So.....Hi to anyone who might be reading this. I'm kind of new to all this 'blogging' malarkey, I have never kept a diary or really documented any aspects of my life before. I don't study academically and never really have, at least not successfully, so writing up assignments/essays in not something I have much experience of either. The only writing I do is really just work related e-mails or texts, so this does all feel a bit foreign to me, writing I mean, especially about myself. So please bear with me while I get used to this.
I'm Alex by the way, I'm 36 and live in Rugby (in the UK) with my gorgeous family. I work in IT and always have done, pretty much since I left school at 16. So I spend most of my days sitting down, whether at my desk, or in my car, or at the airport, on an airplane, etc, etc....I sit a lot!!
In my spare time I try to stay fairly fit and healthy and cycling is my favourite form of both fun and fitness! I really love it, especially mountain biking! But of course cycling puts the body in a similar position to sitting down at my desk all day, i.e. there is a lot of hip activation and flexion going on! So even my 'healthy' exercise habits do not really do anything to help alleviate the problems I have caused to my body by being in a seated position for most of the day. Which kind of leads me onto the main topic of this blog.......Fixing my body!
The fact that I have spent most of my life in a sedentary position (as a lot of us do) has caused some bio mechanical limitations and dysfunctions within my body, which I am only just starting to understand and that is really the purpose of this blog. To document my journey in understanding, learning and fixing my body with correct posture and efficient, but most importantly, pain free movement.
But before I get started on my journey of fixing my body, I just want to summarise my current bio mechanical complaints and my motivation for fixing them.........
Since I turned 34 ish, I started to notice some slight aches and pains in my body. Nothing chronic or debilitating, just little niggles here and there, mostly in my lower back, or shoulders and less frequently in the knees and calves, depending what I had been doing. Just slight pain/discomfort when doing simple daily activities like getting up from the toilet, getting in and out of the car, getting out of bed. Like I said, I am not talking chronic pain here, but certainly small levels of discomfort, let's call them 'niggles'.
I also started observing small niggles in my body when exercising or after exercising, like increased lower back stiffness for example the day after a workout, even though I always maintain 'good form' while lifting or whatever! Running always strains my groin as well, especially sprint sets or shuttle runs etc, not to mention tight calves and 'dodgy knees'! Pretty typical running complaints, I know! But they don't have to be! Then cycling, my favourite past time, I was suffering with lower back pain and hip stiffness on long rides, especially on big climbs. Now this is all quite common for cyclists because of the position cycling puts the body in, but even so, there must be a way to fix this and be more comfortable on the bike for longer periods?
And that's basically it, my motivation.....I was/am sick of the 'niggles' and discomfort and I want to fix it!!.....
So I started to consider that actually, just because I attended a 60 minute circuit class or went and rode 50 miles on my bike, or ran round the park, whatever, that I wasn't actually doing my body any real favours, in the long run! Yeah ok, my heart and lungs would get a good workout, but from a functional movement and longevity point of view, there was nothing of real benefit going on in any of my exercise choices. I was really just building on the dysfunctions in my body, increasing the problem and risk of more serious injury!!
So....how am I going to fix my bodily complaints?
Well, for me, it requires a complete fitness regression and step 1 is just learning how to stand properly, that's it! Just stand (and breathe!) with correct posture and form by activating and integrating the '3 pillars of posture', those pillars being The Pelivc Floor, Transverse Abdominis and Thoracic Spine. I now know that proper activation of these muscle groups is key to standing upright with correct posture and efficiency. Sounds simple right.....? Well, I suppose it is. Standing, walking, running...... is what we as humans, a bi pedal species, are designed to do. But we are very good at teaching our bodies how to forget to do this properly, for example, by sitting down all day long!!
Well that pretty much concludes 'about me and this blog' ....I am not really expecting anyone to read this, if I am honest, it is just for me. I am starting a journey in self discovery here and I want to document it because I can feel already it is going to have a big significance on my life and movement going forward! But I'm afraid I am going to share it anyway and put it out there anyway! If you have got this far and read my ramblings above, thank you very much for your time! But do you not have anything better to be doing? ;-)
My next blog will be an introduction to the subject of Fascia, Self Myo Facial Release (SMFR) and the Hips. The hips are where building a correct and efficient posture has to start from......so this is where I have to begin fixing my own dysfunctions!
to be continued.............................
I'm Alex by the way, I'm 36 and live in Rugby (in the UK) with my gorgeous family. I work in IT and always have done, pretty much since I left school at 16. So I spend most of my days sitting down, whether at my desk, or in my car, or at the airport, on an airplane, etc, etc....I sit a lot!!
In my spare time I try to stay fairly fit and healthy and cycling is my favourite form of both fun and fitness! I really love it, especially mountain biking! But of course cycling puts the body in a similar position to sitting down at my desk all day, i.e. there is a lot of hip activation and flexion going on! So even my 'healthy' exercise habits do not really do anything to help alleviate the problems I have caused to my body by being in a seated position for most of the day. Which kind of leads me onto the main topic of this blog.......Fixing my body!
The fact that I have spent most of my life in a sedentary position (as a lot of us do) has caused some bio mechanical limitations and dysfunctions within my body, which I am only just starting to understand and that is really the purpose of this blog. To document my journey in understanding, learning and fixing my body with correct posture and efficient, but most importantly, pain free movement.
But before I get started on my journey of fixing my body, I just want to summarise my current bio mechanical complaints and my motivation for fixing them.........
Since I turned 34 ish, I started to notice some slight aches and pains in my body. Nothing chronic or debilitating, just little niggles here and there, mostly in my lower back, or shoulders and less frequently in the knees and calves, depending what I had been doing. Just slight pain/discomfort when doing simple daily activities like getting up from the toilet, getting in and out of the car, getting out of bed. Like I said, I am not talking chronic pain here, but certainly small levels of discomfort, let's call them 'niggles'.
I also started observing small niggles in my body when exercising or after exercising, like increased lower back stiffness for example the day after a workout, even though I always maintain 'good form' while lifting or whatever! Running always strains my groin as well, especially sprint sets or shuttle runs etc, not to mention tight calves and 'dodgy knees'! Pretty typical running complaints, I know! But they don't have to be! Then cycling, my favourite past time, I was suffering with lower back pain and hip stiffness on long rides, especially on big climbs. Now this is all quite common for cyclists because of the position cycling puts the body in, but even so, there must be a way to fix this and be more comfortable on the bike for longer periods?
And that's basically it, my motivation.....I was/am sick of the 'niggles' and discomfort and I want to fix it!!.....
So I started to consider that actually, just because I attended a 60 minute circuit class or went and rode 50 miles on my bike, or ran round the park, whatever, that I wasn't actually doing my body any real favours, in the long run! Yeah ok, my heart and lungs would get a good workout, but from a functional movement and longevity point of view, there was nothing of real benefit going on in any of my exercise choices. I was really just building on the dysfunctions in my body, increasing the problem and risk of more serious injury!!
So....how am I going to fix my bodily complaints?
Well, for me, it requires a complete fitness regression and step 1 is just learning how to stand properly, that's it! Just stand (and breathe!) with correct posture and form by activating and integrating the '3 pillars of posture', those pillars being The Pelivc Floor, Transverse Abdominis and Thoracic Spine. I now know that proper activation of these muscle groups is key to standing upright with correct posture and efficiency. Sounds simple right.....? Well, I suppose it is. Standing, walking, running...... is what we as humans, a bi pedal species, are designed to do. But we are very good at teaching our bodies how to forget to do this properly, for example, by sitting down all day long!!
Well that pretty much concludes 'about me and this blog' ....I am not really expecting anyone to read this, if I am honest, it is just for me. I am starting a journey in self discovery here and I want to document it because I can feel already it is going to have a big significance on my life and movement going forward! But I'm afraid I am going to share it anyway and put it out there anyway! If you have got this far and read my ramblings above, thank you very much for your time! But do you not have anything better to be doing? ;-)
My next blog will be an introduction to the subject of Fascia, Self Myo Facial Release (SMFR) and the Hips. The hips are where building a correct and efficient posture has to start from......so this is where I have to begin fixing my own dysfunctions!
to be continued.............................
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