Posture Makes Perfect

First off, I want to sincerely thank all of you who keep up with my blog. I’m getting an overwhelming response from all of you and I love it! This site is growing larger than I ever intended it to be. I keep adding more and more followers every week and have received nothing but great feedback. Since I started this blog, for whatever reason, “Bad to the Bone” comes on whenever I enter a room. With all kidding aside, I’m so glad you all take the time to focus on your health and realize that you are worth every bit of knowledge you can pick up along the way. (Rock fist)


Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought about your posture? Have you ever wondered if you could change, or improve your posture? Well, there are many reasons that factor in to the answer to that question. Your own posture and mobility (or lack there of) of certain muscles in your body is the greatest tool we have to improving our posture and all the benefits that follow. Let me try to simplify that answer down and help you realize how important your posture is and what it means.

Quite frankly, your posture is a symbol of health and strength. As we age, our posture is continuing to change, for better or for worse. Lifestyle has a huge role in posture. And nowadays, when most of us are sitting at a desk all day looking at a computer inducing horrible effects on our body that sooner than later we’ll get accused of being a creep because our back posture and hip alignment has us bent so far forward that it looks like we’re trying to look up women’s dresses as they walk by. Not what any of us (both men and women I’m assuming) was going for.

Your posture has can induce injury, or reduce movement that may be limiting your daily activity function. Your posture may influence your joint alignment, muscle imbalances, flexibility, and muscle stiffness. I would say that’s a pretty powerful influence on health and whether or not you are feeling good without aches and pains throughout the day. Although, you may have poor posture to some extent, but you may have never had any pain or injuries. I’m not saying poor posture is a direct cause of pain or injury, but it definitely plays a key role over time if issues are not addressed.

Over time, depending on your lifestyle habits and prolonged posture tendencies, muscle tissues tend to lengthen, shorten, and increase or decrease in stiffness. These habits and tendencies eventually cause asymmetries. With such asymmetries in such areas as the hip can result in leg length differences. These differences are strong correlations with pain and injuries such as sciatica pain/symptoms, and low back pain.

Let’s take a look at some general and common posture problems. One very common problem is rounding in the shoulders and upper back (or hunch back).  This usually causes a forward head position, which limits the necessary mobility in the scapula (shoulder blade), and can reduce back and rotator cuff strength. These are all factors that can be associated with shoulder impingement. In this case, what experts suggest that may help, is that doing specific exercises that would promote proper mobility (in this case-depression, retraction and stabilization of the scapula) in the scapula, which can induce a beneficial effect on posture and strength/stability in the upper body. I’m saying this in a general aspect, as all cases are significantly different and need individualized evaluations and modifications.

Another common problem is pelvic tilting-anteriorly or posteriorly. In a case of an anterior pelvic tilt, the tendency is a tremendous amount of tightness in the anterior hip (hip flexors) and a great deal of over strain on the hamstrings. One would think that you would need to stretch the hamstrings since that is where they are having problems.  But it's quite the opposite of what you want to do.  Anterior tilt also places the hips in internal rotation, flexion (refer back to my attempt at a joke about the creepy old man), and adduction (narrow upper leg stance). This is very a common pelvic alignment with athletes and it’s also why you see so many athletes pull hamstrings and groin muscles. And due to the internal rotation, this puts a lot of stress on the ligaments in the knee, which increase risk of (including myself) ACL tears. For this very broad example, it may help to work on improving mobility in the hip external rotators, strengthening (shortening) the hamstrings, unilateral stability in the hips, and getting a helluva good stretch in the hips flexors.

Improving posture is something that takes a lot of patience, BUT, does not take a lot of time out of your day just to have a beneficial training effect on your body alignment. Not only are their simple strengthening and stretching exercises to get unilateral balances in the joints throughout the body, but also very simple (without equipment) and easy to execute corrective drills to induce proper functions manipulating different mechanic scenarios.

 If  you have any pain, weakness, or posture issues, want to improve performance, or simply want to promote optimal function in your body, all you have to do is be willing to dedicate 5-15 minutes a day to improving your health and helping you feel better without so many aches and pains.  Not only can posture improve pain symptoms, it can also unlock strength breaking through dreaded plateaus.  Consult a proper health professional about any issues and concerns you have, and you can be on your way to feeling better and improving your posture! 

Whatever It Takes

What is thought? Thought is something more than you do. It is what you are as well. Thought composes our entire being except for the portion of us that is form, or our physical body. This newsletter will take an interesting look at the concept of thought, and how to will yourself to happiness and success.

Your desire to improve your life or your health is really the thought to improve. Your will to live is really your thought to live. Your feelings are also preceded by thought. What I’m trying to get at, is that all your behavior is caused by what you are thinking. Everything on the face of the earth is all thought! Now that you all officially think I’m crazy, let’s apply this to a situation. Say, you’re trying to lose some weight. Instead of seeing (or thinking of) yourself as an overweight shell of the person you want to be, begin to think of yourself as that much happier, healthier person you want to be. Get an image and never let that image out. You will then begin to act on that image, and find your eating and exercise habits adjusting to fit that image. Also, remind yourself that the lighter, healthier person that you visualize is already here, even though he/she is surrounded by some excess weight.

Now let’s talk about how to WILL yourself to success. “I gave it my best shot” or “I really tried hard” are missing something; will. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. That’s part of the visualization process I talked about earlier. If it means getting less sleep, or doing things unconventionally, then so be it. Everything- your dreams, your aspirations- that you picture in your mind are already here waiting for you! You just have to be willing.  If you can think it, it means it already exists, because if it didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to think it. If you don’t believe me, ask Einstein!

Willingness is really a state of mind. It’s an internal statement that says “I will be happiness” and “I will take the next step towards making my dream a reality.” Are you willing?

Also, realize there is no such thing as failure. Get this concept out of your thoughts. You never fail, you simply produce results. If you attempt to lift 200lbs and only lift 150lbs, you didn’t fail, just produce a result. Your concept of failure comes from someone else’s opinion of strength. You can either think you are weak, or you can keep working on your strength and proceed from the results.

Regardless of the circumstances of your life, you are the writer, author, director, and producer of your mental images. You always act on these images. Your circumstances do not determine what your life will be. They only reveal all kinds of images you have chosen up until now. Everything from your health to your finances, to your relationships, you are acting on these images. Your mind stores away all of the images that you elect, and you carry these thoughts out like daily assignments. You cannot have a feeling without first having a thought. If you want to change some aspect of your life, start by changing your thoughts. Once your thoughts reflect genuinely what you want to be, the appropriate emotions and behavior will come automatically. Believe it, and you will see it!

*Ideas and concepts of this newsletter were based on the best selling book, “You’ll See it When You Believe It” by Wayne W. Dyer.


Tyler Hanson
BS Kinesiology
AFAA CPT