Posture correction books

The vast majority of posture correction books can help you find the root cause of posture problems and establish correct sports cognition, but you cannot directly solve common problems such as high and low shoulders, forward head extension, and forward pelvic tilt by practicing directly from the books - provided that you have not first figured out whether your problem is a "functional compensation" or a "structural deformation."

I worked in an Internet company for the past two years, and it was common to sit for 12 hours a day. When I touched my shoulders when I was fishing, the left side was high and the right side was almost as low as the collarbone.

I was quite excited when I received the book. I turned to the chapter on high and low shoulders and practiced accordingly. I stretched the upper trapezius muscles and trained the middle and lower trapezius muscles every day. I practiced diligently for two weeks. Guess what? Before the shoulders could be bent back, the left side of my waist hurt so much that I couldn't straighten up. Later, when I went to the rehabilitation department to take a film, I found out that my uneven shoulders were not a shoulder problem at all. I twisted my waist while playing basketball, and my left lumbar vertebra had always had a compensatory scoliosis. In order to maintain balance, I raised my left shoulder. The books taught all general shoulder circumference adjustment movements. The more I practiced, the greater the stress on the left side of my waist, but it didn't hurt.

The books of this kind that are available on the market today actually take two completely different paths. One type is written by authors with a purely Western medical anatomy background, such as the classic "Muscle Testing and Function: Posture and Pain" and "Practical Posture Correction" written by domestic rehabilitation practitioners. The characteristics of this type of book are that they are rigorous to the point of harshness. The muscle tension and joint mobility issues corresponding to each postural problem are clearly marked. You see, there are electromyographic data during continuous force exertion, which is suitable for practitioners to use as a reference book for reference. However, ordinary people are particularly prone to the problem of "treating the head for a headache" - when they see the head stretched forward, they only focus on the neck and practice. It is completely unexpected that the pelvic tilt may be pulling the entire upper body forward, and it is useless to practice until the neck is sore. Oh, by the way, those "Internet celebrity books" that are full of pictures of models posing for photos without even showing any signs of muscle exertion also fall into this category. They are just cutting leeks and you don't even need to look through them.

The other group prefers a holistic view, such as popular science books based on the theory of "Anatomy Train", and some local works that combine traditional chiropractic and martial arts stance logic. This school's view is originally correct: posture is the result of the linkage of fascia chains throughout the body. High and low shoulders may be rooted in the feet, and neck pain may require hip adjustment. However, there are many problems This kind of writing is too "floating", either full of terminology that ordinary people cannot understand, or it only talks about concepts but not specific movement standards. I once read a book about posture adjustment. The whole book said "just stand until the blood is flowing." It didn't even explain clearly how to stand with your feet and how to place your knees. Ordinary people might damage their knees if they follow the exercises.

The industry is actually quite noisy now. Many clinical rehabilitation practitioners say that ordinary people do not have the ability to self-evaluate. Practicing from a book is simply a fool's errand and may even lead to injuries. However, bloggers who popularize sports science believe that most people's minor problems are functional compensations caused by sitting for a long time. As long as the movements are standard, they can be solved by following the book without spending hundreds of dollars on rehabilitation.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with what both sides say. There are ready-made examples around me. The little programmer girl I shared a house with just kept her head forward because she held the computer every day. She showed no problems with her spine after taking the X-ray. She just followed the deep neck flexor training and mandibular exercises in the book, and practiced for 10 minutes every day while fishing. After more than two months, the forward bend of her neck has really come back a lot, and even the migraines that she often had before are gone. But another colleague of mine was not so lucky. He was born with idiopathic scoliosis, with a degree of about 20 degrees. He didn’t know it, so he bought a book and practiced after watching other people practice posture correction. After practicing for half a year, his back was so sore. Then he went to take a photo, and the scoliosis degree increased by 3 degrees. The core tightening movements he practiced were originally designed for people with normal spines. His scoliosis itself has the problem of imbalance of muscle strength on both sides, and practicing blindly only aggravated the asymmetry.

To be honest, I have nearly 10 books of this kind piled up at home now. When I was choosing, I didn’t even look at the slogans like “fixing anterior pelvic tilt in 7 days” and “correcting all postural problems in one book” in the slogan. I just looked at a few very practical details: Are there complete self-assessment steps? Even if it’s a simple test that can be done in front of the mirror, you won’t even get an assessment to ask for instructions on how to do it, so you can just pass it; are there any common tips for incorrect exertion? For example, when practicing the glute bridge, will you be specifically reminded to "don't slump your waist and lift your ribs"? After all, ordinary people without a coach watching over them will easily lose their shape due to exertion; in the end, it is best to have a graded adjustment plan. Don't give you the same intensity of movements regardless of whether you are a newbie with soreness or an old problem that has been stiff for more than half a year.

Of course, don’t treat this kind of book as a scourge. If you just flip through it, you will at least know how your bad habit of crossing your legs and sleeping on the table is bad for your posture. If you really want to follow the practice, you can either take pictures of your movements in the mirror to compare the standards, or find a professional rehabilitation practitioner for an evaluation to find out where your problems are before you start. After all, books are dead, and the body you created that day is much more complicated than a few pages of paper.