Hunching - Change Your Posture; Change Your Life

"Okay, walk for me."

I watched my client walk a few strides and stopped her.

"Good. But this time, let's get your back straight, take a deep breath, and relax. Now walk."

One of the common things I see in my new clients, and one of the first things I look at, is posture. It is remarkable to me how many of us walk hunched over. There are a number of reasons for this, some of which are easy to understand. In Canada, we generally experience long, cold winters, and the natural walk is somewhat scrunched over. It is hard to walk with a free and loose stride when your teeth are chattering and your skin feels like its being razored by an arctic wind. Most of the posture issues I deal with, however, have more to do with psychology and sexuality than weather.

As a rule, women hunch over so as not to push out their chests. Women with naturally curvaceous forms tend to protract their scapula so as to make their chest less prominent. The problem with this is that it puts a great deal of pressure on the lower back. When we do resistance work for our back, retracting the scapula and keeping the shoulders externally rotated is a must to protect against injury. When we walk with a hunch, we are in effect doing the exact opposite, and all the pressure goes directly to our lower back.

Women are not the only ones who hunch. Very tall (over 6'5) men have a tendency to do it, along with people who do not feel good about themselves. When we hunch, we are communicating something beyond hiding our form. It is often an attempt to hide ourselves. It's what writers would call a 'tell.'

Notice the people around you; the ones who stride upright with no hunch. Now some of them may be full of crap, like a peacock who doesn't know their feathers are actually ugly, but they are clearly not interested in hiding. Now take a look at the people around you who do 'hunch'. What is their personality like? Do they lack self-confidence?

The great thing about the mind and body, and the way they are connected, is that the mind need not always act first to help us change the way we think.

Studies have shown that we can change our feelings by changing our physiology. In other words, you don't need to wait for more confidence to better your posture, bettering your posture will give you more confidence.

Our bodies are great indicators of who we are and what we feel. This is why fitness is important. And when we don't feel good about things in our life or who we are, our bodies reflect that. If we can change our bodies, including our posture, we can help change the way we feel. Remember, better fitness is about a better life, and most of the time it isn't about our environment so much as it is about our response. Difficulties in life are inevitable, but sometimes the answer lies in something as simple as the way we walk.

"Back straight. Breathe deep. And relax."

-Steve

Exercise Tip: Try this to help your posture. Stand with your back against a flat wall. Make sure your head, shoulder blades and butt are all touching the wall. Position your feet a few inches from the wall, so your back is flat. Breathe deep and hold that position for twenty seconds. Repeat three times. Do this about once a day, and watch your posture improve.

Resistance is Futile?

Women and The Myth of "Big Muscles"

Over my years of training and coaching, if there is one common myth that a trainer inevitably needs to deal with for most women, it is the idea that resistance training, (weights) builds big muscles. I've had a number of female clients look at my arms and remind me that they don't want to get "big" like me. This is understandable. I don't want them to get 'big' either, I want them to get lean!

Resistance training is necessary however, and must be part of your workout plan. Why? Because muscle is the most effective fat burner in our bodies. You can run on the treadmill for hours and burn some calories, but wouldn't it be better if you built up the muscles in your body so that your body burned fat even when you weren't working out? Muscles require a great deal of energy to sustain themselves, whereas fat is merely storage. It takes your body almost no energy to leave the fat cells alone. And there is no chance for women to get "big" unless they're using HGH or some other growth component, and even then, it rarely happens. Muscle growth is tied to the levels of testosterone and other hormones in our body, and the physiology between men and women is radically different, enough so that a woman who "lifts weight" will never have to worry about getting "huge arms."

Strength training has benefits in every area of your life, from picking up objects around the house to providing a stable base for long days at the office. In our sedentary culture, many people spend hours at their desk. When we incorporate resistance training into our workouts, we are able to burn fat and increase our energy levels even while we're working, and how great is that!

I am not dismissing cardiovascular exercise, it is important to work the heart as you would any muscle. (Technically, the heart is not a 'true' muscle, but it acts as one) However, I see far too many women who do nothing but aerobic work in the gym, while disdaining the weights. Those of my clients who incorporate weights and resistance training into their workouts (a must if I'm their trainer) have seen terrific results, and feel stronger and more fit for their daily activities.

If you've never picked up a weight before, I recommend a trainer to teach you how to do so properly. This doesn't mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on a coach, but a few lessons of good instruction will go a long way to making your time at the gym both effective and safe.

For those of you who workout in a co-ed gym, don't be afraid of the 'grunt-hogs' in the free weight area. You belong there too. When it comes to fitness, a complete routine is the best routine, and when it comes to training, resistance is anything but futile.

-Steve