Being a Personal Fitness Professional,
I hear from many people who are suffering from lower
back pain, sciatic pain, and other various aches and
pains... and unfortunately, these people are often
misinformed.
One thing I am constantly hearing
from people is "I've got a bad back," or
"just my old tennis elbow acting up". This
frustrates me because these people are misled and
are often suffering unnecessarily.
My frustration is not with the person
experiencing the problem, but with the Health and
Medical Industry as a whole! Frequently, these people
are diagnosed with conditions they don't have such
as Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and many others. Nearly
all of the aches, pains, and Injuries people experience
are caused by muscle imbalances!
Back Pain and Aches - Muscle Imbalances
The human body functions as a whole.
The main reason people experience these problems are
because certain muscles are pulling their body out
of proper alignment. First, you must understand some
basic human anatomy. Most importantly, how does a
muscle function? Muscles are connected to bones in
two places, the insertion and the origin. In order
for movement to occur the muscles must contract or
shorten, which pulls on one end or attachment.
Two things can cause a muscle to
pull too much when it is not being asked to contract.
The most common cause is poor posture or positioning.
An example of this would be how the hip flexor muscles
(the muscles in the top front of your thigh that bring
your leg forward) shorten while sitting.
The more time you spend sitting
the more the hip flexor muscles will tighten due to
poor positioning. What's worse is most of us spend
a lot of time sitting! Whether it's while driving,
while at work, at home watching television, or at
home on the computer! This sets you up for a big problem!
The other cause is a corresponding
weakness, or lack of use in the opposing muscle groups.
For example, the hamstring and gluteus muscles don't
get worked nearly as often as the hip flexors and
quadriceps, unless of course one walked backwards.
The pull of these muscles directly affects the positioning
of the pelvis.
Think of a muscle imbalance as a
tug of war. If one side is stronger it will over power
the other muscle group. The tightening of the hip
flexors pulls the front of the pelvis downward causing
the lower back to arch excessively. Serious problem...
This puts unnecessary pressure on the discs and also
the muscles of the lower back! This is the number
one cause of low back pain and injury!
Not only do muscle imbalances affect
every joint of your body; they also affect your internal
organs! For example, what do you think happens to
the space between your internal organs when your low
back muscles are pulling you to right? Your overall
health is affected by muscle imbalances!
I've worked with hundreds of people
who have been diagnosed with so called conditions
and are pain free with in just a few weeks! In most
cases, all I had them do was stretch the muscles that
were pulling too much and strengthen the ones that
weren't pulling enough!
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