Fast Fitness - Stronger Arms and Chest, and Core, Hip, and Leg Stability With A Friend

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - strengthen inner legs, thighs, arms, and core, while practicing neutral spine with a friend. Better than putting hands up on a bench or exercise ball My students Johanna (1) and Diana (2) demonstrate:

1. Partner 1 lies face up with bent knees
2. Partner 2 does pushups on Partner 1's knees while holding neutral spine, not letting the lower back sag and arch downward. Partner 1 holds legs stable and does not let knees wobble.
3. Switch and repeat.

• To see a short movie of how to change overarched hyperlordotic sagging spine to neutral spine for pushups, click Fast Fitness - Strengthen by Changing Your Plank.
• For photos to learn to spot hyperlordotic overarched spine and straight neutral spine, see Spotting Back Pain During Running and Walking - What Do Abs Have To Do With It?

To increase core and hip stabilization training for both partners, Partner 1 tilts knees slightly to each side while Partner 2 continues pushups. Try both moving continuously side to side, and holding legs stable at an angle. Do not twist your spine. Have fun moving and laughing with a partner.

Labels: abdominal muscles, balance, chest, elbow, exercise ball, fast fitness, hand, hip strength, leg strength, partner exercise, strength, wrist

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Fast Fitness - Plyometric Partner Bench Press for Valentine's Week

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - Have fun together as you strengthen arms, shoulders, chest, back, wrists, and core, while practicing neutral spine, speed, teamwork, and cooperation in a fun plyometric partner bench press.

1. Lie face up with both arms held upward to support partner (white karate uniform).
2. Partner rests shoulders on your hands and holds straight body position on toes (black uniform). Partner uses abdominal muscles to hold neutral spine without letting the lower back sag.
3. Push your partner up and down with your hands in a bench press motion. To add plyometric training, push partner strongly and quickly into the air (right). Catch them lightly, bending your elbows upon contact. Switch places and repeat.
   

Use common sense and springy light touch to reduce unhealthful impact in both partners. You can improve strength and speed without hurting joints and connective tissue. I will post more on plyometrics in posts to come.

Labels: abdominal muscles, chest, elbow, fast fitness, hand, holiday, partner exercise, plyometrics, speed, strength, wrist

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Valentine Family Exercise

Valentines Day is for everyone, not just couples. It is healthy to have active fun with family and friends too.




Monday's post Valentine Partner Pushups gives a fun partner exercise idea. Here are more variations for active fun with children and friends of many ages.








Babies and children love to move. They can hold their body weight. Get them started early. Don't let them lose this strength by making them sit still and eat. Get up from the table and play. That is Valentines Day love.






























I will cover how to do this partner handstand in a future post. Send in your own photos of fun exercise with family and friends.

Labels: chest, children, elbow, hand, holiday, partner exercise, spirit, strength, wrist

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Valentine Partner Pushups

Exercising in social ways is healthy. Valentine's Day is this week. This week I will post several ideas for fun active partner exercise. Start with this version of partner pushups, then have fun making up your own.


Pushups give full body physical benefit when done with neutral spine. Here are two posts that explain how to tell neutral spine while holding a pushup position and how to correct an overarching lower back (hyperlordosis) to neutral spine:

• Change Common Exercises to Get Better Ab Exercise and Stop Back Pain
• Abdominal Muscle Exercise - Better, Different, Not What You Think

This post has instructions with an mpeg movie demonstrating the fix to neutral spine:

• Fast Fitness - Strengthen by Changing Your Plank

This post shows a technique to learn how to prevent compressing your wrists, and better use of hand and arm muscles:

• Fast Fitness - Prevent Wrist Pain During Pushups and Cooking

Here are links to last year's Valentines partner exercises:

• Stretching With a Friend - Partner Pectoral Stretch
• Each One Teach One
• Exercising With A Friend - Partner Leg Press

Why make Valentine's Day only one day? Stay active with good people through the year for the health that positive social interaction brings.

Labels: chest, elbow, holiday, partner exercise, spirit, strength, wrist

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Inspirational Ivy

Ivy from New Zealand e-mailed me last week with a funny update of persevering to improve mobility and health from a new stretch. I started writing this post just to tell of Ivy's stretch and how readers can have the same success.

I looked over my file of Ivy's caring comments on Fitness Fixer and her e-mails to me over the last two years - each story weaving to the next - of improving health, mobility, and joy of life for herself and people in her community. Reading them again was like sitting by a stream that quietly sparkled over rocks on its way by, inspiring and lovely. Some are private, some I have her permission to tell.

Last October, Ivy posted on Fitness Fixer how she first found me while looking for relief from severe sciatica with foot drop. For 11 months, she had tried treatment and an exercise regimen from a chiropractor.

Ivy wrote, "I knew I should be feeling better than I was. During those months I was continually surfing the net looking for answers, then in November 2005, I discovered Dr Jolie Bookspan's "How to fix your own pain without drugs or surgery." Everything she described was ME, 69 years of bad habits had finally caught up with me.

"So began my journey to good health and freedom from pain. I began with the pec stretch, trapezius stretch, wall stand, sitting correctly at the computer without sticking out my chin, hamstring stretch, isometric abs (no more crunches), squats and lunges instead of bad bending.

You can imagine my joy when after 2 days I was free of pain. I was so excited that I contacted Dr Jolie, who in turn, took time out from her busy schedule to e-mail me giving me further advice and exercises which I might add, I follow religiously along with a daily 30 minute walk (weather permitting).

"Some months ago, I decided to follow a vegetarian diet. I feel so well and happy, in fact, I have loads of energy. I turn 70 at the end of this month (Oct 2006) and am looking forward to the next stage of my life feeling healthy and free of pain."

This year Ivy followed up when we were corresponding on making sure of healthy nutrition:

"This is the second winter that I have not had either a cold or 'flu. For someone who was always getting the 'flu, that is really something. I put it down to my healthy vegetarian diet."

Ivy used my free web site summary sheets on fixing pain, my books, and Fitness Fixer posts. Here are links to posts Ivy used:

• Pec (pectoral) stretch - Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain.
• Trapezius stretch - Nice Neck Stretch.
• Wall stand - this is a quick check of functional muscle tightness to see if you can use healthful positioning for normal activity. It is described in the first paragraph of the post Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain, above.
• Sitting correctly at the computer - When Did Health Become Thinking Out Of The Box?
  and Get Better Exercise From Your Chair
  and Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
• Hamstring stretch - Healthier Hamstring Stretching
  and Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
  and Doorway Hamstring Stretch.
• Isometric abs (no more crunches) - this one isn't up on Fitness Fixer yet. It is in my book The Ab Revolution and Fix Your Own Pain, and on my web site summary on functional use of abs to stop overarching the lower spine. Ivy sent a photo of doing this exercise. I will post it when I post about this fun, different, functional abdominal exercise.
• Squats - Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle
  Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending
  and How Good Would You Look From 400 Squats a Day - Just Stop Unhealthy Bending.
• Lunges - Strengthen and Retrain Function With The Lunge.

The posts on lunges, Doorway Hamstring Stretch, and Functional Achilles Stretch, feature photos that Ivy sent me. Earlier this year I wrote her asking if she could send me photos demonstrating what she is doing. She invited a neighbor who came and took photos, and mailed a pack of them to me from New Zealand. Ivy writes:

"My dear 86 year old friend took them and we certainly had a lot of fun doing what I will call a "photo shoot." Bear in mind her age when I tell you that while I was trying to hold the pose, she would press the incorrect button and would have to start all over again. I would lose what I would call the correct form and so it would go on... I can now sympathize with models who have to hold poses for what seems an eternity."

In February 2007 Ivy sent an update, signing it:

"I shudder to think where I would be if I had not found your web site over 15 months ago. I mean it when I say "Thank you for helping me get my life back." I am fit, I am healthy, what more can one want in this life. I have passion about what I do something that I haven't had in a very long time."

What about her e-mail and the new stretch? We're out of room. Click for the next post- Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier.

Labels: aging, chest, fix pain, hamstring, lunge, nutrition, posture, readers inspiring story, sciatica, sitting, squat, upper back

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Stretching With a Friend - Partner Pectoral Stretch

The posts Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch and Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain showed two ways to stretch your upper body in the way most needed - backward, not forward. Today's post gives the same great-feeling, healthful stretch for two, the Partner Pectoral Stretch:

1. Stand back-to-back, as in the photo, arms outstretched, hands comfortably linked, thumbs face upward.
2. Don't lean back, arch your back, or jut your neck forward. Stand straight.
3. One partner gently pulls arms forward, while the second partner allows their arms to stretch backward, letting the chest muscles stretch (left-hand photo).
4. The idea is not to yank the second partner's shoulder at the joint. Allow the front chest muscles to lengthen. It should only feel good.
5. Hold for a few seconds while breathing easily, then switch so the second partner who just stretched arms backward, pulls arms forward to stretch the first partner (right hand photo).

Valentine's week Fitness Fixer posts on sharing health began with a fun lower body exercise in Partner Leg Press. Tuesday linked to doing healthier massage. Wednesday told about a sincere meaning of Valentine's Day - teaching a neighbor how to quickly stop painful, frightening back pain and sciatica.

Valentine's day doesn't have to be one day, then forgotten about. It can be the start of healthy interaction between any people and for yourself, for every day, which is the idea of "Fitness as a Lifestyle."


More partner stretches and exercises in the book Healthy Martial Arts

Labels: arm, chest, fix pain, holiday, partner exercise, stretch, upper back

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Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch

Today 37 new students were waiting when I came in to teach yoga. I was their New Year's Resolution. Most were sitting bent over forward, rounding their back to stretch. When I walked through the gym to get to the teaching room, I walked past a gym full of New Year's Resolutions, all bent over forward straining to stretch, bent over their stair machine and bent over their treadmill. They were lying on the floor face-up rounding forward and they were standing bent over, face-down. Many were doing The Stretch You Need The Least. Everyone looked like the same unhealthful, bent-over posture that you already know causes back pain if you do it over your computer and steering wheel. I mentioned that bending over forward to stretch and exercise, although popular, and ingrained, and dogmatically and almost universally taught, is not what they needed.

Previous posts have shown how this bending does not give the best exercise or stretch: Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch and Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending, and is not healthy during daily life: How Often Should You Be Healthy? and promotes the same bad bent forward habits you started with that cause pain: Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth.

What is needed is to get used to holding the body in healthful straighter ways during daily life and during exercise and stretching. In the post Better Achilles Tendon Stretch I showed how to get a better leg stretch without bending forward. Following is a nice upper spine stretch you can do while lying down to relax. Try this:

• Lie on your back over a pillow or an article of clothing comfortably placed under your upper back between your shoulder blades. Start with your hands by your sides.
• If this hurts, stop and see what to do in the following three paragraphs.
• Don't put the pillow under your head or neck, just your upper back.
  
• Let your upper back drop backward toward the floor.
• Notice the feeling of the upper spine no longer rounding forward.
• Relax and breathe. The stretch should feel good.
• To increase the stretch, bring both arms by your ears. You should be able to raise your arms without arching your lower back or feeling pinching in the shoulder.

If you are not able to lie on your back without lower back pain, the usual reason is tightness in the front hip muscles. Do the Instantly Better Hip and Quadriceps Stretch on each leg to loosen the front of the hip.

If you are not able to lie on your back without upper back or neck pain, the usual reason is tightness in the front chest muscles and over rounding in the upper back. Do the pectoral (chest muscle) stretch described in Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain.

If you have osteoporosis check with your doctor before doing the pillow stretch. One of the intended benefits of this stretch is to help prevent the rounding that contributes to the tendency to fracture already thin bones.

Many people spend so much of their life rounding forward, that their spine loses the mobility to bend backward, or even, in many cases to straighten enough to just lie flat and stand straight. The point of this stretch is to "unround" the upper spine and get it to relax and extend backward (arch safely) in the other direction. This stretch helps to "undo" the constant forward rounding that tightens the upper body and contributes to many pain syndromes. It is important to regain the normal flexibility to be able to straighten the upper spine enough to stand and sit and exercise in healthful straight position.

Drawing copyright from the book Stretching Smarter Stretching Healthier

Labels: chest, fix pain, neck, shoulder, stretch, upper back, yoga

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Thumbs Can Show Tightness That Leads to Upper Back Pain

Healthy body position should be a natural easy part of daily life, not something you stop work to do as an exercise.

Unhealthy body positioning is more ingrained in daily life than many people realize. How can you tell your own positioning? Watch other people. See how many spend all day rounding their shoulders forward over their work and steering wheel, then further round their shoulders to stretch by bending forward, and do the unnecesary stretch of bringing one arm across the front of their body, then exercise by bending forward for crunches and leg lifts. The result of all this chronic forward bending is overstretching the back muscles and tightening your anterior (front) muscles. Many patients who come to see me, even those who can touch their toes and put one foot behind their head are so tight that they can't comfortably stand or sit straight. This is not just a problem of looking bad. It affects the health of your joints and muscles.

The post Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth explained how overstretched back muscles and tight anterior muscles can promote the "forward head" and bent forward position that causes so much muscle strain and damage to the discs and joints of the back, shoulder, and neck. Many people "do neck exercises" never understanding that the exercises do not solve the problem of the chest muscles being too tight, and do not address how to hold healthy position. They stretch, believing that stretching prevents sports injuries, or that it is for doing contortions, but never know that the point of healthy stretching is to restore normal resting length just to stand and move in everyday life. They stretch in ways that exacerbates the problem they started with - rounding forward.

Try this to see if you round your shoulders:

• Use the photo, upper left, for reference.
• While standing with arms loosely at your sides, glance down at your hands.
• Do your thumbs face each other, as in the photo, instead of facing forward? That shows that tightness in front of your chest has rotated your arms inward (round shoulders).
• Does it feel awkward and unnatural to pull shoulders back so that your thumbs face forward? The point is to make it comfortable to be right, not force good positioning, which makes more strain.

To fix the problem, try this:

• Check your thumb positioning while standing comfortably.
• Do the pectoral stretch, taught in the post Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain.
• Right after doing the pectoral stretch, drop your arms loosely by your sides and glance down at your thumbs again.
• If you did the pectoral stretch right, your thumbs should now be facing more forward because you fixed the tightness that rounds shoulders and rotates arms inward.

During the day, notice your thumbs when standing to see if you are rounding. Notice other people's thumbs. Watch their upper body positioning when they sit and stand and let it remind you to use healthy straight habits so that you do not get tight in the first place.


Photo from the book Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery

Labels: arm, chest, disc, fix pain, hand, neck, posture, shoulder, stretch, upper back

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The Stretch You Need The Least

Probably the most common stretch I see in gyms and fitness classes, beside hurting your discs by bending "wrong" to stretch hamstrings, is bringing one arm across your body in front, pictured at left. Although this posterior shoulder stretch is one of the most common stretches, it is one of the least necessary.

You probably already have over-stretched the back of your shoulders by slouching all day over your desk, steering wheel, and other work. Sitting and standing with rounded shoulders wears on the neck and shoulder joints and is a common source of upper back and neck pain. One of the most unnecessary things you can do is to further stretch the back of your already overstretched shoulder. Going to a gym to do it does not magically make it healthy.

The best way to stretch your shoulders for health is to skip the posterior shoulder stretch. Instead, stretch the front chest (pectoral) muscles, shown in Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain to help straighten and "unround" your shoulders and upper back.

Here is a check for how well you can straighten your shoulder positioning for healthy standing and sitting:

• Can you put your hands on your hips and bring your shoulders back?
• You should be able to pull your shoulders back without tilting your shoulders forward, or arching your lower back, or jutting your head forward.
• When you can pull your shoulders back easily with your hands on your hips, try pulling your shoulders back with your hands clasped together behind your back. Keep chin in and shoulders back.

Occasionally I give my cerebral palsy patients the posterior shoulder stretch (above left illustration) if they have an overly pulled-back position. More helpful to these patients is The Ab Revolution, a method I developed where you move your spine from an overly arched lower back, so common in many people, to a less arched position, reducing much back pain. The muscles that bring the lower spine forward are the abdominal muscles so you get a free ab workout going about your day just keeping healthy straighter spine position. The post Fixing the Commonest Source of Mystery Lower Back Pain shows how easy this is.

It is rare to need the posterior shoulder stretch. Yet, notice how often you see it in fitness publications and gyms. Instead of doing stretches to practice rounded posture, use stretches like the pectoral stretch to restore healthy position. Then use the healthy positioning as a free built-in stretch for all you do so you don't get tight in the first place. That's fitness as a lifestyle.


Illustration and more ways to change stretches to be healthy are found in the book Stretching Smarter Stretching Healthier

Labels: abdominal muscles, arm, chest, fix pain, hamstring, lower back, posture, shoulder, sitting, stretch, upper back

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Common Exercises Teach Upper Back and Neck Pain

Tuesday night is martial arts class. It had rained all day. A few students were absent. They missed class on how to toughen body and spirit because of water? Next time it pours I think I should hold class outside. In fairness, the students who missed class responsibly contacted me that they would be out.

The rest of my students were sitting in two neat rows. They had gotten their equipment out of bins in healthy ways by bending their knees with body upright and heels down. Then they sat down in their rows on the floor without using their hands. Most were sitting up straight. The rest straightened when they saw me walk in.

Each week students practice preventing the bad habit of jutting their head forward of the center line of their body during stances and moves for exercise and sparring (left photo, above left). Healthy position keeps the chin in and the angle of the lower jaw over the center line of the shoulder (right photo).

A forward head is not healthy for daily life or exercise. It results in much neck, upper back, and shoulder pain. Jutting the head forward for kicking, lifting a weight, and other movement is commonly seen in exercise magazines and videos. Watch for it and let it remind you not to do that. The forward head doesn't look tough, it looks untrained and weak and is several inches closer to the opponent making your face easier to hit. It frequently leads to upper body pain, and in case of a blow to the head, a tilted forward angle of the neck in relation to the brain and skull is more likely to result in brain injury.

A forward head is not something you can't control. Just as you can move your arm or leg, you can easily move your neck in a relaxed way into the healthier chin-in position you want. The post Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth gave a simple "wall test" to see if you keep your head forward - stand with your back against a wall and see if the back of your head also touches comfortably. If you have to arch your back or jut your chin forward or up to touch the back of your head, you are probably too tight to stand straight and are probably standing and moving all the time in an unhealthy bent-forward position that strains the neck, back, and other areas.

The post Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain taught the pectoral stretch to restore muscle length to make healthy straight position comfortable. Use the pectoral stretch first thing in the morning and many times throughout the day. Then use your new ability to stand straight. The pectoral stretch (or any stretch) is not what fixes the problem. The stretch makes it possible for you to stand in the way that no longer strains and injures.

In the martial arts and in life, inviting a bad outcome is known as "leading with your chin." Letting your head and chin jut forward, as in the forward head, is inviting a bad health outcome. The martial arts teaches you to stop problems, not cause them. You can easily stop long-term damage through simple repositioning. You will look and feel better. That's using your head.


Photo and more on this and related topics in the book Healthy Martial Arts

Labels: chest, fix pain, martial arts, neck, posture, sitting, stretch, upper back

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Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain

The post Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth explained that a tilted-forward position of the head and neck, called a forward head, is not the normal tilt to the neck. It is an avoidable slouch that causes much upper back, neck, and shoulder pain. Do you have a forward head? If you can't put your back against a wall and comfortably touch the back of your head to the wall too without overarching your back or raising your chin, that usually indicates that the muscles in front of your chest are so tight that they restrict normal standing. The resulting bent-forward position of your neck creates large forces on the muscles and joints of your upper spine as it strains to hold the weight of your head forward of the supporting spine instead of above it.

Being too tight to stand and sit upright instead of slouching forward is common, even among people who stretch regularly. The reason is that they usually practice stretching forward, rarely stretching the front muscles by stretching back. In turn, holding your body bent forward instead of upright perpetuates tightness. To get the stretch in the front chest (pectoral) muscles that you need to stop the slouching-tightness cycle, use the photo above left for reference and try this:

• Stand facing a wall. Bend one elbow out to the side and put the inside surface of that arm against the wall, as in the left-hand photo.
• Turn your whole body and feet away from the wall, letting the wall brace your bent arm behind you, as in the right-hand photo.
• If you are doing this stretch right, you will feel a nice stretch in the front of your chest.
• Keep your shoulders down and relaxed. Breathe. Smile.
• Hold a few seconds, breathe in, change arms, and breathe out while stretching the other side for a few seconds.
• Now drop both arms and turn to stand with your back against the wall again. If you did this pectoral stretch right, standing straight with the back of your head touching the wall should now feel more natural and comfortable and no longer a strain.
• When you walk away from the wall don't slouch forward again out of habit. Hold the easy new healthy positioning for everything you do.

Do the wall test and the pectoral stretch first thing every morning and several times every day to learn healthy positioning. Use this pectoral stretch instead of the stretch where you stand in a doorway or corner to stretch both arms at once, and instead of pulling your straight arm(s) behind you.

This pectoral stretch is one of two techniques to stop upper body tightness that prevents standing and moving in healthy ways. I will cover the second soon. Remember that head and body position is voluntary. Hold your head up and shoulders back softly. By not letting your head hang forward all day, you will no longer need constant pills, adjustments, or treatments for pain. You will stop the cause.


Thank you to photo subject Paul Plevakas from the book Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery

Labels: chest, fix pain, neck, posture, shoulder, sitting, stretch, upper back

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Common Exercises Teach Hip Tightness When Kicking, Stretching, and on the Stairs

Tuesday night my martial arts students showed they had improved. When I came in they were waiting in two neat rows. I still had to cue them to sit up straight.

In the post Is Bad Martial Arts Good Exercise? I mentioned showing the class not to let their neck, back, and hip round forward when kicking. By straightening, strength and stretch are built into regular movement.

Several readers e-mailed me that they noticed for the first time that they let one leg pull forward when lifting the other (notice the standing leg in the left-hand photo, at left). They said they felt a good difference when they straightened (right photo).

If the front muscles of your hip are tight, when you lift one leg high you may find that you round your back and bend the other leg. Watch for this during kicks in martial arts and aerobics, when lying on your back raising one leg overhead to stretch the hamstrings, and ascending stairs. The common practice of allowing the other leg to bend forward perpetuates a tight anterior hip, which in turn, contributes to walking bent forward and back pain.

In martial arts, you don't want your standing leg completely straight. That is an invitation for your opponent to kick your knee, snapping it backward. But for both health and effective martial movement, you don't want to bend the leg more than a small amount. Bending the back, hip, and leg when kicking decreases force of the kick, pressures your discs, and reduces stretch on the hip and hamstrings. The rounded-under hip position keeps the hip tight, a hidden cause of groin pulls. It also looks weak and unskilled. For lying hamstring stretches with one leg overhead, it is often taught to keep the second leg bent to "protect the back." However, keeping the leg (and body) flat on the floor give a far better stretch and is healthier for your back. Even in slow easy motions of stair climbing, leaning forward and allowing the second leg to pull forward reduces the normal hamstring and hip stretch, decreases the exercise on your hip and leg muscles, and reduces the back muscle activation for holding the straight position you need for health and back pain prevention.

It is said the martial arts gives you discipline and strength. It won't if you practice unhealthy habits. When raising one leg, hold your neck and back upright. Prevent the other leg from pulling forward. You will get a built-in hip stretch, one of the places you need to stretch most. You will get back and hip exercise in the way you need to move in real life, and prevent tightness and weakness that leads to poor movement and pain. You will change from kicking like a bent over old lady to a young strong athlete. Exercise as a lifestyle is not something done "for body parts." It is built into your normal movement to make it healthy movement.


Photo (and more healthy techniques) from the book Healthy Martial Arts

Labels: achilles stretch, balance, chest, disc, hamstring, hip, knee, leg strength, leg stretch, lower back, martial arts, neck, posture, stairs, strength, stretch, upper back

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Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth

A recent news report echoed the prevalent but false belief that larger breasts cause back pain. The MMD Newswire report quoted the fit expert at Maidenform as saying, "The fact is, bras don't cause pain - really it's the weight of the breasts that cause it." Many of my patients who come to me with upper back pain say that even their doctor told them the reason is their breasts, which weigh them down in front. It is not true.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in science is confusing correlation for cause and effect. There are so many people with back pain that it is easy to blame anything happening at the same time, like having breasts (or a big belly) in front, or carrying backpacks in back. Men have the same or higher incidence of the same upper back pain. Women who are smaller, or have had breast reduction and double mastectomies can have the same pain. The weight that causes it is not in the chest. It is above it.

Look at the photo, above left. Letting your neck tilt so that your ear is forward of your shoulder, as in the photo, is called a forward head. It is not the normal tilt to the neck. It is a weak and injurious bad posture. The angle of the jaw should rest comfortably above the center-shoulder. The forward head is the source of a surprisingly large percentage of upper back and neck pain. The classic distribution of this pain is across both shoulders, up the neck, down the upper back, sometimes causing numbness or tingling down the arm. Do you have a forward head? Here is a quick test:

• Stand comfortably with your back against a wall or doorway.
• Touch your heels, your behind, and your upper back against the wall.
• Does the back of your head touch easily?
• If your head is forward of the wall, it is likely that you have a forward head.

If you have to force or crane your neck back to touch the back of your head to the wall, you are too tight to be straight. That means you walk around all day, and exercise, and sit, and do all you do with a forward head, which causes pain.

People are told all the time to "stand up straight." The problem is they can't. They are too tight. Trying to force straightening will make you hurt as much as slouching.

If you did the wall test, you probably just learned something valuable. In posts to come I will show you two quick techniques to lengthen your front chest muscles to let you stand straight easily and comfortably. Then you will not have a forward head. Until then, don't let your head flop forward and your chin jut forward. Is your head forward reading this? Without arching your lower back, pull your chin inward and shoulders back in a relaxed way. You will get built-in back muscle exercise all day, and the weight of your head will not pull forward on your upper back muscles, making them ache. Then, no matter your size or what you carry, you can be pain free and free of myths about upper back pain.

Labels: chest, fix pain, myths, neck, posture, shoulder, upper back

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Healthier Hamstring Stretching

One of the most common stretches for the hamstrings is bending over from a stand to touch the toes. You already know that bending over with straight legs to pick up a package is unhealthy for your back. Bending over to stretch is just as unhealthy. Forward bending puts large forces on the discs of your lower back, and is not even a highly effective stretch for your hamstrings. Bending over to touch toes is a common contributor to back pain, whether you keep your back rounded or straight. I will show you more about exactly why in future posts.

Instead of bending over to stretch, or standing with one foot propped up on a bench or chair, an effective way to stretch the hamstring is to stand facing a wall and press one heel against the wall at about hip height.

• Keep your standing foot straight, not turned out; not even a small amount.
• Look down and see if your standing foot is facing straight ahead.
• Move your foot so that it is straight, or you will lose the stretch. As soon as you turn your standing foot straight, you will feel the stretch improve.
• Lift your chest and stand straight.
  
• Don't let your hip curl under.
  
• Smile and breathe.
  
• Hold a few seconds and switch legs.
  

Stretching is supposed to be healthy. When you stretch, don't practice bad posture habits by rounding your back, and don't practice things you know aren't healthy like bending over so that your body weight hinges on your lower back.

Stretch in ways to make your life healthier.

Labels: breathing, chest, disc, fix pain, hamstring, injury, leg stretch, lower back, stretch

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