Improve posture with muscle balance training

October 28, 2008 by EddieB
Filed under Fitness Article, Health and Fitness

Muscle balance with the medicine ball

Ultimate aim
The ultimate aim of this workout is to establish balance in your body.

What do I mean by balance?

If for example, you run alot, you will develop and condition certain muscles in your body, you will not condition all of the muscles in your body. Whilst running is one of the quickest and most effective methods for improving fitness and losing weight etc, it is really important to understand that it is not a full body workout. By complimenting running with a muscle balance workout, you will prevent imbalances occurring in your body and prevent certain muscles becoming over dominant, which will almost certainly lead to injury and poor posture.

Secondary benefits
These will be the main reasons people download this workout!

Improve self esteem and feel good factor
Improve muscle tone and body sculpting
Weight loss and optimal fat burning
Comprehensive Core Conditioning
Improved posture and spinal health
Relieve back pain and stiffness
Reduction in waist and hip size

Whilst these are the ultimate aims for the vast majority of people, it is important that YOU see them as a bi-product of achieving balance in your body.

Why?

Because you can be fit, strong and slim, BUT NOT HEALTHY!
I have met a lot of people who are fit, strong and slim and relatively healthy. But they will never achieve optimal health until they have a body which is balanced, where their muscles work in synergy with each other and their structure is in the optimal position. If your body is imbalanced, you are continually fighting and placing excessive continual stress on your muscles.
For example, if you are kyphotic (rounded shoulders, slightly slouched forward), the stress on your body is tremendous. Gravity is a continuous force we cannot avoid, and if your head (which weighs roughly 2kg) is slightly forward and off centre due to your kyphotic posture, gravity continually pushes down and places stress on your muscles, which in turn are trying to resist this continual force and stress, your muscles will eventually give up, as it is virtually impossible to resist. Thus weakening the muscles of your back (where you find most of your postural muscles) which gradually forces you further forward leading to spinal damage, injury to muscles and you lose the mind-body link of these dysfunctional, over tight or weakened and inhibited muscles.

Bad news or what? Talk about scaremongering! In this case, I think it is better the devil you know.

If you have good spinal alignment and good muscle balance, the force of gravity will be absorbed by your muscles, as your structure is designed to be upright.

Why am I saying all of this?

Because I want you to understand that you can achieve all the secondary benefits such as weight loss and muscle tone, but, by making small amendments to your workout routine you can also achieve optimal health.

Be fit, strong, slim AND HEALTHY!