Are you driving dysfunction?

It's good to be enthusiastic and exercise but equally important to get the technique right!
With the knee outside of the foot, the alignment is not efficient for transfer of force from the ground. More importantly, the poor alignment may lead to injury...

Is this how you sit? Many hours of sitting with improper posture can lead to tightness of joints and other dysfunctions will be even more obvious when you try to exercise...
With a chronic shoulder forward / upward, this can lead to worsening of posture when you swing a tennis racket, use a dumbell, etc...

Posture

Posture can be affected by many factors. Excluding genetic and other disorders (eg, polio), our posture can be affected by HOW we sit, stand, sleep, walk, exercise, etc... That is, incorrect posture will be ingrained if we spend many HOURS using INCORRECT posture... So, we develop incorrect postures such as the 'prawn', hunchback, etc. 

Look at the short animation below as a quick guide to common errors we make when sitting. A quick point about the body - the body is three dimensional (ie, many muscles inserting on different bones, various directions, etc). and muscles everywhere. For example, more than five muscles attach on the arm bone... So, if your shoulder is chronically sloping forward, this may lead to inefficient movements of those five other muscles and predispose you to stiffness or even injury elsewhere in the body.

Now here's the animation...

 

Can posture be corrected?

 

 

This depends on the type of condition and how long you have had the condition. For example, if you sought treatment for scoliosis during primary school, you have a much higher chance of success than if you sought treatment when you're 30 years old.

 It's everywhere you go! Gyms and magazines scream the benefits of yoga, pilates, stability/Swiss ball, "core training", "core strength", "core stability"... these forms of exercise are claimed to improve posture and make people less likely to get back pain. You can read more about this in our blog... But I would like to bring up two points:

1) IMPROPER technique - whether it is yoga, pilates, gym, etc will still lead to injury. In the case of yoga and pilates, you have to factor in another consideration - breathing. Improper breathing may lead to dizziness and other side-effects.

2) If you ALREADY have lower back injury, do NOT attempt leg raises. Likewise, those with neck pain should probably avoid crunches; those with 'slipped disc' should also take precaution. Get clearance from your physiotherapist / chiropractor!
Check out our blog for more training ideas!