Fast Fitness - Fixing Yoga Warrior and Lunge Exercise to Neutral Spine
Friday, June 13, 2008
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Reader David from Belgium demonstrates in this 20 second movie that he made for us:
- First ten seconds - he steps into a yoga pose called Warrior pose, but allows overly arched lower spine. He also demonstrates leaning more weight forward of center line, which is a different issue.
- Note how the belt line tips downward in front and the lower spine overly curves inward - more than a normal curve.
- At second 11 he levels the hip to bring the posture to neutral spine. Then he kindly demonstrates overarching when raising the arms further. Instead, hold neutral spine and raise the arms from the shoulder, not the lower back.
To prevent shoulder impingement when raising arms, keep shoulders down and back, don't just chin and neck forward, keep them gently in. A forward head posture compresses the rotator cuff when lifting arms. See Safer Overhead Military Press.
I never expected repeated requests to see how to do neutral spine in different activities. It is the same. Just apply the same neutral spine and that’s all. I thought one post would do it, but will post each activity readers ask about. I am aware that there are yoga and fitness places which teach to overarch the spine as part of the move. Teaching swayback does not seem to be as helpful as teaching neutral spine. Changing lunge and Warrior pose to neutral also improves the stretch to the front hip muscles of the back leg. Lucky.
Labels: fast fitness, fix pain, hip stretch, holiday, impingement, lordosis, neutral spine, posture, video/movie, yoga
1 Comments:
At Monday, November 17, 2008 3:49:00 AM,
Unknown said…
Dr. Bookspan,
Like many here, I've been spiraling down the back pain / neck pain / shoulder & hip stiffness and popping toilet for a number of years, and I finally got fed up with the ineffectiveness of cortisone injections and physical therapy. I'm only 29 years old, but my back has been an increasingly upsetting problem for 5+ years now. I'm going to try like heck to start moving and standing and sitting correctly. From reading your articles, you've described my problem to a tee, so I'm pretty confident my problems are posture related. I'd go absolutely nuts throughout the sedentary office work day if I don't get some daily exercise though (a run, a swim, or some time on an elliptical machine?). The way you encourage folks to get out of the gyms and be more active in their daily lives certainly resonates with me, but at the same time, I find a group Yoga class with a good instructor can do wonders for the mind and body. And I feel like my mind needs some work too. All the back pain and related hopelessness can take its tole and get me a bit depressed. Regarding the yoga, I would like to know if you have any recommendations for Yoga instructors in Berkeley, CA or SF Bay Area. I see that you provide some Yoga teacher training, and recommend against certain poses. I would like to take a class from somebody who follows your guidance. Also, while you describe the stretches and strengthening as things to incorporate into your daily lives, and not as something to do "10 reps of", I'm curious about upper and lower back extension. These seem like things that one should do a "certain number of," and only hold for a "certain amount of time, and what about the stretches that you recommend. How long do you recommend holding them? I've just purchased a number of your books and am hoping to swiftly retrain myself and escape this downward spiral! I hope to be in contact soon with a terrific success story to add to your collection!
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