their home with an idea of the specific work I want to accomplish and then as I see their body work realize I need to change adjust the focus of the work.
If it sounds like a lot to do just think how much the dentist could inflict if you didn't brush and floss appropriately. Your body requires the same consistent maintenance your teeth do especially since we like to use or bodies in a very aligned sport. It is a great fix for keeping your body usable, pain free and the best preventative for arthritis. You're not going to stop eating so you keep flossing.
Do your stretches, don't think about it, just treat yourself well. Be easy in your daily work when you are beginning and enjoy the relaxation. Never stretch to the point of grimmicing but make sure you really feel the stretch and be very strict in your technique. I figure there are enough threads about strength.
Gee physioguy, I may be making your thread look short.
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.
Hybrid Mode
