If you are like most people, your job requires hours of sitting in what is called the triple flexed position (knee flexion, hip flexion, elbow flexion). Not only is your job making you sedentary, burning very few calories during the day, but it is also altering how you move. Staying in this body position (like I am right now typing this), your body will reinforce your posture over time, making it more efficient (burning less calories to stay like this) to be slumped over and have rounded shoulders and tight hip flexors. Your altered joint kinematics may cause you pain over time if not addressed. Most adults that have had some sedentary periods in their lives could benefit from corrective exercise to try and counteract the poor posture they have developed. Past injuries can also alter how you move. There are three different systems of your body that are involved in movement (muscular, nervous, and articular), and if one is changed because of injury or poor posture, your body will alter how you move. You only get one body, so let’s take care of it while you are here and make sure you can move optimally, with the least amount of pain.
When starting an exercise program, you should have a fitness professional take you through a battery of movement assessments to identify any compensations in your foot and ankle, knee, lumbo- pelvic-hip complex, and shoulder girdle. If there is a compensation in a joint, the overactive and underactive muscles can then be identified.
The overactive muscles need to be inhibited, through foam rolling (self-myofascial release). After foam rolling, then static stretching or PNF stretching can be used to lengthen the overactive muscles.
Then, the underactive muscles (the opposing muscle group to the overactive muscle) need to be isolated to activate them.
The final step is to perform a dynamic movement that integrates the overactive and underactive muscles together. This is like reprograming your muscle memory to help you move more efficiently. After a period of time, you will notice a difference. It takes time and repetition to correct what poor posture has done to your body.
Source: National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercise Manual
*I am a Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist*
Fitness & Nutrition Coach 