It’s without a doubt an important part of our physical and mental health but a lot of times we don’t know how to adopt a good posture. As soon as I walk into a room to present a workshop and introduce myself as a posture specialist, people suck their bellies in, throw back their shoulders, and become rigid. This type of posture can lead to fatigue and isn’t sustainable.

There are numerous myths and misconceptions surrounding posture. To understand proper posture, it is necessary to debunk these myths and misconceptions. Let’s dive into top five posture myths my clients often believe.

Posture Myths

Sit and Stand as Straight as Possible

Proper posture doesn’t mean mimicking a soldier’s stance. This rigid posture can lead to muscle tension and fatigue overtime. Our spine is not rigid and straight. It has three distinctive curves, the inward cervical curve, the outward thoracic curve, and the inward lumbar curve.

It’s important to recognize that a proper posture should support these natural curves of our spine.

We all have unique bodies, with wide or narrow hips and flexible or tight muscles. Proper posture is the natural alignment, which is different for different individuals. There are some general guidelines to follow like head aligned over the spine, shoulders soft, and aligned over hips but they don’t look the same for everyone. When it comes to adopting proper posture, comfort and individuality is key.

Holding Still is Key

Many people believe, forcing our body to stay in one position, which is considered an ideal position, will, over time, improve their posture. Honestly, reverse is true.

The main reason for muscle imbalances is holding our bodies in the hunched over deskbound posture for a long period of time. Whenever a client complains of pain in a certain region, it’s because they are holding a certain stance for extended period without moving.

Our bodies are built to move. To find your natural posture and avoid imbalances we need to move often. It might be taking more frequent bathroom breaks, switching position from seated to standing, and going for short leisurely walks. Our body and spine crave motion, which leads to proper posture.

Standing Desk Will be The Fix it All

Standing desks are a great way to improve posture but they are not a fix it all. It’s best to change your positions often. That means taking a break from standing as well.

I see many clients who have standing desks but have no relief of back, neck or shoulder pain.

I’m a big proponent of standing desks as they allow breaking your work hours between sitting and standing. But standing all day can lead to muscle tension and posture dysfunction if done for a long time. Standing in one position can lead to plantar fasciitis, vascular issues, and pelvic shift on your dominant side to name a few issues.

The key lies in switching positions from time to time.

My Bad Posture Is Genetic

There are genetic posture issues, but they are not as common as we’d like to believe. Having a genetic posture anomaly doesn’t mean that you can’t work on it.

Did you know that Usain bolt has scoliosis? Scoliosis is a genetic disorder which causes an abnormal sideways curve of the spine. Scoliosis most often limits people’s life with the only hope that a spinal surgery would cure it. It didn’t limit Bolt. He used the knowledge of his condition as a power. He says he keeps his core and back strong, the scoliosis doesn’t really bother him.

If the fastest man on earth with a genetic postural anomaly can break world records by making changes in his life, then so can you. There are many exercises that can be done to make having good posture easier. Once you are fix your muscle imbalances and good posture will become an easy habit to adopt for you.

Posture Dysfunction Can be Fixed Overnight

Posture isn’t something that we develop in a short period of time. Instead, the posture we hold today was developed gradually overtime due to our work habits and emotional state.

Finding your natural posture takes time. Although it’s tempting to believe in quick fixes, like wearing a back brace but that’s not true. Reverting to your natural posture requires correct assessment, care, and consistent action.

We need to unlearn the old neural patterns and develop new ones for our muscles and ligaments to adopt the new position. This can be accomplished by exercises, stretches, and lifestyle adjustments. Checkout my fifteen minutes a day posture program in my book Unhunched: Discover Wellness Through Posture.

Bottom Line

While it’s not uncommon for these myths to be believed by many, it’s important to note that most of them are simply exaggerations of the truth. The key takeaway here is that your posture should ultimately feel comfortable, rather than strained and rigid. If you’ve tried to improve your posture but continue to experience discomfort or pain, it may be beneficial to seek guidance from a skilled movement specialist who can provide personalized assistance.

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There are many different types of Yoga that are practiced today. You can practice Yoga without ever leaving your seat; you can take advantage of the many benefits of chair yoga. If age, illness, or an injury has made exercising challenging, it doesn’t mean you can’t practice Yoga. Chair yoga is a great way to practice and is safe and effective.

Who’s Chair Yoga For?

Individuals of all ages and activity levels can enjoy chair yoga classes. Chair yoga was initially introduced to the fitness arena to modify the hatha yoga style. Chair yoga had primarily catered to the special population with mobility and health issues, but soon it became popular among the young and the old alike. In the same way that a traditional yoga practice flows through motion and poses for increased flexibility, chair yoga flows through those sequences on the chair or with the support of the chair.

For many people working a desk job for 8 hours, just a gym membership doesn’t undo the effects of sitting long hours. If you are looking to introduce physical activity to your office or desk space, chair yoga is for you. Standing desks, stability balls, and walking breaks are all good practices. Why not add regular chair yoga practice? 

Debbie Kell, a ToneandStrengthen team member and certified yoga instructor, has been teaching chair yoga classes for several years. In her expert opinion, “those of us who are trapped all day in a desk job can find time to practice some yoga, right in our chairs, to help refresh the body and restore our energy. A few minutes here and there can make a difference.”

If your work involves frequent travel and you find yourself sitting at the airport or on the plane for hours, chair yoga is the perfect way to stretch and move. Chair yoga exercises during a long flight can lessen the potential risk of blood clots. According to the American Society of Hematology, for flights longer than eight hours, “Blood clots can sometimes form in your legs during air travel because you are immobile for long periods.” 

Benefits of Chair Yoga

Debbie shares many of the chair yoga benefits with us. They are listed below.

• Chair yoga helps us quiet the mind, calm our moods, steady our emotional fluctuations, and sharpen our mental focus.
• Chair Yoga brings us greater awareness about our bodies.
• It Steadies our breathing, expands our range of motion, increases our balance, and builds strength throughout our bodies.   
• Chair yoga gives us the ability to better cope with stress and stay balanced, both physically and mentally.  
• Chair yoga enhances our range of motion, and we build physical strength, especially in the core.
• When we use the chair as a prop, we can experiment with movements and postures that otherwise might be intimidating. Chair yoga practice lets us borrow the chair’s stability and build on it with our bodies.
• Practicing chair yoga can inspire us to transition to more traditional mat-based yoga classes (that’s what Debbie’s clients’ experience has been).

Debbie says that’s not all. She thinks, “there’s something that many don’t think about regarding Yoga. Yoga trains the body to find ease through functional and fluid movement. We’re not working with isolated movements when we practice Yoga. Our bodies are moving through space, balancing, finding leverage, becoming stronger in ways that enhance our ability to participate in our lives. Yoga treats the body as a whole system. ” 

You can do chair yoga nearly anywhere you can find a place to sit. Try a virtual Chair Yoga session with Debbie Kell on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. ET. Click HERE for more information about the classes.

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Muscles Targeted-

This pose extends the hamstring muscles, semitendinosus and biceps femorus, hip adductors, and hip abductors. It strengthens the thighs and arms, activating rectus femoris muscles and arm muscles. It also activates deep glute muscles, namely the gluteus Medius muscle.

Benefits of Warrior-II –

• Stretches your hips, groin and chest
• Strengthens thighs and arms
• Opens the hips and shoulders.
• Stimulates your abdominal organs
• Improves circulation
• Increases stamina

How to Get into Warrior II –

Face the front of your mat, arms stretched into a T. Legs parallel to each other in a wide stance with right foot facing forward and left foot parallel to the mat.
• Bend your right knee and stack it above your ankle.
• Keep the crown of your head stacked over your pelvis.
• Align your shoulders over your hips.
• Press the tips of your hands in equal and opposite direction
• Turn and look past your right fingertips.
• Hold for 5–10 breaths.
• Repeat on the other side.

Modifications-

• If you struggle to stay in this pose, stand next to a wall. Place a block between your shin and the wall for stability.
• If holding the pose is very challenging, try to practice a flow. Move in and out of Warrior -II. Straighten the front leg and raise your arms above your head, as you inhale. Bend the front leg again and lower your arms parallel to the floor, as you exhale.
• To prevent the front knee from collapsing inwards, align the inside of your knee with the last two toes of your foot. There is a slight external rotation of you front hip.

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Let’s dig into the benefits, how to practice it, and modifications of this pose.

Benefits of Downward Dog-

• This pose stretches your lower body. It helps to stretch the hamstrings, calves, and ankles fully.
• Downward dog is a weight-bearing inversion. So, it helps to strengthen your shoulders and upper body.
• This pose promotes blood circulation throughout your body.
• Downward dog can improve posture by opening the chest muscles and lengthening your spine.
• It stretches the small muscles in your feet and can relieve the plantar fascia pain.

How to Get into Downward Dog Pose-

• Get into a quadruped position with hands stacked under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Lift your knees. Tuck your toes under your heels and lift your knees. Extend your legs to lift both knees in the air.
• Lengthen your spine, pressing through the palms of your hands and balls of your feet.
• Pike and push your pelvis up toward the ceiling.
• Hold the pose for as long as you are comfortable breathing deep.

Modifications-

• Bend your knees if your hamstrings and calves are tight.
• If your heels are more than a couple of inches from the mat and you can’t hold the downward dog due to tight lower leg muscles, place a rolled-up towel under your heels to get into this pose.
• If your wrists bother you, hold onto blocks or drop your elbows under your shoulders and balance on your forearms.

Downward dog is a peaceful, refreshing, and blissful pose. Try adding a downward dog to your yoga practices to reap all these amazing benefits.

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Foam Roller is one of my favorite recovery tools. Also known as self-myofascial release, foam rolling is a bit like getting a sports massage. But in foam rolling, you’re using your body weight to exert pressure on muscles. 

Sometimes it does hurt so bad, but it feels so good afterward. That’s because when you roll, you break the adhesions in your fascia. I like to foam roll before my runs and at night before bedtime. 

If you’ve never foam rolled or heard about it, you are in the right spot. In this blog, I am going to share information about foam rolling.

What is Foam Rolling?

Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release (SMR) technique. Foam rollers are mostly cylindrical made of foam. Foam rollers have different shapes, sizes and firmness. Some have ridges, and some are without bumps. They are all used to release the fascial tension.

What is Fascia?

Fascia is a thin sheet of connective tissue that wraps around the inner organs. It keeps blood vessels, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. It provides inner structure and has sensitive nerve endings. Too much tension and stress on muscles can cause fascial layers to thicken and stick together in knots. These knots lead to a decrease in mobility and pain points in our body.

One of the effective ways to release the fascia knots is to apply some myofascial releasing techniques, such as foam rolling. Over the past decade, a lot of research has been done to look at the benefits of foam rolling. A systemic review of research studies done on foam rolling published in the international journal of sports physical therapy in 2019 found that foam rolling helps reduce muscle stiffness, increase ROM and should be combined with dynamic stretching and active warm-up before a training session (1). The optimum dosage to achieve these flexibility benefits is a total of 90s-120s of foam rolling on one muscle group. Plus, the analysis shows that foam rolling reduces delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and increases performance. 

Read on to learn more about foam rolling’s benefits and when to add it to your routine.

Improves Muscle Performance

Foam rolling can improve the muscles’ amount of force if done before an activity. Myofascial release reduces tissue tension and muscle tightness, leading to a better range of motion and muscle power. Research has shown no negative impact on athletic performance. One study found that foam rolling improves power, agility, strength, and speed when used with dynamic warm-up (2). 

Improves Circulation

The pressure from rolling helps increase the blood flow to the tissue. Increasing the blood flow means the tissue will get more oxygen and nutrients. Using a foam roller during a warm-up for a brief period can elevate tissue temperature and reduce tension. 

Reduces Soreness

After an intense bout of exercise, foam rolling alleviates muscle fatigue and soreness. Research has shown that it’s because of the reduction in inflammation (3). I find it helpful for decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness. Let’s face it, most of the time, the difference between a good workout and a bad one is the amount of soreness from the last workout. Research suggests that inflammation of myofascial tissue is associated with delayed onset muscle soreness. Foam rolling stretches the myofascial and reduces inflammation. So, you can get back to your workouts recovered.

Improves Range of Motion

Research has found that foam rolling results in increased range of motion. 

Foam rolling returns the muscles and soft tissue to their natural form. Excessive exercise can lead to knots in the fascial tissue. By releasing the knots and making the soft-tissue mobile, foam rolling increases the range of motion and improves workout performance.

Don’t wait; grab your foam roller and roll on to reap these benefits.

References:

1-PMID: 26618062

2-PMID: 27182404

3- doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-50.1.01

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There are many recovery techniques that you can use. Here are five of the most employed and effective muscle recovery techniques:

Ice Bath- Ice baths are a widespread muscle recovery technique used by elite marathoners like Paula Radcliff. The method works by constricting blood vessels. When the athlete gets out of water, the rapid temperature change leads to rapid dilation of the blood vessels, which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. Research shows that an ice bath after intense exercise can reduce the onset of delayed muscle soreness compared to basic rest. 

Massage- Massage can help loosen muscles, increase oxygen, and blood flow to muscles. Massage improves muscle circulation, bringing the nutrients like amino acids and metabolites faster to muscles to help repair torn muscle fibers. Try to schedule a massage on your rest day or the evening of your intense workout.

Foam Rolling- Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release tool. It helps speed up recovery from muscle soreness and tightness. It’s a very cost-effective way to give yourself a deep tissue massage before or after a workout. Before a workout, it brings blood flow to the muscles, and after the workout, the increased circulation helps decrease spasms and delayed onset muscle soreness.

Contrast Therapy- Contrast therapy or Kneipp’s method is used by alternating between hot and cold baths. You can contrast between an ice bath and a hot shower for 30-40 seconds. Repeat this 4-5 times or as much as your body can handle. Contrast therapy increases blood flow to the muscles the same way an ice bath does and speeds up the removal of lactic acid.

Compression Garments- Compression garments are tight, compressive clothing made from nylon or spandex. They’re worn not only by athletes to improve performance and recovery. Although the accurate method behind compression garments is still unknown, some research suggests that the blood reduces creatine kinase, a well-known biomarker of muscle damage. This reduction in creatine kinase improves the elimination of waste products and muscle tissue repair.

No matter where you are currently in your training cycle, I suggest adding some recovery time to your routine. It will enhance your performance in many ways and prevent injuries. Consider trying one of the recovery techniques mentioned above.

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What is Barre?

Barre is a ballet-inspired workout that incorporates moves from ballet, Pilates, and yoga. Barre classes use mostly body weight for resistance and the focus is on small, deliberate movements that target certain groups of muscles, specifically muscles that are weak and aren’t used frequently like upper back and glutes.  It’s a great class for targeted workouts for abs, thighs, or glutes. 

Who Should Do Barre? 

Barre is an incredible workout for anyone. These ballet-inspired classes are good for beginners and advanced athletes alike who want to try a new workout. Emphasis in the barre class is on tall posture, balance, and core engagement. Barre is both low-impact and can be high intensity. Plus, it’s an extremely modifiable workout. These classes move at a slower pace than your typical aerobics class. That doesn’t mean you won’t be sore the next day.

Barre Gear and Equipment?

You might be tempted to wear tutu or ballet shoes. Well, you don’t need them. All you need is a pair of comfortable yoga pants. I like to teach my barre classes bare foot. You may prefer to be barefoot or purchase socks with grippies on the bottom. 

You can practice a barre class without any equipment. If you want to enhance your barre experience you can add a small core ball, loop resistance band, and hand weights to do floor work. You can also use the back of a stable chair for balance. Honestly, you need minimal equipment for these classes, and you can practice from the comfort of your home.

Why Barre Workouts?

In the barre classes emphasis is placed on proper alignment, balance, and core engagement means the classes move at a slower pace. You might not leave a ballet-inspired class drenched in sweat, but you’ll feel the burn after a class thanks to moves that target specific muscle groups.  Here are some of the reasons why you should add barre to your weekly workout routine.

Total Body Workout- Barre workouts focus on the whole body. They build strength through isometric holds, which require your muscles to stay under tension for an extended period.  It’s also a great workout that requires engaging your core for the whole length of the workout. Most barre classes are divided into four sections, warm-up, leg blast, upper body lower body combo, and core blast. As you flow through the class you work the arms, thighs, glutes, abdominals, and posterior chain. The best part about a barre workout is that it focuses on the muscles that you don’t normally use like glutes, obliques and tibialis. 

Low Impact Workout- Barre is a low impact workout with low stress on joints. It’s also great for developing balance and stability because the barre itself provides stability. Balance or stability. Plus, the focus on isometric holds allows you to strengthen the muscle group without placing extra stress on the joint. It has minimal risk of injury and is a safe workout for anyone including pregnant women and the older population.  

Improves Posture-Barre promotes a long and tall posture. Barre instructors are trained to cue proper alignment from the crown of your head to your tippy toes. After a few weeks of practicing barre classes you will be sitting or standing tall which can help reduce the chances of back pain and injury.

Muscular Endurance- In barre classes the number of repetitions is very high. The high repetitions increase your stamina to stay under tension and workout for longer periods of time. Stamina is muscle endurance in common terms. You’ll find yourself maintaining a higher level of activity regularly. Endurance has many secondary benefits like lowering your risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.

Mind Body Connection- Barre classes help you channel the mind-body connection as they combine mindful movements to create new neural connections. The slow and controlled repetitions in a barre class help to calm the mind. Devoted attention to technique helps in keeping your workout movements intentional and harnesses a deeper connection with the brain.

Sample Workout

Perform 3 sets of 12 – 15 repetitions 

• Chair Squats with Ball squeeze/hip adduction
• Power Leg Pulses 
• Plie’ Squats with shoulder press
• Heel Lifts 

If you like it, TRY one of our classes on the Tone and Strengthen schedule. First class is always FREE. Contact us for a coupon code.

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Three workouts in one! This class is a total body workout that combines cardio, strength training and core exercises. A total body workout designed to define & tone every muscle in every way. Great class for improving muscular strength & endurance.

Great for guys too! Please bring a yoga mat and towel.

All Virtual classes are recorded and recording is provided to registered participants for 48-hrs after class.

*Yoga mat, loop resistance band, and two medium/heavy dumbbells are suggested for this class *

*No Class Feb 18th*

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Great for guys too! Please bring a yoga mat and towel.

All Virtual classes are recorded and recording is provided to registered participants for 48-hrs after class.

*Yoga mat, loop resistance band, and two medium/heavy dumbbells are suggested for this class *

*No Class Feb 18th*

The post 20/20/20 Cardio, Strength & Core 0 (0) first appeared on Tone & Strengthen.

The class is a fusion of ballet conditioning, and Pilates. Whether you want to look better, feel better, or help increase bone density…this class is for you! Barre section will include standing lower body strengthening exercises and the Pilates section will include floor work to strengthen and stabilize your core. Come have fun with us getting healthy and strong.

*Yoga mat, Pilates ring, and stability ball are suggested for this class *

*No Class Feb 17th*

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