Bad Back

[Rogue]

Hi guys!

This is actually a question on behalf of my mom. She is an overall healthy woman, slightly overweight but not by much. Not active - she's an accountant and doesn't exercise.

Thing is, she's tall and was always self-concious about her height, so she slouched. Now, she can't really stand straight.

And I really mean can't, not won't. It seems as though her back just won't take the natural, upright position. I even tried to help her position her back properly, but couldn't quite maneuver her into the right posture. She wants to get fit and is finally giving up on constant dieting - she eats extremely little, but isn't loosing weight due to, I think, low muscle mass or metabolism. She is intimidated by weight training, so I was gonna first recommend kettle bell swings to build up the posterior chain - it seemed like the one exercise that is least intimidating, would make most sense to her, and give most bang for her buck. But she couldn't keep her back from rounding, which seemed like a good way to get injured quickly. I then thought about starting out with strengthening her back, but she can't do things like a bent over row for the same reason.

We were thinking about getting her to yoga or dance (ballroom, which is the only reason I have good posture), but if she can't get her back into the right posture, will it really help?

Has anyone else had this problem or can give advice about fixing it?

[Waldo]

I would think that Yoga would.

I have improved my posture a great deal, but my starting point wasn't quite so extreme.

To improve your posture you need:

1) Mobility

2) Strength

3) Mindfulness

You need the mobility to comfortably get into and operate while in good posture, the strength to do so (also you need to balance out your strength, most people are push dominant, which is exacerbated by poor posture), and the mindfulness to keep holding and/or getting into better posture all day every day until it becomes the new normal.

If your initial mobility is really, really bad, that is the first order of business. There are a lot of different mobility exercises that you can do, but a good yoga routine really does hit all the bases with it. Especially if you approach it with improving your posture in mind. Warrior 2 and Upward Dog are especially good.

[YuYu2]

Hi Rogue,

I notice you are in the DC area. You probably get access to Maryland Public Television, yeah?

There's a great TV series perfect for people like your mom called "Classical Stretch". It comes on at 6am so you can TIVO it if that's too early.

Your mom will likely benefit from the range of motion movements and stretches. She may have some early stage atrophy and shortening of the muscles (not uncommon for a lot of people with desk work).She would likely benefit from postural correction before kettlebelling. A lot of people get injured from poor alignment. If your alignment is poor, it's hard to execute any movement with precision as you noticed.

Yoga may also help, but she should find a gentle yoga class like Yoga Mudra (sp?) or a smaller class where the teacher actually does hands on corrections that encourage deeply listening to the body and opening to the stretches at her own pace. The reason I like Classical Stretch and find it a little less hit or miss than yoga physically is that there aren't static poses. You move through the whole range of motion from top to toe rather than hold a pose you may or may not be in correct form for. However, she may benefit from the relaxation that a good yoga class can set the stage for.

[Zurdta]

I think she needs to see a doctor and be referred to a physiotherapist - if you don't really know what you're dealing with, you can make it worse. Fidning out if her back issue is skeletal or muscular is a top priority. I have back issues, due to posture and having a desk bound job. Mine is muscular and therefore, with physio help, I have exercises to strengthen my core and glutes. She really needs to know what is really happening with her back before she can fix it.