We sit in the car, we sit at our desks, we sit on the train, we sit on the plane, we sit on the couch…. If we don’t put any effort into counteracting these poor postures, aches and pains will undoubtedly ensue.

Poor postural habits can lead to a bevy of issues including pains in areas like our back, our hips, our neck, our shoulders.  These pains can mostly be prevented (unless you’ve had a serious injury where you actually need surgery) through proper corrective exercises. 

How do we fix ourselves? Well i’m a firm believer that our body was meant to move in many ways, and that MOVEMENT is MEDICINE. Understanding which muscles are tight and overactive, and which muscles are weak and underactive will help you determine where you need to become more flexible/mobile, and where you need to strengthen in order to balance out your body for optimal health and performance. 

Here is an AWESOME, Five exercise flow that you can start doing to feel all loosey goosey and mobile through your spine, shoulders, and neck. This is an especially good flow if you are sitting for a good portion of your day. I’m no genie, and I’m not here to tell you that this will fix all your issues, but you might feel like a new person after doing this flow properly!

***NOTE***

If you’ve been diagnosed with a serious shoulder impingement or thoracic/cervical spine injury, I would avoid these, otherwise, give them a go!

1: Foam Roll Lats – 60 seconds each side – Breathing deeply, and applying adequate pressure throughout. EMBRACE THE PAIN!

2: Dynamic Lat Opener – 90 seconds total – Breathing deeply, accentuating lat stretch each time as you reach

3: Cat-Cow – 90 seconds total – EXHALE as you push into ground and drive spine to ceiling, INHALE as you arch your back/squeeze your shoulderblades together down and back

4: Shoulderblade W’s – 15 smooth reps – EXHALE as you extend upwards, tucking/squeeing your shoulderblades down and back, INHALE as you let your shoulderblades stretch towards the floor. Try to get a full range of motion through this one!

5: Snow Angel Stretch – Perform as long as you’d like! Breathe deeply throughout, and try to stay relaxed through the range of motion. You should feel a SIMMERING stretch in the chest/shoulder area

If you are really in pain, and have hit a wall and aren’t sure how you should be training, a certified personal trainer that also has specialty certifications in corrective exercise is a good place to start, or a physical therapist would definitely be able to help.  These routes can be expensive, however, but if you are in that much pain and it’s to the point of debilitation, you should invest some money into your health and making you feel better.

I can also aid in helping you here at My Fit Philosophy for a fraction of the cost.  If reducing pain in certain areas of your body is a priority for you, I will program for you accordingly, and show you how start living a pain free lifestyle.  On top of that, you get a FULL ROUTINE that will also start getting you to look, and feel even better on top of making strides towards becoming pain free, all while staying in touch with me. Take the quiz below to find out how to better reach your goals!