Ryggakutten

Ryggakutten

Ryggakutten






THE ACTIVITY THAT makes us WEAKER and heavier

It may be the most harmless activity known to man, but can lead to a wide variety of issues.
Even if you're the most active of athletes, you may still suffer from a tight psoas due to the amount of time you spend each day planted to a chair.
Weakness, shortening and tightness develops in the muscle from sitting for extended periods of time, contributing to poor sleep, posture and even stress and tension.


HERE ARE 3 WAYS THAT SITTING CAN HURT PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH:

BULGING BELLY SYNDROME
My clients sometimes wonder why their stomachs stick out, even though they're hammering the core exercises every day. It's a common myth that bulging belly is due to weak abdominal muscles. The real cause is likely to be tight psoas muscles, which cause the lower back to curve, pushing out the stomach. When the psoas works properly, it pulls the abdomen back, tucking the tummy in, adding to the appearance of a strong, flat stomach.

FAT LOSS INHIBITOR
As the body's "fight or flight" muscle, your psoas is deeply connected to our natural survival instinct. It instantly tightens in moments of danger to either protect you (in a fetal position) or help you run, fueled by the release of adrenaline. However, with your psoas constantly tight, it's as though you are in constant danger. When your body is stressed, it often switches into fat storing mode in anticipation of danger. [34-36] So, if fat loss is an issue for you, tight hips might be to blame.

UNCOMFORTABLE SLEEP
Sitting all day causes your hips to become stuck in a forward thrust position. This leads to pulling on the lower back and decreased blood flow and circulation through the hips. This tightness results in physical discomfort, making it more difficult to fall asleep and more likely to wake up throughout the night. [30]

 

SITTING FOR LONG HOURS MAY LEAD TO HEALTH HAZARDS BECAUSE IT CAN TIGHTEN YOUR PSOAS MUSCLE.

WHY TIGHT HIP FLEXORS CAN LEAD TO HERNIATED LUMBAR DISCS:

People who spend most of each day sitting, are at greater risk for tightening the psoas muscles, which then pulls the upper lumbar spine forward.

As a result, the upper body misaligns and rests on the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones) rather than being properly distributed along the arch of the spine.

But here's the great news…….

You can do something about it!

WHY STATIC STRETCHING ALONE ISN'T THE ANSWER

Knowing you have tight hip flexors is one thing.

Knowing how to fix your hip flexors is another challenge altogether.

If you trust so-called experts on Youtube and online, they'll have you believe it's simply a case of holding a few static stretches for a period of time to try and lengthen the muscle.

Or rolling around with a tennis ball stuck to your hip (as if that will really make any difference).

It takes more than a tennis ball and foam roller to unlock your hip flexors…and doing it wrong could cause damage.

The reason few people manage to fix their hip flexors is simple.

It's really a hard area to reach.

Your psoas is buried deep inside your core, making it tough to access. It's a hard muscle to find, let alone train.

Static Stretching Has Its Place - But You Need To Attack Your Hips With A Variety Of Movements Including The Ones Below

Static Stretching Has Its Place - But You Need To Attack Your Hips With A Variety Of Movements Including The Ones Below

So it's little wonder why trying to loosen it requires more than a simple static hip flexor stretch.

If you've found you're spending (or wasting) time stretching this way only to find it's having minimal effect, that is why.

That's because you need to attack the muscle from a variety of angles using a variety of exercise techniques and modalities in order to "unpack" the muscle in the right way.

The truth is, you can learn to release your tight hip flexors on your own.

You can think of your psoas as a combination safe lock, there are certain exercise combinations that will unlock it. You just need to know the code. [38-45]

And, there are a number of specific movements beyond simple static stretching you can use to unlock and loosen your hips, legs and back.

Some of these include:

PNF STRETCHING:

PNF is an acronym for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. It is a technique where you are activating a specific muscle in order to relax the muscles around a joint so you can decrease the stiffness around a joint.

DYNAMIC STRETCHING:

This is where you are activating the muscle around a joint and moving that joint through its full range of motion in a progressive manner. This leads to an increased range of motion around the joint, warming up of the muscle around the joint and improved circulation around the joint. Think of high knees or butt kicks.

3-DIMENSIONAL CORE STABILITY EXERCISES:

With these exercises we are targeting the muscle in all planes of movement so the core and abdominal muscles have good activation, endurance and strength in all planes of movement which leads to a decrease in unnecessary damaging stress on joints

MOBILITY EXERCISES:

In these exercises, we are targeting the joint and doing movements and exercises that help the joint function optimally. This allows a joint to move more freely.

FASCIA STRETCHING:

In this unique technique, we are targeting the tissue that muscles are surrounded in and working on loosening and lengthening the fascia. Few people understand the negative effect this tissue can have on your body.

MUSCLE ACTIVATION MOVEMENTS:

Due to all of our sitting and daily technology use, many of our muscles are not working properly. With this technique, we're targeting those muscles that are off and activating them in order to help the body move more efficiently.


References for Unlock Your Hip Flexors:

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  3. Body Encyclopaedia: A Guide to the Psychological Functions of the Muscular System, Lisbeth Marcher and Sonja Fich, North Atlantic Books (2010)
  4. Iliopsoas - The Flee/Fight Muscle for Survival, Liz Koch,PositiveHealthOnline.com (2005)
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SITTING!