A reminder to move more often..

Did you know this? Apparently there is not one perfect posture, which means the only reason we demonize a hunched back or rounded shoulders is because of how we spend most of our lives being in it. But truth be told, you could experience just as many problems sitting in a split for 4 hours straight as you do in your current slouched position being seated at your desk for hours end without moving at all.

As covered in my previous newsletter- our body is like a moving, flowing entity and it is meant to move! In every possible way and yes that includes rounding your shoulders and back too. This probably might be news to you coming from following traditional gym rules of keeping your back straight for most exercises, and as much of an importance it holds for certain intentions, we here are talking about movement in general which includes mobilization of joints and so much more than just “muscle building”

So instead of rambling more about the importance of “movement”, how do you really start working on it? Here are 3 tips to improve your movement/ joint health/ “posture”:

To be excelling at anything is not a onetime act but more of a habit – Let this be a reminder for you to move every 30 minutes if you’ve been stagnant at your desk, couch or bed (this obviously excludes activities like sleeping or facing the embarrassment of doing it amidst travelling in public transportation, but you are free to make your choices)

Use it or lose it – As it goes for your muscles, so does for your mobility. As long as you keep hitting the gym consistently, (including diet) you can be sure of making those “gains”. Similarly if you don’t use your ROM- range of motion, you risk losing it. I say risk to remind you of its importance in performing exercises in the gym as well, in case the other benefits aren’t fancy enough.

Limit your device time- This deserves a post of its own, whether it’s your phone or laptop – they aren’t that great. Not just in terms of posture as in the constant hunching over by being on them but also their ability to kill our capability of any self-awareness. Now being aware has its own importance but you can imagine it’s the reason why you can’t remember to move more frequently. Or the fact that it impedes our ability to build that mind muscle connection, by spending more time being out of your body and instead being on them.

Our current lifestyles have made it so that there is such huge disparity in the ratio of the time we spend being out of our bodies than being in it. It might be time to put your device down (the one in which you are currently reading this on) and do some mobility work.

Every week, I'll share tips, ideas, and strategies to help you become more effective in building your fitness routines which includes mobility work as well!

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If you are unsure where to start, I’ve been crafting sequences combining yoga, strength training and mobility, and would be happy to help!