Rebuild and Restore: Part two - The Shoulders and Posture
I hope you’ve used the video information in Part one of the “Rebuild/Restore” series and it’s begun to pay off in the form of increased lower body joint mobility, increased muscle flexibility, an improved ability to recover from riding or training sessions, and just an overall discovery of improved vitality.
In part two of the “Rebuild/ Restore” video series (click here to watch part one) we address the posture and shoulder issues that many of us struggle with videos #4 and 5, and finish up with video #6- an eight exercise stability workout designed to compliment all of the mobility and flexibility work done in videos one through five.
First, let’s explore three reasons why poor posture and shoulder issues are important to address so you understand how they affect your riding performance:
1. Awareness: Being aware of your poor posture and taking that awareness to a place where you desire to change it, is a victory. It’s the consistency of this thought process that will lead to change, so I encourage you to continually work on correcting your posture by simply making sure your pelvis is under your ribcage, your ribcage is lifted slightly upward and your head is gently pushed a bit backward. Do this standing and sitting.
2. Seated workplace: I’m sure many of you have heard me speak of this, but it’s becoming a new popular phrase, “sitting is the new smoking.” In a recent study, they claim that for every hour you sit, you potentially lose 2+ hours of your life! What? My recommendation is to try your best to get a stand-up workstation and transition into standing at work… it’s the future of workplace ergonomics, and it will dramatically change how your body feels and performs on and off the bike!
3. Ribcage and your melon: Where your ribcage goes, your noggin follows. Try this; either sit up or stand up, then drop your ribcage. Notice what happened to your head? It went really far forward. Now lift your ribcage nice and high like I mentioned in #1. What happened to your head then? It should’ve gone directly over your ribcage. This is the optimal position for your head. This neutral anatomic head position allows for 100% blood flow to your brain as well as normal nervous system function. In fact, for every inch of forward head carriage you have, research shows you lose up to 8% blood flow to your brain! Not sure about you, but I need all the oxygen I can get to my gray matter!
Remember, with restrictions in your posture, they will show up as issues on the bike. Typical shoulder issues related to poor posture are:
***Rounded shoulders. Negatively affects your ability to breathe well because with poor posture your rib cage is ‘depressed,’ which directly affects the ability of the diaphragm and lungs to expand and contract.
***Injury. Many sports-related injuries are related to poor movement ability, especially repetitive strains and sprains.
***Neck fatigue. Mountain bikers in riding position, have an extended head with forward head carriage (FHC) while riding. Did you know that for every inch of forward head carriage, you increase the weight of the head by approximately 10 pounds on the head and neck muscles. A high percentage of you have at least three inches of FHC, which means you have up to 30 extra pounds of stress on your neck muscles! Now, multiply that by the weight of the helmet and you end up with tight, stiff muscles, decreased blood flow to the head and the opportunity for repetitive stress neck injuries! Sheesh!
***Repetitive arm pump or elbow or wrist tendonitis (osis). Just like forward head carriage can decrease blood flow to the brain, poor posture will decrease blood and nerve flow to the arm which can lead to arm pump and things like hand numbness. Not good when downhilling!
Now that you have a baseline of understanding as to the effects of posture and shoulder position, go ahead and watch how to take care of the muscle issues of the rib cage/ thorax and then try video #6, the stability workout.
Then DO THIS:
1. Watch, and do, videos one through five. Do these videos 4-5 times per week before you ride or train
2. Do video #6 every other day. Follow the recommendations.
In no time, your body will start to “come alive” with better movement on and off your bike!
Video #4- Address your rounded shoulders and poor posture
Video #5- Better shoulders = better riding position
Video #6- Eight exercise stability workout to help with overall stability
Get to work, and holler with any questions at www.enduromtbtraining.com / @enduromtbtrainer
In part two of the “Rebuild/ Restore” video series (click here to watch part one) we address the posture and shoulder issues that many of us struggle with videos #4 and 5, and finish up with video #6- an eight exercise stability workout designed to compliment all of the mobility and flexibility work done in videos one through five.
First, let’s explore three reasons why poor posture and shoulder issues are important to address so you understand how they affect your riding performance:
1. Awareness: Being aware of your poor posture and taking that awareness to a place where you desire to change it, is a victory. It’s the consistency of this thought process that will lead to change, so I encourage you to continually work on correcting your posture by simply making sure your pelvis is under your ribcage, your ribcage is lifted slightly upward and your head is gently pushed a bit backward. Do this standing and sitting.
2. Seated workplace: I’m sure many of you have heard me speak of this, but it’s becoming a new popular phrase, “sitting is the new smoking.” In a recent study, they claim that for every hour you sit, you potentially lose 2+ hours of your life! What? My recommendation is to try your best to get a stand-up workstation and transition into standing at work… it’s the future of workplace ergonomics, and it will dramatically change how your body feels and performs on and off the bike!
3. Ribcage and your melon: Where your ribcage goes, your noggin follows. Try this; either sit up or stand up, then drop your ribcage. Notice what happened to your head? It went really far forward. Now lift your ribcage nice and high like I mentioned in #1. What happened to your head then? It should’ve gone directly over your ribcage. This is the optimal position for your head. This neutral anatomic head position allows for 100% blood flow to your brain as well as normal nervous system function. In fact, for every inch of forward head carriage you have, research shows you lose up to 8% blood flow to your brain! Not sure about you, but I need all the oxygen I can get to my gray matter!
Remember, with restrictions in your posture, they will show up as issues on the bike. Typical shoulder issues related to poor posture are:
***Rounded shoulders. Negatively affects your ability to breathe well because with poor posture your rib cage is ‘depressed,’ which directly affects the ability of the diaphragm and lungs to expand and contract.
***Injury. Many sports-related injuries are related to poor movement ability, especially repetitive strains and sprains.
***Neck fatigue. Mountain bikers in riding position, have an extended head with forward head carriage (FHC) while riding. Did you know that for every inch of forward head carriage, you increase the weight of the head by approximately 10 pounds on the head and neck muscles. A high percentage of you have at least three inches of FHC, which means you have up to 30 extra pounds of stress on your neck muscles! Now, multiply that by the weight of the helmet and you end up with tight, stiff muscles, decreased blood flow to the head and the opportunity for repetitive stress neck injuries! Sheesh!
***Repetitive arm pump or elbow or wrist tendonitis (osis). Just like forward head carriage can decrease blood flow to the brain, poor posture will decrease blood and nerve flow to the arm which can lead to arm pump and things like hand numbness. Not good when downhilling!
Now that you have a baseline of understanding as to the effects of posture and shoulder position, go ahead and watch how to take care of the muscle issues of the rib cage/ thorax and then try video #6, the stability workout.
Then DO THIS:
1. Watch, and do, videos one through five. Do these videos 4-5 times per week before you ride or train
2. Do video #6 every other day. Follow the recommendations.
In no time, your body will start to “come alive” with better movement on and off your bike!
Video #4- Address your rounded shoulders and poor posture
Video #5- Better shoulders = better riding position
Video #6- Eight exercise stability workout to help with overall stability
Get to work, and holler with any questions at www.enduromtbtraining.com / @enduromtbtrainer
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Pain goes away = back to not giving a shit
Rings a bell anyone?
Many an evening after having used the standing desk all day I'll have to undo the laces on my 5.10's to get them on my feet! I now address this by walking a lot, stretching and wearing sandals. Birkenstocks, the shame. And you can't wear those with relatively smart clothes, so I've gone from work casual->casual->very casual->shorts and t-shirt. It's a vicious circle I tell you!
/runs for cover
@srh2 I've got the geekdesk v3 (large frame) with an IKEA glass top and haven't had any complaints. $550 USD for the frame and I think the top was around 100 or less...not too crazy. The quality is great and it's motorized so you can sit/stand as much as you want.
Thanks for the vids!
ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/10/09/ije.dyv191.full
Regardless, from my experience (and many clients who've made the switch), since I've been standing the last 2 months, my breathing is better, my knees don't pop and hurt any more, my lower back is less tight, I feel less lethargic and I believe it is helping my overall movement capabilities too. Thanks for the link though, I'll keep it in my files!
i.imgur.com/rdbmXab.jpg