QUESTION:
David: Thank you for your Q & A column - I always look
forward to your next installment. I have a question about
posture and your abs! I have a very swayed back, and that
seems to affect the shape of my abs. My brother is in very
good shape and he has the same problem, though not as
noticeable as me. Do you have any suggestions on how to
correct this, keeping in mind that I play hockey once a
week year-round and work as a heavy truck mechanic? I just
can't seem to focus and start a workout regimen. I eat
fairly healthy and don't drink much alcohol, I'm 41 and
6'1" tall 35" waist, about 235 lbs., 44" chest. My main
problem is the love handles and beer belly. Keep up writing
your articles, they're great!
Regards,
Terry C.
ANSWER:
I'm glad you asked this because posture is a very important
topic for functional movement in everyday activities as
well as in athletic performance, but I don't think it has
been emphasized enough.
Posture is extremely important because posture is the
position from which movement begins and ends. If you do not
express good posture, your body is subjected to undue
stress especially in your joint structures. Having ideal
posture creates a balanced environment for all your
supporting structures and helps avoid helps avoid injury
and "deformation" of the body (such as the way you say your
swayback changes the appearance of your abdominal region).
From reading your question, it's apparent that you have
several issues that need to be addressed, but first and
foremost is your posture situation and what you call a
"swayback." If your brother has the same condition, then
you can probably look at your dad and grandfather and find
the same postural circumstances. Sometimes people get
swayback confused with a flat back. Swayback is a condition
that creates a posteriorly rotated pelvis (pelvis tucked
under tush), rounded shoulders, bent knees and forward head
posture.
Most swaybacked people are on the tall side. They tend to
look down on other people, which contributes to this type
of postural imbalance.
To understand it more, we must look at "upper cross" and
"lower cross" syndromes. Upper cross syndrome is created by
an imbalance between your trunk extensors and your trunk
flexors. The trunk flexors tend to be dominating and
stronger, thus creating a short tight abdominal region,
pulling the rib cage closer to the pelvis.
Characteristics of this condition are forward head posture,
drooping rounded shoulders and a "pigeon chest." The knees
and ankles tend to bend because they have to
counter-balance the hump-backed upper body. In swayback
posture, we could easily have both upper cross and lower
cross syndrome and often do. One leads to the other and
vice versa.
To compensate for the sway and to keep the center of
gravity over your base of support (your feet), your back
and pelvis tend to flatten out and drift forward. Lower
cross syndrome consists of tightening of the hamstrings and
abdominals while lengthening the lumbar erectors, thigh
muscles and hip flexors.
To correct these postural situations we must stretch the
tight muscles and strengthen the long and weak muscles.
For example: To address the rounded shoulders - stretch the
chest muscles, and perform exercises such as the prone
cobra, dumbbell bent over rows and alternating Supermans.
To address the lower cross syndrome, we would we need to
stretch your hamstrings and abdominals and tighten the hip
flexors with such exercises as like the Prone Jackknife.
The second part of your question was related to your
recreational hockey playing. When looking at how to
structure a training program to enhance performance in your
sport, ask yourself, "What position does a hockey assume?"
The answer is, a bent over position (picture the body
positioned for a slap shot movement).
This position and movement is made up of several different
movement patterns. The slap shot is a combination of a side
lunge, and upper body twist and a push. So some exercises
you would want to include would be multi-directional
lunges, woodchoppers and bent over rows.
Hockey is also different from other sports because you get
pounded into the boards. This can result in massive
structural damage to your body. There are some steps you
can take to help prepare and compensate for this type of
collision. First you must have good stability in your neck
and lower back. To obtain this stability, your conditioning
program should include, but not be limited to Swiss ball
neck training, one arm C. R. A. C. dumbbell press, and
supine lateral ball roll. Your program should also include
shoulder shrugs, dead lifts and high pulls. These exercises
strengthen the muscles in your cervical spine area and
develop good core strength.
The final part of your question was, "How do I get rid of
the love handles and beer belly?" First of all, the love
handles and the beer belly come from poor eating habits.
Part of your body's ability to store fat so easily has to
do with your genetic code. We carry fat as a protective
mechanism to guard against starvation.
All body fat will decrease in response to a calorie deficit
created by exercising more and eating a little less.
However, love handles and the beer belly usually come from
your body having stubborn fat deposits. These stubborn fat
deposits are fat cells that will not relinquish their
energy without a fight. I'm sure you've noticed that even
as you lose weight, the abdominal fat is usually the last
place to go.
Stubborn fat cells are estrogen dominant cells and estrogen
is a fat-producing hormone. You mentioned that you don't
drink much alcohol, but take a close look at how much is
not much. Believe it or not, beer contains hops; hops
contain estrogenic compounds which help you develop that
beer belly (so there is some truth to the idea of the "beer
belly" and you should minimize alcohol consumption when fat
loss is your goal)
To rid yourself of body of stubborn fat, you should also
eat more cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli,
cauliflower and cabbage. Avoid drinking anything from a
plastic container, avoid soy proteins, eat organic food as
much as possible, increase omega 3 oils (fish) and decrease
your omega 6 intake.
----------------------------------------------------
David Grisaffi is a Sports Conditining Coach and holds
multiple certifications including three from the
prestigious CHEK Institute. Plus he is also the author of
the popluar selling e book, "Firm and Flatten Your Abs,"
which teaches you how to develop a ripped abdominal region.
Lean how to shead bodyfat and eliminate low back pain and
recieve his free newsletter by visiting:
http://www.flattenyourabs.net
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