On Injuries from Stadion Publishing Injuries, Sports Training, and Posture by Thomas Kurz

Information on this Web page is for educational use only, and is not intended as medical advice.
Every attempt has been made for accuracy, but none is guaranteed.
If you have any serious health concerns, you should always check with your health care practitioner
before treating yourself or others.
Always consult a physician before beginning or changing any fitness program.

One of the first steps in a sports training or fitness program
is evaluation and—if needed—a correction of posture.
An exercise program that does not take into account one's postural
problems will likely cause chronic injuries and dropping out of the
program. In the best case, the uncorrected postural imbalances will
limit one's progress.

There are many common postural problems, relating to the head and
neck, shoulders, upper back, lower back, hips, and legs. The common
ones, which may be fairly easily fixed with corrective exercises,
are caused by the so-called modern lifestyle. Here are the activities
of this modern lifestyle that cause bad posture:

• Sitting for long periods of time and reading or writing
  with the work surface at an angle that forces stooping

• Doing manual work, leaning forward, with arms in front
  of oneself (think a machinist, or an assembly worker)

• Not exercising arms through their full ROM (e.g.,
  not climbing, rowing, or shooting arrows)

Not exercising legs through their full ROM (e.g.,
not squatting deeply enough, not running and walking enough)

These are exacerbated by stupid exercises, such as the bench
press (vain men mostly) and spinning (naive fitness maniacs).

Now, I could list many postural problems, with their causes
and remedies, but that would take a lot of space, and then, some could
still be left out. So here is something better: a set of principles.
When you understand the principle of a matter, then details fall in
place without your having to memorize them. Without knowing the principle
(or principles) that makes a system work, one has to memorize the
“routines” and do them without the understanding needed to
individualize them. Yes, the “devil” is in the detail, but
each detail is governed by a larger principle.

Principles of Posture Correction

1. Find and remove the cause of poor posture.

It is useless to prescribe (or do) corrective exercises while still
doing the same activity, in the same way, that has ruined the posture
in the first place. Or not correcting the poor eyesight that forces
one to assume a harmful head and neck position for work. Or the weakness
of muscles holding and moving an eyeball, which causes a compensatory
head tilt.

2. Feel the good posture.

A person who wants to correct his or her posture must be put
in a position in which he or she can EASILY maintain the good posture.*

Only after one becomes aware of how the good posture feels and its
benefits can one strive to attain it or regain it.

A very important threshold in posture correction is becoming aware
of discomfort when letting the posture slip and of the relief that
a correction brings.

3. Do corrective exercises (actually, all exercises) in a way that
makes it impossible, or at least difficult, to assume a poor posture
while exercising.

                                    ***

Why have I singled out the bench press and spinning as
examples of stupid exercises?

The short answer:

Because these very popular exercises exacerbate postural problems.

The longer answer:

Bench press

1. It wastes time and energy that could be used for more effective
upper body exercises.

2. It predisposes one to shoulder injuries.

Spinning

1. More sitting after sitting for most of the day at work.

2. Excessive intensity, which results in the opposite effect than
that sought.

The long answer:

Bench press

To see the main reason the bench press is a stupid exercise, do the
following:

1. Test your maximal (1RM) bench press.

2. Test your maximal (1RM) standing overhead press (military press).

3. Work on increasing your maximal standing overhead press only (no
bench press during that period), until your max in the overhead press
improves.

4. Test your maximal (1RM) bench press again.

When doing the tests, follow the guidelines of the National Strength
and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Results will speak for themselves.

Note: Avid bench pressers should not be surprised if they have trouble
doing the overhead press correctly—one more reason the bench press
is a stupid exercise. (People who don't bench press but do overhead
presses have no trouble doing a bench press correctly.)

There are more reasons that observant people notice in many
gyms, and in one of the forthcoming articles I might spell these out.

Spinning

To see why spinning is a stupid exercise, observe the spinners and
then re-read this article—especially the part about posture and
work.

Sitting for long periods, at work and then during exercise, can cause
tightness and hyperactivity in the hip flexors (such as the psoas).
This can inhibit the hip extensors (such as the glutei). Inability
to produce hip extension with the gluteus maximus shifts the job onto
the low back extensors. The low back extensors then become tight and
hypertonic and in turn inhibit the abdominal muscles.

Excessive intensity compounds work stress, soon causing hormonal imbalances,
typically high cortisol and low testosterone levels. Results: poor
sleep and poor recovery, reduced fat-burning, diminishing muscle strength,
and other symptoms of overtraining.

If you want more reasons, study the works of Philip Maffetone that
are listed at the Athlete's Bookshelf.

_________

* Good posture is such in which all muscles exert a minimal effort
to maintain it—and all work in a balanced way, with none fatiguing to the
point of forcing its load on other muscles. Bad posture is such that
some muscles carry most of the load, until they give up and others
must compensate. The muscles forced to compensate are not in the best
position to do the “not their job” and so they get too tense
and too short, while those opposing them get lax and too long. The
compensations cascade, affecting more and more muscles and causing
tension pains, weaknesses, poor stability of joints, and eventually
an injury.

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Information on the injury prevention, diagnosis, and treatment provided on this site is for educational use only, and is not intended as medical advice. Every attempt has been made for accuracy, but none is guaranteed. If you have any serious health concerns, you should always check with your health care practitioner before treating yourself or others.

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