Maintaining Alignment, Muscles, and Posture

The previous Great NEWS post was titled Happy New Year and Happy New You in 2013 and today we focus on simple strategies for Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture. Do you realize your energy and health is the foundation for your success in all areas of your life now and in the future? This post is designed to share my top ten tips to help you keep your body in a peak performance physiology for life. Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture is one of the most important outcomes for you to set each year as part of your peak performance goals and New Year’s intentions.

Most people learned the basics in school about the 206 bones and connective tissues in the human body. All the bones are connected by cartilage, ligaments and tendons. What most people did not learn is the importance of consistently and correctly training your body and brain to develop and maintain your alignment, muscles and posture for a wide range of demands. Like any other thing in life you must “use it or lose it”. Bending down to tie your shoes, carrying a baby or backpack, climbing stairs, jumping rope, lifting a suitcase, running a race, taking a long walk, throwing a ball and yoga postures all require a great deal of agility, balance, coordination, equilibrium, flexibility, mental nerve impulses, power, range of motion, sensory acuity, stability, stamina, strength and tone.

Essential for Your Body and Mind

All bones and muscles are connected, and must be cared for properly for optimal health.

Maintaining proper alignment, muscle and posture is essential to create the body and mind of a champion. Yet many adults, children and teens today are thinking more about fast foods, movies, projects, talking and texting with friends, TV shows and video games rather than the importance of exercise and fitness for their long term health and well being. Unfortunately many of them will soon learn what a giant mistake this is and how it often triggers a chain reaction that once started can be very difficult to reverse. Even things that seem minor at first like colds, constipation, digestion issues, flu, headaches, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, sleep issues and weight gain can quickly turn into major health challenges.

You may be wondering how aches, confidence, coordination, grades, health, information recall, injuries, learning, memory, pains, self esteem, self image, self worth, sleep issues, social confidence, sports, success and even weight gain can all be tied back directly or indirectly to properly maintaining alignment, muscles and posture combined with exercise and fitness. Common sense suggests there are key interactions and neuro-associations between every cell in your body. There are key principles you must understand to help you avoid many of the challenges, issues and problems that result from poor nutrition and a lack of physical maintenance and training.

Most people want to enjoy more fun and pleasure in life today and tend to forget that your body was designed to be properly fueled, maintained and trained on a regular basis. To enjoy the most terrific benefits possible you must take care of the temple that houses you brain and heart. The Great NEWS blog has posted numerous articles on the benefits of consuming great nutrition from organic whole foods sources. It is obvious “you are what you eat” so if you are not consuming adequate high quality calories and whole foods for your carbohydrates, enzymes, fats, fiber, minerals, phytonutrients, proteins, trace elements and Vitamins it is very difficult to be all you are meant to be.

While this very obvious wisdom, does not appear so obvious to many people, it is now time to focus more on exercise and fitness for maintaining and training your physical being. To begin with it is important to understand the body is designed to be very active, mobile and physically fit. We are not designed to sit still for long periods of time in cars, school or work. Our bodies and brains need challenges, conditioning and movement to keep our bones strong, joints flexible, lymph fluid circulating and muscles and tissues flexible, limber and toned.

Strategies for Peak Performance

Learning strategies for maintaining your alignment, muscles and posture is vital for health and peak performance at any age. While you may think you can get away with abusing the body with junk foods and a lack of exercise it is only a matter of time before the body will react, rebel and respond by showing signs of the strain and stress you created. Eventually you will shift down, slow down, sit down and eventually shut down. Poor structural alignment and posture often leads to back aches, carpal tunnel issues, feet problems, headaches, hip pain, joint problems, knee pain, neck aches, shoulder injuries, TMJ, teeth problems and even vision problems. Are you experiencing any of these? Since all the bones, cartilage, ligaments, muscles and tendons in the body are connected when one is out of alignment or position it often causes a chain reaction that leads to issues in other parts of the body. Examples are a hip alignment issue causing headaches or a shoulder issue causing carpal tunnel problems in the wrist.

Think of a car for a few minutes. When the tires are out of alignment or not balanced the car can experience a bumpy or rough ride. This can cause the tires to wear out sooner and even impact the braking ability. Cars are designed to be maintained with electrical diagnosis, good fuel, new parts, oil changes, parts replacement, repair, tire rotations and tune ups. Very few cars go more than 100,000 miles without some important part braking down and needing replacement. Most people do not keep their cars for more than 10 years. So during a lifetime a person may own 10 or more cars and invest a fortune in buying, maintaining and repairing those cars.

Contrast that with your body which is the only one we have for our entire life of potentially 100+ years. Most people spend less energy, money and time to properly maintain their body to the standards needed for a lifetime of peak performance than they do to maintain the cars they own. When you think about it for just a few minutes you realize this body is worth at least a million+ dollars in relation to the income it will earn for you over your working years. Doesn’t it make sense to protect your most valuable asset which is your body and mind? Together they provide the ability to do the things that give meaning and quality to your life. You only have one body, one heart and one mind which come with no guarantees, protection plan or users warranty so you might want to learn what it takes to keep it running like a finely tuned race car or you might end up with a junk heap in a grave yard.

Is your body in a peak state or problematic state? A slight shift in your alignment, muscles and posture can have a massive influence on your emotional, mental and physical ability to respond to the demands of the day. Scientific research into body language and physical posturing has shown that even a minimal shift and two minute adjustment in your physical posture can create significant influence over your emotional and mental ability to deliver enhanced results. This applies to children in school, students in college and parents in the work place. Our physical alignment, muscles and posture set the stage for failure or success in every area of our life whether we realize it or not. It is not bad luck that robs us of us of a quality life but bad emotional, mental and physical conditioning.

What strategies do you have in place to keep your body fit and your mind sharp? It is important to have specific goals, outcomes and plans outlined with clear details so you can easily focus on the actions you must take to deliver those results. Without a written peak performance plan your chance of fitness, health and well being is left to lady luck and the odds are not in your favor. Therefore you must create a detailed exercise and fitness plan that will help you accomplish your goals and outcomes for maintaining your alignment, muscles and posture.

Since cars come with great owner’s manuals that give you all the details you need to keep it running for tip top performance it seemed like a great idea to provide a simple owners manual to maintain and train your body and mind. Anyone can focus on the top ten tips to treat your body with the Tender Loving Care (TLC) is deserves. Here are my Top Ten Tips for maintaining the body, mind and spirit for peak performance and perfect health which greatly improves your chances for success in all areas of life.

Top Ten Tips for Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture:

1. Meditation is a great way to calm the mind and focus on deep breathing which will help with rejuvenating, relaxing and restoring your mental clarity and well being. When we feel calm and focused on our goals we are more likely to avoid the unhealthy and unintelligent temptations in life that distract and dis-empower us. Deep diaphragm breathing is essential to provide adequate oxygen for energy and peak performance since the brain and body needs massive fuel sources. Protect your mind from harmful influences which can shut you down faster than a virus.

Meditation is powerful medicine.

2. Power Walking is a great way to take a quick break from school or work and quickly energize and revitalize the body and mind. Be sure to check your foot alignment, gait, muscle activation and overall posture from head to toe. Strolling is not the same as power walking since you must get your heart rate up and fully inflate your lungs. Practice walking backwards and sideways several times a week for better agility, awareness, balance, flexibility and balanced muscle tone. Lunges and squats also help by adding greater demand and variety. Carrying small hand weights or a well designed back pack can greatly enhance the over all benefits while walking. Walking barefoot at the beach or in grass is great for strengthening the foot muscles and reconnecting to the earth.

3. Seeing a chiropractor regularly for adjustments, coaching and guidance is very valuable. This tip can be way more beneficial than you realize. Due to biking accidents, car accidents, falls, injuries in the military, sports injuries, trauma and whiplashes it is easy to suffer long term complications with maintaining alignment, muscles and posture. All of these have occurred to me and without a good chiropractor is can be a real challenge and almost impossible to get your alignment, muscles and posture in perfect position for peak performance. Even a slight back, head, hip or neck misalignment can have drastic consequences to your health, mental clarity, nerve impulses, organs and long term well being.

4. Rebounding, toe dips and toe raises are a quick and easy way to get the lymph fluid moving and clear out the toxins from the legs and lower body. Moving your lymph is vital for clearing out toxins and keeping the cells in top condition. Sluggish lymph leads to low energy and sluggish performance.

A Rebounder with a stabilizing bar is a great way to exercise and lynphasizing.

5. An exercise and fitness machine known as Power Plate is fairly new to many people yet may be one of the best overall forms of training for alignment, muscles and posture. The data and history are quite impressive and it is definitely worth checking out.

6. Avoid slouching when you sit or stand because this can affect your emotional, mental and physical energy and health. Sit tall, stand tall and walk tall to train your body and mind for peak performance physiology. Using am ergonomic chair, Swiss exercise ball or Scandinavian kneeling chair is a great way to enhance your posture while sitting for long hours in front of a computer or studying.

7. Learn about the Egoscue Method for tips for proper alignment while sitting and standing. Doing Egoscue exercises will help strengthen your core muscles and flexibility and is a great way to eliminate pain and prevent injuries.

8. Doing Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping daily is a great way to reduce stress which has been found to be a major contributor to disease and health issues. Stress and tension cause many of the muscles and tendons to tighten up which restricts breathing and blood flow. EFT has been found to help release the emotional sensitivity and tension which allows you to be more energized, enthusiastic, and excited about exercise, fitness, learning and life.

9. Doing Yoga in the morning is a great way to help maintain your agility, alignment, balance, breathing, flexibility, muscles, posture, stability, stamina and tone.

10. Also check out Alexander method, Body weight exercise Calisthenics, Cross Fit, Elliptical machines, High Intensity Interval Training, Isometrics, Monkey Bar Gym, Peak 8, Pilates, Power Plate, Primal Training, Qi Gong, Resistance bands, Running sprints, Slow Motion Interval Training, TRX and Weight training. While many people enjoy treadmills it is probably best to avoid them due to so many variables that can result in an injury. Even running outdoors can result in many injuries, posture problems and risks. While long distance running was a big part of my life now sprints and short distances are much more beneficial. There are other versions of great exercise and fitness routines but many of them have cost, equipment or time limitations whereas these can be done almost any where at any time for any age. I have written about these in a previous article so please check it out for more details.

Did you really think I could limit myself to only a top ten strategies and suggestions when it comes to something as important as you alignment, muscles and posture?  Look for more details from this top ten tips series  in the next ten blog posts to help you integrate these suggestions into your  lifestyle.

This Great NEWS blog post on Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture shares a timely topic to help you jump start the New Year in 2013 with more energy, health and stamina. Your emotional, mental and physical fitness and resilience in 2013 and beyond will be a direct result of your actions, behaviors and habits directing your body and mind for a better future and greater success. Are you ready to do your part? This blog shares my top ten strategies and suggestions to help you with Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture in 2013 and for the rest of your life. The next steps are up to you. Remember exercise and fitness is a core mandatory requirement for peak performance not elective options.

What is your current Gap?

What are you doing that is specifically designed for Maintaining Alignment, Muscles and Posture? What else must you be doing that you are not now doing?

Mastery Action Plan (MAP)

Create a weekly and monthly plan with the actions, goals and outcomes you know will create the emotional, mental and physical state for peak performance. Create a reward system that inspires and motivates you to be even more committed to maintaining alignment, muscles and posture.

Call to Action

What comments, commitments or questions do you have regarding mastery action plans for maintaining alignment, muscles and posture?

Next week the Great NEWS blog will share:

Creating Vision Boards to Achieve Your Dreams