Should I Postpone Lifting to Work on Posture?

[Rob]

Mehdi,

What's your opinion on postponing lifting for a few weeks to work on posture? I don't want to, but I have hit a limit on what I can safely lift with my current posture and it seems like the lifting itself prevents posture exercises from working effectively. I do warm up sets and stretch after each workout. I stretch on off-days. I do Egoscue 6 days a week. The lifting makes my muscles so chronically tense though that it seems the Egoscue stuff is not really doing anything. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Rob

[Mehdi]

You've made this topic private, only you & me can see it. Unless you want to keep it private, remove the whisper so other readers can benefit from this Rob.

• What is the postural misalignement you have diagnosed yourself with?


• Which exercises cause problems?

6times / week is heavy, how long have you been doing this? Posture should quickly improve at that rate.

[Rob]

Mehdi,

It should be public but I don't see how to remove whisper?

Ok, I figure too much information is better than too little in this case so...


Basic Information:
- I'm 5'7, 158lbs, 16% bodyfat.
- I do v1 StrongLifts 5x5 but with dips instead of bench
- I hurt my back back squatting 95lbs in late October and have only been lifting again for about 4 weeks.
- I do Egoscue before lifting.
- I do shoulder dislocations before lifting.
- I do piriformas, psoas, hip flexor, tricep, hamstring stretches after lifting and on off days.
- I walk on off days for active recovery.


Posture problems:
- shoulders round forward
- right shoulder lower than left
- right hip higher than left
- hamstrings, hips, lower left back, upper back, neck: stiff, tight and sore.


Egoscue confusion:
- Using Egoscue Pain Free but not sure where to start.
- For past 4 weeks, trying different e-cise menus for 3 - 4 days at a time in an effort to see which might be the right place to start.
- Tried different shoulder, hip, back menus. Muscles are always so tight though, I don't notice anything after doing the e-cises or it wears off after a few minutes.
- I suspect problems originate in hips (feet, ankles, knees are ok) so my next step is to commit to hip exercises for next few weeks. Not sure if I should put off lifting for a few weeks.


Lfting:
- Back squats: tight hips, hamstrings, back try to pull back round at bottom of lift.
- Deads: rounded shoulders make it difficult to set shoulders and back during lift which hurts my form and opens me up to injury.
- Back squats: rounded shoulders make it difficult to hold bar (arms tingle, upper back rounds).
- Dips: rounded shoulders hurt form. Slight pain in right shoulder, right bicep.
- Pull ups, chins: good but shoulders uneven.
- Press: good but shoulders uneven.
- Front squats: good.


Thanks,

Rob

[Rob]

Mehdi,

Did some research on the egoscueresearch.org site and found a few things in his Q and A page (http://www.egoscueresearch.org/questions.phtml). These are taken from Egoscue's replies to people's questions:

- about when to do Egoscue: "Do the e-cises before; this will set your body up in the best, functional position to enter into your activities."
- on whether to stop training: "I am not suggesting that you stop the other activities; but you might want to alter your routines, and always precede the other activities with your menu to set your body up in the best possible position."
- about not being able to squat past parallel due to tight hips, shins, calves, ankles: "There are a few e-cises I recommend you try: Static Back, Supine Groin in the *tower and Air Bench (see attached). Do for at least 3 days straight - up to a week - without doing any squatting / strength training. Then try to do a day of squatting. If improved, continue to do supine regularly and add the strength training in conservatively for about 3 weeks."

I haven't read the first Egoscue Method Book--only Pain Free. Based on the pictures here (http://www.egoscue.com/htdocs/painfree/freemenus.asp), I fit Condition 2 and am considering the Condition 2 menu (http://www.egoscue.com/webmenus/Egoscue ... 9_9_38.asp) instead of Pain Free's Hips menu.

Rob

[Mehdi]

Fixed it
Thanks for the extensive info, this makes it much easier.
I haven't read "pain free", I only have the Egoscue Method. Appearantly pain free is from 1998, new edition. I don't think there's much difference with his first version however.
You're seriously misaligned This is going to take some time Rob. Took a few years to get into this situations, will take a few months to get it fixed. Persistence will be key, that and correct technique on the egoscue exercises.
First comment. I assume the exercises from egoscue method are in pain free too.

• Continue shoulder dislocations pre workout. Post workout: the arm circles & gravity drops with scapular retractions. The gravity drops are probably the best one to make the hip/shoulder connection. One hip is higher because of tight leg muscles. You can see the link with your shoulders. Gravity drops work both. They're hard but in my opinion one of the best from the book.


• Hips. Downward dogs will take care of hamstrings & calves, they'll probably hurt as hell, continue doing them until they do'nt hurt anymore. Gravity drops will also take care of calves. Runner stretch is also good for the hams. The downward dogs will fix the lower back rounding at the bottom of the squat.

 
Might also be a good idea to learn how to stretch to relax muscles. Pavel Tsatsouline's book "relax into stretching" is a good one. Stretching scientifcally is also a good one. I always stretch like this: tightening the opposite muscle as hard as i can for a few seconds (like 3) then lose the tension. If you check this video, you can see me doing it: I tighten my glute, release the tension and you can see a drop, this is the stretch you want to go after. You hold the stretch for a few seconds, switch legs. Repeat.
Video, check the drop at 35 seconds
 

 
 

[Mehdi]

Second comment. I don't agree with everything Egoscue says/writes. He's totally right about posture & how to fix it. I know he wants that you're in correct posture before you start lifting, totally agree with that. But using static stretches therefore is not a good option. Dynamic stretches is the way to go pre workout: leg swings, shoulder dislocations,etc. If you have lack of flexibility it can be a problem performing those exercises correctly. In that case static stretches post workout / on off days.
I also have problems with certain stretches Egoscue gives. like those exercises where you just wait lying on your back waiting for your hip muscles to relax. All good, but find the time. I prefer working aggressively on the hip flexor using the classic hip flexor stretch & adding glute activation work to realign the pelvis. But again, i'm not a doctor.

Keep working on the exercises Rob, but move them post workout. If the workouts are too painful, lower the weight, empty bar if you have too and work on technique. No need to get an injury because of bad posture. In the meanwhile read a book on how to stretch, so you get better results from the egoscue exercises.
 

[Rob]

Thanks for your insight and suggestions Mehdi. I have Relax into Stretch so I'll review and incorporate your suggestions into my program. For the time being I'll just keep my weights static and work on fine-tuning form.

Rob

[Quagmire911]

I am considering getting Egoscue, since I saw Mehdi used it for himself and recommends it.
 
Sitting around too much has caused pelvic tilt and that caused lordosis so that my body maintained its centre of gravity. I've also always had really tight hamstrings.
 
Good luck with it Rob,
 
Quagmire