GB Personal Training Ltd

Health, Fitness & Wellbeing

What Babies Can Teach Us About How We Should Exercise

By Greg Brookes

What Babies Can Teach Us About How to Exercise

Have you ever noticed the postural similarities between a baby and the elderly?

Understanding the development of the human body will help you realise why certain exercises are great for your posture and why others are destroying it.

Later I’ll be showing you what exercises you should focus on but for now lets look at what human development teaches us.

It Starts with Pronation

When a child is born, and even prior to birth, they adopt the fetal position. In anatomical terms this is referred to as being in pronation.

During Pronation the arms and legs are turned inwards and the body is in flexion or bent forwards.

It is also interesting to note that this position is adopted as a defensive position during times of danger, it’s comfortable and protects the vital organs. Shock most people and they will instinctively move into pronation.

Moving into Supination

As time passes the body starts to open out like a flower in spring. The spine begins to straighten and the limbs, through the development of muscle, start to turn outwards. The body moves from Pronation into Supination.

Finally we get to a position, all being well, where the body is fully upright. The spine develops its natural “S Curve” and the strength of our back muscles and Buttocks keeps us upright and open.

Maintaining an upright and Supinated position signals to the world that we are strong, confident and mean business!

Ends Back in Pronation

As we age gravity starts to take its toll. Muscles start to weaken and the body, slowly at first, and quickly towards the end brings us back down towards the fetal position.

Just like a wilting flower the body starts flexing forwards and the limbs begin to travel inwards.

Elderly people in their final years struggle to straighten their limbs and spend most of their time looking at the ground 🙁

How to Prolong Your Healthy Posture

The way you exercise will have a huge impact on how your body looks and reacts.

If you want to maintain your upright posture and stay in Supination rather than moving back into Pronation then you need to take action.

Exercising to improve your posture is not as difficult as you may think. All you need to do is promote more Supination within the body.

Here are the 3 key areas you need to address:

# 1 – Extension

Rather than spending all of your time on Flexion based exercises like Crunches that take you further into the fetal position.

Work on exercises that promote extension like: Back extensions, Cobras, and Sky Divers.

Here’s an example of the Back Extension exercise (note how it counteracts forward flexion)

# 2 – External Rotation

Have you ever seen someone running and flicking their feet outwards at the back?

Take a look next time you are in your local park and you’ll be surprised! When the knees come in and the feet flick out at the back that is usually due to weak external rotation of the hips. In other words, their buttocks are too weak to keep their legs in a straight line. The legs are being pulled into a pronated position.

Question:  What is the biggest problem with feet today, and hence why the orthotic industry is booming? Answer: Pronation of the feet! Strengthen your External Rotation Muscles or Buttocks and the Pronation of the feet will more times than not disappear.

Work harder on exercises like: Bridges and Single Leg Deadlifts

Here’s a Tutorial video of a the Single Leg Deadlift:

# 3 – Supination

Most kinds of pushing exercises will put you into Pronation, or in other words fold everything inwards. Most kinds of pulling exercises will put you into Supination, or open everything outwards.

So hours spent on Push Ups and Bench Press Exercises will only help to promote bad posture, and turn the body inwards.

It’s ironic that most people work on their chest muscles to increase the appearance of their chest when they are actually only turning their posture in on itself and hiding their prized possessions. If you really want to reveal a good chest then work on exercises that lift the chest and open the body out like a beautiful flower.

Work harder on Pulling based exercises like: Rows, Deadlifts or Cable Pulls.

Here’s a video of an Single Leg Dumbbell Row:

Conclusions

We all only have a finite amount of time on this earth. We start off in a Pronated position and end in a Pronated position but how long you remain strong and upright is up to you.

You can either work hard to destroy your posture or you can work hard to improve it. With any luck you will work hard to maintain a beautiful flowing posture well into your twilight years.

 

 

7 Things You Need To Understand About Breathing

By Greg Brookes

Breathing is THE most important thing for human survival. You can remove limbs, organs,  and tissue from the body but stop breathing for only a few minutes and the damage can be fatal. The importance and art of breathing has been well known for 1000′s of years, it’s at the centre of yoga practice, Tai Chi, Quigong and  all Martial Arts training. The breath does far more than just oxygenate the blood it also interacts with the nervous system.

Here are 7 Things you need to understand about breathing:

1. It’s Life’s Most Important Function

There is nothing more important than breathing. The body is a slave to the breath. If you cannot breathe correctly then the body will make some drastic changes in order to gain oxygen. If you suffer from sinus problems or cannot breathe through your nose correctly then you will be forced to breathe through your mouth. Mouth breathing can result in a forward head posture effecting the cervical spine, the thoracic spine and ultimately the lumbar spine. Food allergies can result in excess mucus production and ultimately the inability to breathe consistently through the nose.

2. You Need to Use Your Diaphragm

Have you ever seen a baby breathe? When they are lying on their backs you can see their big bellies push OUT on every IN breath. This is the correct way to breathe. As we take a deep breath IN the diaphragm falls like a large parachute. This forces the belly out and draws oxygen in as the ribcage expands. Following the IN breath recoil due to the elasticity of the lung tissue, the intercostal muscles and the rise of the diaphragm drive the air out of the body.

Almost all of my clients and the majority of the population have learnt to breathe with limited use of the diaphragm. You can easily spot this type of breathing, it is shallow and you can see the shoulders move on every breath. This type of breathing not only short changes the Oxygen intake but also stresses the upper back and neck muscles.

3.  Massages the Internal Organs

As we breathe deeply and utilise the large diaphragm muscle correctly the gentle upward and downward travel of this great muscle massages our internal organs. This process is vital because shy of being an open heart surgeon it is impossible to gain access to the organs and massage them. Gentle massage of the organs increases condition and stimulates movement of fluids.

4. The Diaphragm Stabilises the Spine

Have you ever noticed that during a heavy lift like a Deadlift or a Squat you hold your breath? The reason for this is that the diaphragm is used for both respiration and stabilisation of the spine, but it can’t do both at the same time. So when the lift gets too heavy the diaphragm joins in and helps to protect and stabilise the spine. So when you exercise you can tell when the diaphragm is being engaged on not by whether your body tells you to hold your breath.

5. Breathing Excites Certain Muscles

Take a deep breath IN and notice how tall you get, this lengthens and straightens the spine. Now take a breath out and see how you collapse and the spine shortens and bends. When you exercise you need to work with your breathing and not against it. All spinal extension based exercises should involve a deep breath IN and all spinal flexion exercises should involve a breath out.

6. Ribcage Expands in 3 Different Planes

As we breathe the ribcage expands and contracts. The main bulk of expansion and contraction should originate from the bottom of the ribcage. If you hold your hands on the bottom of your ribcage with each IN breath the ribcage should expand at the front, side and back. Don’t just limit your breathing to the front, breath in through all 3 planes.

 7. Effects the Nervous System

Every breath has an impact on the nervous system. If you want to calm down and relax then you need to take long and deep breathes through your diaphragm. If you want to stimulate a stress response then take short and fast shallow breathes. There is a reason why meditation concentrates on slow, deep breathing. The more deep breathing you can perform the better you will feel!

5 Simple Solutions For Lower Back Pain

By Greg Brookes

According to the British Medical Journal, most people suffer from lower back pain at some point, and while many people recover, between 10 and 25 percent of people with low back pain have long periods where they’re unable to work. Treatments for back pain include painkillers, physiotherapy, osteopathy or even surgery. Most back problems are caused elsewhere in the body and a series of 5 simple exercises can go a long way to preventing or alleviating back pain.

# 1. Stretch your Hip Flexors

Your Hip Flexors are a group of muscles responsible for raising your knees to your chest. They are a very active and easily get involved in movements that they are not primary designed to do. The Hip Flexors over activation and lack of stretching often results in a shortening of the muscles. As the muscles shorten they start to pull on the Lumbar Spine and ultimately create a more Lordotic curve in the lower back.

This posture is easily recognized with the buttocks pushed out at the back and belly protruding out at the front.

Solution:

Stretch the Hip Flexors by taking a deep lunge position, rotating your pelvic bone towards your chest and bracing your abs.

5 simple solutions for lower back pain
Image by Iankaren

# 2. Lengthen your Hamstrings

Following lengthy periods of sitting with bent knees the Hamstrings shorten. Shortened hamstrings attach to the bottom of your pelvis and prevent correct rotation of the pelvis during forward bending. An inability to rotate at the pelvis results in a compensation in the lower back and ultimately lower back problems.

Solution:

Stretch the Hamstrings by sitting with your lower back against a wall and straightening your legs. Keep the chest up and proud.

# 3. Improve Thoracic Spine Mobility

The Thoracic Spine is situated from the base of the neck to the mid back and is anatomically designed for movement. The Lumbar Spine with its larger vertebrae is designed for stability and lack of movement. Most people due to repetitive seating positions have locked up Thoracic Spines resulting in limited movement. The Lumbar spine is then forced to produce movement that it is not anatomically designed to perform and hence lower back issues.

Solution:

Mobilise the Thoracic Spine by sitting tall on a backless chair and holding a stick across the shoulders. Brace the abs to lock the lower back and rotate slowly alternating sides.

# 4. Strengthen the Inner Core

The Inner Core is designed to work as a compression chamber to support the Lower Spine. The Pelvic Floor and Diaphragm are on top and bottom, the Transverse Abdominis goes around the sides and the Multifidus is at the back. An inability to activate the inner core through excess sitting and deactivation leaves the Lumber Spine naked and unprotected during movement.

Solution:

Strengthen the Inner Core by lying face down with the head on the hands. Breathe in deeply and push the belly into the floor, then breathe out deeply and pull the belly towards the spine.

# 5. Use Correct Abdominal Training

The worlds obsession with flat stomachs and 6-pack Abs has resulted in a whole multitude of abdominal exercises. Unfortunately the majority of these exercises go against the true function of the Core muscles and only exacerbate existing problems.

The Cores primary role is to provide stabilisation and a strong platform for other muscles to function from. Sit ups and crunches work in a direction very rarely used in daily life and only increase excess flexion in the Lumbar Spine. These exercises in turn increase the hunched over desk seated position and further stimulate and shorten the over active Hip Flexors.

Solution:

Work on your Core Stability by holding a rigid Push Up position while slowly raising one arm and taping the opposite shoulder. The less conditioned can omit the shoulder taps.

If in Doubt, Have it Checked Out!

Some back pain cannot be fixed or alleviated with the above exercises and a professional consultation with a specialist is always advised before embarking on the above exercises.

Over to You

What has helped fix your lower back pain?