Posture

Posture affects all of us. From the small things like sitting in a chair to standing at the bus stop.

The essence of this blog entry is to stress the importance of strengthening our cores. If you’re one of those people who work out and don’t know what I’m referring to, shame on you! To others who don’t work out or even those who do the odd exercise every now and again, this is a fundamental part of your health.

Training your core isn’t mind boggling, you don’t have to use equipment or attend a Pilates class. The core is mostly referred to as our abs and lower back muscles but as a whole it encompasses lower and upper body. When worked together they help to stabilise and support the spine. For anyone serious about their fitness/performance or just wanting to live healthy, building a strong core will get you there.

Our backs are fundamental to everything we do. Think how many times you slouch on a chair at work, how you sit on the sofa, over time these bad habits creep up on us and we end up at the doctors or whinging to our friends about back pain. Building strong back muscles will help reduce lower back pain and prevent any further damage.

Our core helps us stand upright, improve our balance and increase strength to our workouts. I recently attended a gig and was standing up the whole time with a bag on my back. Half way in I was reminded (by my back) that I wasn’t standing properly. I promptly took my bag off, rolled my shoulders back and stood strong. Being 26 years old and having back pain ages me too quickly! The same applies to the rest of us. A weak core means that other muscles will pick up the slack created and imbalance can occur. This in turn will most certainly mean injuries. *sighs* no injuries I hear you cry. It’s time to pay attention to our cores and getting them strong.