| > | | | | one side is stronger it will over power the other |
| Being a Personal Fitness Professional, I hear from | | | | muscle group. The tightening of the hip flexors |
| many people who are suffering from various | | | | pulls the front of the pelvis downward causing the |
| aches and pains, and unfortunately are | | | | lower back to arch excessively. Serious problem I |
| misinformed. One thing I am constantly hearing | | | | This puts unnecessary pressure on the discs and |
| from people is "I've got a bad back," or "just my | | | | also the muscles of the lower back! This is the |
| old tennis elbow acting up". This frustrates me | | | | number one cause of low back pain and injury! |
| because these people are misled and are often | | | | Not only do muscle imbalances affect every joint |
| suffering unnecessarily. | | | | of your body; they also affect your internal |
| My frustration is not with the person experiencing | | | | organs! For example, what do you think happens |
| the problem, but with the Health and Medical | | | | to the space between your internal organs when |
| Industry as a whole! Frequently, these people are | | | | your low back muscles are pulling you to right? |
| diagnosed with conditions they don't have such as | | | | Your overall health is affected by muscle |
| Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and many others. Nearly all | | | | imbalances! |
| of the aches, pains, and Injuries people experience | | | | I've worked with hundreds of people who have |
| are caused by muscle imbalances! | | | | been diagnosed with so called conditions and are |
| The human body functions as a whole. The main | | | | pain free with in just a few weeks! In most |
| reason people experience these problems are | | | | cases, all I had them do was stretch the muscles |
| because certain muscles are pulling their body out | | | | that were pulling too much and strengthen the |
| of proper alignment. First, you must understand | | | | ones that weren't pulling enough! |
| some basic human anatomy. Most importantly, | | | | Have you ever been to a Chiropractor, Physical |
| how does a muscle function? Muscles are | | | | Therapist, or Orthopedic Surgeon? Did they |
| connected to bones in two places, the insertion | | | | explain what the cause of the problem was? Did |
| and the origin. In order for movement to occur | | | | they explain to you, which muscles were pulling |
| the muscles must contract or shorten, which pulls | | | | too much? Did their treatment plan correct your |
| on one end or attachment. | | | | condition, or did they just treat the symptom? |
| Two things can cause a muscle to pull too much | | | | The major problem is that most medical |
| when it is not being asked to contract. The most | | | | professionals don't look at the body as a whole. |
| common cause is poor posture or positioning. An | | | | They zoom in on your problem area (symptom), |
| example of this would be how the hip flexor | | | | in our example the low back. Well, the cause of |
| muscles (the muscles in the top front of your | | | | the problem is almost always the tightness of the |
| thigh that bring your leg forward) shorten while | | | | hip flexors and quadriceps muscles, which are in |
| sitting. | | | | the front of your body! Before you accept any |
| The more time you spend sitting the more the | | | | diagnosis be sure that you have looked at all the |
| hip flexor muscles will tighten due to poor | | | | possibilities. |
| positioning. What's worse is most of us spend a | | | | Figuring out what is causing the problem (or will |
| lot of time sitting! Whether it's while driving, while | | | | cause one in the future) is relatively easy. An |
| at work, at home watching television, or at home | | | | extensive physical evaluation can be performed, |
| on the computer! This sets you up for a big | | | | which includes testing of muscular strength, |
| problem! | | | | flexibility, and function. Gait (walking) and |
| The other cause is a corresponding weakness, or | | | | biomechanics should also be assessed to note any |
| lack of use in the opposing muscle groups. For | | | | deviations that are the result of current muscle |
| example, the hamstring and gluteus muscles don't | | | | imbalances and ones that may cause future |
| get worked nearly as often as the hip flexors and | | | | problems. Once you know which muscles are too |
| quadriceps, unless of course one walked | | | | tight and which are too weak you can then begin |
| backwards. The pull of these muscles directly | | | | correcting those Imbalances. All it takes is some |
| affects the positioning of the pelvis. | | | | stretching and strengthening in the right places, |
| Think of a muscle imbalance as a tug of war. If | | | | which can take just a few minutes a day! |