PRIMAL POSTURE

Hang out with us to Grow Young!



Greetings!

We know it has been awhile since our last post, but we have been working hard on the blog behind the scenes, so to speak.  We have found out the hard way that these important posts take a lot of research, thought and editing. 

This "PRIMAL POSTURE" post is an expansion of our post about the "MIGHTY MYSTERY MUSCLE."   It would be helpful, but not necessary, for you to read that post first.

I believe these two posts are probably the most important ones that I will ever write, because they are the foundations of healthful longevity.

Before we start, here are some comments that we have received from our readers:


                       “Mighty Mystery Muscle” FEEDBACK

Hi Mer:  I read Ray’s blog awhile ago and thanks to him I’ve been using my TVA--what a difference!                         

Mina Olson

Good article.   Especially applicable for older people who are losing tone.   A summary is:   Keep the core strong.   The overhead weightlifting that I do works the core on every exercise.  The core (all abs including transverse) is used on everything.   Using a barbell and NOT a machine forces the core to always be active in balancing and support even when the weight is low.                                                                                                                    I am just picturing old people (older than me is the def) holding any weight overhead.  That would be very uncomfortable for most folks.  But it shouldn’t be.                                                                                                                           Steve Condon

Our response:
Hi Steve,  I’m 100 per cent in agreement with your comments.   Your view of most “old” people” being uncomfortable holding weight overhead is as accurate as your comment “it shouldn’t be.”   However, I would add, “and it doesn’t have to be.” 

The limitations of an aging body can be overcome.  At the tender age of 74,  I can comfortably lift weight over my head and find that I am capable of doing almost anything I set my mind to do.  It may feel difficult and uncomfortable at first,  but if I start small and practice to gain proficiency, most things are possible.

 

Weight on top of the head engages Primal Posture.

 

                     

PRIMAL POSTURE 

 



“Parents are always telling their children to sit or stand up straight.  There’s a reason for that.  Without pillar strength, without what I call perfect posture, you will significantly increase the potential for injury in a chain that starts with your lower back, descends all the way to your knees and ankles and rises up to your shoulders and elbows.”                

                      Mark Verstagen “Core Performance”

                                    
 

Although parents are renowned for telling their offspring to stand or sit up straight, most don’t have a clue about the specifics and the extreme importance of a lifetime use of the elements of Primal Posture.

Furthermore, our educational and health institutions have failed to instruct and encourage us to maintain our natural posture.  A posture evaluation should be a preventative part of every yearly physical exam. 

According to Esther Gokhale, (gokhalemethod.com), a renowned expert on posture and my major source of research for this post,  ninety per cent of U.S. adults experience back pain, which is the leading cause of disability in those under 45 years.   She believes that most of this could be avoided by maintaining or regaining our natural posture.

For those over 45, a misaligned body posture becomes a major handicap in maintaining balance and mobility as our bodies age.

If our nation was informed about and encouraged to practice the posture recommendations in our two blog posts,  billions of dollars of medical costs could be saved in addition to healthier, happier and longer lives.
 

WE ARE ALL BORN WITH NATURAL POSTURE, which allows us to transition from crawling on all fours to standing in a vertical position balanced on two feet and moving proficiently in all directions.

The best place to observe primal posture is at a playground.  Children of all ages,  beginning with those just learning to walk, stand tall and exhibit the KEY ELEMENTS of Primal Posture.

  

 

Hi!  Check out my primal posture!

Bela at the beach!

 

KEY ELEMENTS OF PRIMAL POSTURE

• SHOULDERS ARE  PULLED UP AND BACK AND RELAXED DOWN.

• THE CHEST IS PROJECTED FORWARD LIKE SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN…

• AS THE NAVEL IS PULLED BACK AND UP TOWARDS THE SPINE, WHICH ENGAGES THE TRANSVERSE ABDOMINIS AS DESCRIBED IN OUR EARLIER POST ABOUT THE “MIGHTY MYSTERY MUSCLE”.

• KNEES ARE SLIGHTLY BENT as THE GLUTES (BUTT CHEEKS) ARE TIGHTENED.

• HEAD AND EYES ARE STRAIGHT AHEAD WITH CHIN TUCKED IN.   Imagine a  puppeteer pulling straight up with a string attached to the center of of your head.   The chin is tucked in so that the nose is aligned with the sternum.

• A FULL FIGURE PROFILE SHOWS THE EAR, SHOULDER, HIP, KNEE AND ANKLE TO BE IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT.  

                              

Mer exhibits good posture

                                                                                                                                As As children, we never thought about posture; it was instinctual and automatic and allowed us to physically perform at our best. 

However, at some point between childhood and adulthood, most of us  become less active and needy of our primal posture.

 A mostly sedentary lifestyle results in unconscious compromises in our primal posture; so that by our twenties, the majority of the  adult population has developed two bad habits: the SHOULDER SLUMP and the TUMMY SLOUCH, which usually develop somewhat simultaneously.

SHOULDER SLUMP                                                                                                                  

Especially common with people spending many hours hunched over a computer, the SHOULDER SLUMP leads to imbalances and pain in the neck, shoulders and upper back.   This slump tilts the head and upper body forward and violates the vertical alignment of the spine.

                                      

The shoulder slump

 

This forward lean can also partially squash the lungs and reduce the area used for the vital exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Males, in particular, can benefit by correcting a shoulder slump.  “Recent studies show that maintaining an elongated spine with your shoulders rolled back allows more testosterone to flow through your body, which  might just be the boost you need to not only appear, but also feel and be unfettered and focused.”  (gokhalemethod.com).

                                        

Sitting on a ball creates good posture



 

TUMMY SLOUCH

                                       
                                        

The TUMMY SLOUCH, however, is probably the most damaging by overstretching and weakening the muscles of the lower back and not using, thus losing, abdominal strength.

The  innermost TRANSVERSE ABDOMINIS, which supports and protects the spine from injury and disabling pain, becomes buried in belly fat and no longer effectively supports and protects the spine from injury and disability. 

These slumps and slouches cause the body’s structure to be out of alignment.  Like your automobile, lack of alignment of the frame causes excessive wear and damage to body parts,  particularly the shoulders, spine,  lower back, hips, knees and ankles.    

 

If your car is out of alignment and you continue to drive it that way,  it will increasingly break down resulting in diminishing dependability and an early residence in a junk yard. 

 

 

Similarly, if you continue functioning with your frame out of alignment,  you will likely be moving into assisted living or a nursing home much sooner than anticipated or desired.

 

 

Most back and joint pain and the resulting immobility can be prevented or remedied by maintaining or regaining the mechanics of primal posture. 

CORRECTING THE SLUMP AND THE SLOUCH

Restoring proper posture begins by PULLING THE SHOULDERS UP AND BACK AND RELAXED DOWN so that a side profile shows the tip of the shoulder to be in vertical alignment with the elbow and the tip of the hip.

Stretching and strengthening the shoulder muscles are important.    Doorway, wall, pillar or tree stretches are daily stretches for me and the earlier the better I move through my day.

Shoulder stretches

 

Recently I discovered an excellent shoulder stretch on a fitness show on the Golf Channel.   The instructor demonstrated the thumb rotation stretch as being beneficial to assuming the proper stance for hitting a golf ball.                                       

The Golfer stretch

 



With hands hanging down at your sides,  rotate your thumbs up and  back and relax your shoulders down behind you.   Now, with a straight back and Transverse Abdominis sucked in, bend at hips to address the ball.

 

Ray is ready to golf!



 



My favorite shoulder stretch is the hand-to- opposite-elbow-stretch.  Switch hands to equally stretch both shoulders. 

                                        

A shoulder stretch in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA

 

ELIMINATING THE TUMMY SLOUCH begins by pulling your shoulders up, back and relaxed down.  This should result in a feeling of lifting your chest and flattening your abdomen.  If you then react by consciously pulling your naval back towards your spine, you will be tightening that innermost transverse abdominis, which safely supports the spine and keeps you upright.  

Correcting the Shoulder Slump and Tummy Slouch will initiate restoration of innate postural alignment, which will dramatically improve your mobility, control and balance for the rest of your life.

Although the path to restoring your primal posture can be highly rewarding, the journey is challenging.  Your postural muscles have probably atrophied and will require stretching and strengthening.

In the beginning,  weak and tight muscles will resist and the only solution is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and more PRACTICE.   After awhile,  assuming your natural posture will become a  habit that makes you feel more mobile and in control of your body and your life.

An excellent practice activity is balancing on one leg.  Assume the elements of Primal Posture and strive for a single leg balance of a minimum of 15 seconds.   If your single leg balance is shaky, be sure to  stand near some support.  Strive for equality in leg strength on both sides of your body.

Ray standing near support

 

CONCLUSIONS

Although we are born with innate posture that encourages maximum use and health of our physical abilities, most of us are not aware of the value and mechanics of a healthy posture, and a basically sedentary life results in a loss of primal posture for most of our society.

Furthermore, as our bodies age,  poor posture accelerates the loss of locomotion, balance and mobility resulting in a premature deterioration of self sufficiency and independence.   That’s the Bad News!

The Good News is that age is not a barrier to restoring natural posture.  It will require a conscious and concentrated effort to stretch  and strengthen the postural muscles by correcting shoulder and tummy slumps as described earlier.   

Fortunately, everyone possesses the muscle memory of primal posture dating back to childhood.   And the payoff for posture correction is an amazingly more active, youthful, better balanced and longer life.

Hopefully, these posts about posture and TVA will motivate you to become aware and initiate some valuable corrections if indicated.   A consultation with a fitness trainer or physical therapist could be helpful. 

I strongly recommend visiting gokhalemethod.com for the latest and best posture information. 

In retrospect, these past few months of researching and writing about “Primal Posture” and the“Mighty Mystery Muscle” has  resulted in fine tuning my own posture. Now, in my mid seventies, I feel that I am so much more balanced,  mobile and fit than I was in my mid sixties.  Hoo-ray!

Practicing the use of your postural muscles will automatically result in  increased posture strength and stability , but certain exercise routines can dramatically hasten and improve posture, particularly those focusing on  the critical CORE muscles, which will be the subject of my next post.... 


 

CELEBRATION OF NIECES

We thank our niece,  Madeleine Keller, with her amazing mind and generous spirit, for her recent tech assistance in improving our blog.

 

Maddy Keller, our tech teacher!



 

We congratulate another of our nieces, Kelsey Heeringa, for her recent publication in the Huffington Post.  (www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-heeringa/equality-is-connected). Kelsey has been living in Africa for several years and most recently in South Africa where she attended Nelson Mandella’s funeral in Soweto.  In her article, “Inequality Is Connected, Any Color Any Land," Kelsey sensitively examines the tragedies of  prejudice and discrimination, both globally and personally, while offering hope for future equality.

 





Kelsey with her son, Rowan



 

 

 And finally, we add a bit of humor...