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"How We Stand"

By Gary Giamboi

If you are expecting this article to about some erudite subject, I got ya.

I am only going to talk about just what I said: How We Stand.

Our Standing Posture is something most of take for granted. By the time we are just a few years old, we have forgotten how difficult it was to actually figure out how to keep ourselves erect and not fall over.

In this article, I won't be focusing on Balance--as in not tipping over. I will be focusing on how we achieve the feat of keeping our spines vertical (notice I didn't say straight).

We achieve this verticalness of the spine by using two major muscles groups in opposition to each other. They are our Erectae Spinal Muscles and our Abdominal Muscles.

When we contract our Erectae Spinal muscles, they extend or arch or spine/back. When we contract our Abdominal Muscles, they Flex or Bend our spine forward. (Yes, I know the Shoulder, Neck and Hip Muscles do play a part in all of this; but, I am focusing on the two most important muscle groups in this equation).

Exactly how vertical our spine will be and how straight and tall we can stand is determined by how well we can balance the forces from these two opposing muscle groups.

Using our Hip Flexors can tilt us forward or backwards without necessarily bending or arching our spines. They also have to learn to hold our hips in Neutral, which means completely vertical.

Now, this may sound simple; and, in theory, it is. However, in Real Life, our Muscles are hardly ever as Balanced as they should be.

Notice I did not say as strong as they should be.

Having one group of muscles stronger than its opposing group is a prescription for imbalance and injury.

Flexibility is also an issue. This is because the shorter a muscle group becomes. the more strength its opposing muscle must have in order to ?stretch' its too short partner to the proper length. If the opposing muscle group has enough strength to ?stretch? its partner and the partner does not possess enough Elasticity or Flexibility to handle that amount of stretch, it will tear.

If the opposing muscle does not possess enough strength to pull the too short muscle to its needed length, then we will not be able to stand straight.

Some examples of this are when people 'pull? their backs by just coughing or bending over (not straightening up from the bent over position--that's another story). Both of these actions tilt our hips. Our Psoas muscle (one of the major Hip Flexors) attaches to our Lumbar Spine. So when we tilt our hips with more force than our Lumbar Spinal Area can Stablize, we tear the muscles in that area.

Now when we do try to straighten up, if our hip flexors are too short and/or our Erectae Spinal Muscles too weak, we can injury ourselves trying to stand up.

Just to make matters a little more complicated, we should also know that our Hamstring muscles and Gluteus Maximus muscles play (or should play) an important role in standing up from a bent over position.

Most people do not know how to do this. Just watch an experienced weight lifter perform a straight leg deadlift exactly the same way he does a good morning without using his hamstrings or glutes.

As you can see, as infants, we had it Right: It is fairly complicated.

We need to be Mindful of not only how we Stand; but, how we exercise our core. We can actually make injuries more likely to happen by strengthening our cores in such a way as to create an imbalance or make an existing imbalance worse.

This is why professionals, like myself, need to evaluate a new client before proscribing an exercise regime.

If you think you may have an imbalance, contact me and let's see what I can do for you.

About the Author:

Gary Giamboi is a NASM certified Personal Trainer, an E-500RYT Yoga Instructor, holds the rank of Kyoshi (Teaching Master) in several Japanese Martial Arts from the Genbukan World Ninpo Federation and the Kokusai Jujutsu Renmei and a Master's License in Taijiquan (Tai Chi) and Qigong.

He is available for Private Training and Consultations on losing fat, toning up, athletic performance, balance as well as, Martial Arts & Yoga seminars and the 200 hour Yoga Teachers Training courses.

Other articles by Gary can be seen here. He can be reached via his website.