The Simple Cure for "Text Neck"

There has been an explosion over the topic "Text Neck."  There is a (scientific?) article that stated that people who text are at risk for putting their neck under undue stress.  This model crunches numbers and states that every inch we move our heads forward we put increasing force through our neck. 

The good news!  There is a simple cure!  Move your head and neck (and don't text for hours!) No need to sit up straight, keep your shoulders back, keep your eyes level.   JUST MOVE!  Don't be one position for a prolonged period of time!I have no doubt that the text neck posture does put some increased stress through cervical facets (the joints in your neck).  The cervical facets are angled like shingles on a roof.  When our neck is bent forward (such as reading a book, or when staring at a computer for hours, which is probably worse than texting) the joints get compressed.  Over a significant amount of time, this may cause degenerative conditions through the cervical spine. 


I would agree that the text neck posture is not a good position for your neck to be in, and if you minimize the time your neck is bent forward, it will reduce forces through your neck.  I think people are more at risk for other serious issues with texting such as texting and driving, or not paying attention to where you are walking while texting.

Please don't text and drive!

Stop trying to teach people "Perfect form." There is no such thing!

There is no such thing as perfect form, only good technique. There is no "one size fits all" for exercise and athletics. Seem like semantics? 

I was asked this question from a trainer once:  "If you had a 16 year old baseball player that threw a 90 mph fastball, but his throwing motion looked funny, do you tell him he needs to change the way he throws?"  If you do change his mechanics, how will that affect his velocity? 

I see this at the gym all the time.  People trying to "correct" each others form.  For example, I was resting by the squat rack today and someone was trying to teach someone how to squat.  They were telling them that they need to narrow their stance, and point their toes straight forward, and keep their knees from going over their toes, and to stick their butt backwards, etc.  I don't think it even occurred to these people that they may have a different shaped pelvis, different femur/tibia lengths, different ankle mechanics.  This is exactly why some people can squat comfortably and almost sit their butt on their heels, and why others have trouble getting thighs to parallel. 

When I am teaching/coaching someone exercises, I often give them as few instructions as I possibly can.  For squats, my instructions are usually as simple as; "let me see you squat."  If corrections need to be made to technique, we start by make alterations from there. 

The moral of the story is that everyone does things differently.  We should stop trying to make everyone do things the same way.  We should allow them to work within their limits and try to improve on technique with every session. 

Health is not "Self Help" Help me...Help you

I love my job!  I love helping people (get out of pain) and to teach people how to move better and be healthier.

I am not one to brag, as many who have seen me for treatment can attest to.  However, I am good at what I do.  One of the reasons I am good at what I do is because I am constantly learning.  I consider myself an expert in the field of health.

This is why I went to school for 9 years.  This is why I have done countless hours of continuing education.  This is why I read up-to-date papers and articles on topics pertaining to health. 

I do not give advice about things that I know very little about.  I will never tell a rocket scientist how to build a better rocket.  I will never tell an engineer how to build a better bridge.  Why is it that people feel it is appropriate to offer health information when they are not in the health field? 

Just the other day, I overheard a lady lecturing numerous other people to "eat more bananas if you are getting cramps."  How can she offer this advice without knowing someone's medical history?  Or without knowing the anatomy or physiology of muscle?  Where did she get this information?  Probably something that her mother told her when she was getting muscle cramps.

A gentleman was talking to another guy about various stretches he needed to do to get rid of his back pain?  Maybe the stretching was appropriate in his case, but why is it appropriate to pass this along to other people. 

Health should not be self help.  If you do not work in the health field, please refrain from offering your opinions and advice.  My advice:  seek professional help. 

Stop working out in the 80's. Stop isolation and muscle group training

I know it takes time for paradigm shifts to occur, and I do believe that strength and conditioning is going in the right direction, but I still see people in the gym that are stuck in the 80s with their training techniques.  Here are a few questions for you if you are still training muscle groups and trying to do isolation exercises.


1.  Can we really "Isolate" a particular muscle?
It is actually impossible to "Isolate" a particular muscle.  Even the most strict bicep curl would require core stabilization, leg activation, scapular stabilizers and forearm flexors and extensors.  How can we really call this exercise an "Isolation" exercise. 

2.  Is there a time and place for isolation exercises? 
I suppose that for the initial stages of rehabilitation, or if you happen to be terrible at coordinating movements, some "isolation" exercises may be beneficial, but I would highly recommend taking the training wheels off and progressing as quickly as possible.

3.  Is there a benefit to training muscle groups? 
If you were a body builder (and I know a few people who are) then I can see this as being a good way of training.  For most people who are training for strength, fitness, or weight/fat loss, I think it is a lost cause.  People need to shift their thinking to training movements (pushes, pulls, lifts, drags/carries, tosses/throws).



It is ironic that most gyms are full of equipment/machines that minimize movement and variability.  These machines are typically only good for one movement or "muscle group" (and are often very expensive for gyms to buy).  It is also ironic that people are so scared to use anything other than machines for fear that they are going to injure themselves.  However, if you happened to get out of bed this morning, go up or down stairs, carry groceries or a bag and tie your shoes, without injury, you qualify for access to the other parts of the gym where you can practice good movement and work to achieve your fitness goals.  

 

5 Reasons you SHOULD NOT stretch if you are STIFF

There appears to be a common belief that if you are stiff, you need to stretch or increase flexibility.  These beliefs are unsubstantiated and often come with little evidence that stretching is good for you. 


Before I go on, I should qualify that I am not against stretching.  If there is a functional reason to increase flexibility (more importantly, mobility) then I would recommend stretching.  However there are a lot of reasons that we would want to maintain or even increase stiffness.  Here are some of those reasons:

1.  Increased stiffness increases power output

Increasing stiffness increases power output.  This is important for athletic performance and for daily activities.  Think about it this way; if you were to hit a baseball for distance,  you would prefer to hit it with a bat and not a pool noodle.  Why?  The bat is more stiff than the pool noodle and is better suited to transmit force to the baseball.  Our body is the same way.  Most of the time with activity, our goal is to "Stiffen" our core to transmit force to our limbs so we can kick or throw a ball, or even push open a door. 

2.  Stiff muscles are like springs.  More stiff = more speed   

I find it interesting that with most athletic events, I see people stretching before a game.  I would agree that this would be appropriate if someone was too stiff, but there is an optimal amount of stiffness for athletic performance and why would you spend time trying to get rid of it?  Muscles in the body act like springs.  A stiff spring would be better at producing increased speed as opposed to a loose spring (like a slinky).  Again, I qualify, there is an optimal amount of stiffness.  Too stiff is no good, but neither is too loose or flexible.

3.  Increasing flexibility increases the chance for injury

This should just make sense.  If something is too loose or wobbly it makes it difficult to control.  The joints in our body are controlled by muscles (and passively by ligaments and joint capsules).  If a joint wobbles around it increases the chance for injury or irritation of said joint.  Imagine driving down a bumpy road with a car with loose steering.  It would be difficult to navigate the car.  If the steering was more stiff, it allows for more responsiveness and more control.  However, too stiff is not good either.

4.  Muscles don't really stretch much

Most of the time when we stretch, we believe that we are stretching out muscles.  However, we forget about all the other tissues we are stretching including tendon, ligaments, nerves, fascia, collagen.  In the chain of tissues we are stretching, muscle does not get stretched as much as we think.  For example, if you stretch you hamstring in a typical hamstring stretch, the deep ache you feel in your hamstring is likely the sciatic nerve that is being stretched and not actually the hamstring.  It would be like stretching an elastic band and a rope together.  Both will only stretch so far, but the rope would limit the stretch of the elastic band.




5. Joints tend to stiffen up after injury

Joints try to stabilize themselves after there is injury to surrounding tissues.  This is a common response to pain as increased movement typically causes increase pain (particularly if the joint itself is the pain generator).  Isn't it interesting as therapists often prescribe stretches to "loosen up tight joints" when the body is trying to stiffen up to reduce movement of said joints? 

Stiffness should not be seen as evil.  I believe that more needs to be done to harness stiffness to improve performance and activities.  Stretching is not a bad thing, however I find that it is often over-prescribed and poorly executed.  

Pain alters Movement, and Movement affects Activity. Stop being in pain

It is pretty clear that being in pain alters the way we move and the things we do.  Why do people seem to think that if you just ignore the pain, that things will be fine.  Could it be possible that ignoring pain can make things worse...a lot worse?

 

It is difficult for an observer to measure pain, but it is pretty clear for someone who experiences it.  When we experience pain, it is our brains perception that something is not working properly.  You brain responds by altering the way we move to avoid being in pain.  This is why you limp when you sprain your ankle.  Your brain senses that there is damage to soft tissue in the ankle, and weight bearing will make it worse.  Hence, you will look to move to limit weight bearing on the affected ankle.

So altering movement to avoid pain changes the mechanics throughout the rest of the body.  Going to back to the sprained ankle example; more stresses are placed on the uninjured limb causing muscles to work harder, joints to be under more stress, ligaments to be more strained, while on the affected limb, muscles tend to atrophy, ligaments and joints tend to stiffen with a lack of movement.

Due to the changes in movement about the lower limb, it also affects how we move through the torso and the upper limbs.  Stresses are changed through the spine and we even alter the way that we use our arms. 

We do whatever we can to not be in pain, so why don't people take care of themselves.  I hate the whole notion of "no pain no gain" and really does not have much application to health or fitness.

If you are in pain, you need to look to correct the problem and stop the cascade.  If you move better, you will feel better.  

Breathe much? You are doing it wrong!

It seems really simple. Breathing:  It is an essential part of life.  If you aren't breathing, you probably aren't reading this right now.

If you are reading this, can you tell me whether anyone has shown you how to breathe?  Let's find out.  Go ahead, take a deep breath in...What happened?

Likely you stuck your chest out, tilted your chin up a little, tried to expand (probably more elevated) your ribs and maybe even pulled your belly button towards your spine.

Here lies the problem. We only have 3 breathing muscles in our body.  None of them are named trapezius, levator scapulae, erector spinae, pectoralis, biceps, etc.

So what are these magic breathing muscles?  The diaphragm and the intercostals (internal and external).

The diaphragm attaches to the bottom of the ribs and when we breath in, it flattens pulling air into the lungs.  The diaphragm should not change the shape of the spine (this is what the erector spinae and associated muscles do!)  The intercostals (mostly external intercostals) expand the ribs outwards (not upwards like you just did when you took a deep breath in, those are your overactive trapezius muscle). 

So when you breathe, your diaphragm should move down and your ribs move out.  Try this...do you find it difficult?  We have been ignoring our breathing technique for a long time now.  You will have to consciously practice if you want to improve.

So if you suffer from tightness in upper back and neck, it might be because you are using those muscles to breath, instead of using them for what they were made to do.