Dear reader: I must warn you the content of this blog post is incredibly important to your health! I must also warn you that its charisma-factor is probably the equivalent to your dentist telling you that you need to floss more.
Still reading? Good for you. Let’s proceed.
This isn’t the glamorous side of personal training, but it’s one of the most important aspects. Flashing pictures of six-pack abs and promising extreme fat loss in a bootcamp- now that’s glamorous. Telling a client they need to take it easy for a few weeks and do a series of stretching and back strengthening exercises- not so much.
This is currently only common sense in the personal training realm, but I’m here to say this is something you should look into if you workout on your own. Let’s make it common knowledge and help decrease unnecessary aches and pains and prevent injuries! Here we go:
It’s extremely important to straighten out your body and balance your muscles before you start to lift and get stronger.
When I say straighten you out, I’m referring to correcting your posture and any muscular asymmetries. A typical posture program can last anywhere from 1 to 8 weeks, and I recommend you meet with a personal trainer to assess and design a personalized program for you.
You need to correct your posture because if you start to strength train with imbalances, you increase the risk of injury later on in life. Your asymmetries will increase, which means certain muscles will start taking over responsibilities they were never designed to do, and other muscles will decrease activity entirely. This is a big concern especially if you sit all day.
I am in the process of figuring out how to help members of The Fit Tutor with postural imbalances and designing programs for common posture problems, but I still believe nothing can substitute some one-on-one time with a trainer who knows their stuff!
This is really only the tip of the iceberg on this topic. Below you’ll see a few resources if you want to research further, but this is something for which I recommend seeing a professional! If you aren’t excited about paying the $$ for a trainer, see if they will design a posture program for you to do at home for a flat fee, and then you can sign up for The Fit Tutor!
I believe that this is really important to good muscular health! Taking the time to do this now will save you a lot of trouble later- maybe from just an achy neck or from an injury that takes you out of commission for months.
Best of Luck!
Allison
Resources:
The Fit Tutor: 10 Exercises to Correct “Mom Posture” (and rounded shoulders)
Tao Fitness: This has an ahhhmazing series on posture but it’s really in depth. If you want your posture corrected but refuse to see a trainer, check out this site!
Men’s Health– Exercises you should do every day
Business_Insider- This article has good corrective exercises if you sit all day!
***Attention Mamas: I’ve created a Postpartum Workout Program to help rebuild your core and pelvic floor, and strength train and lose fat in a healthy and safe way!
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