Moving Well - Avoid Straining Your Back and Neck
J-Spine with Muscular Control for Healthy Movement
Recurrent low back and neck pain - it's a common issue in our industrialized and more sedentary society. Lifestyle and movement habits lead to diminished movement, strength and balance and with excessive strain on the back and neck over time. Symptoms include back and neck pain, headaches, jaw and shoulder pain.
Healthy human Movement - without strain on back or neck - requires core stability, balance, hip and thoracic rotation along with foot and ankle control while maintaining a neutral and stable lumbar spine. This in turn allows our head, shoulders and arms and hands to move freely and to survey and manipulate our environment. These patterns of movement and stability have served us well as a species and they've allowed us to stand on 2 feet, walk, run and move our body as only a human can.
At ages 2-6 we have developed core stability and perfect body mechanics - including standing, walking, running, reaching, lifting, pulling and playing with a J-spine alignment. Our body and brain reflexes that are the basis of our movement patterns are pre-wired to help us move without straining our neck and our back. Our back and neck are not designed to be prime movers. Our prime movers are our hips, legs, ankles and feet and we are able to move them by creating core stability while our low back (Lumbar spine) remains in a neutral position.
We learn to move well through a developmental sequence including rolling, crawling, bear-walking, standing, balancing, walking and running. We develop proximal/ core stability in order to allow whole-body, leg, foot and arm/hand control patterns of movement.
With more sedentary lifestyles (sitting in classrooms, at jobs, commuting and with decreased physical activity levels) we lose core stability and mobility - and we develop compensations that impact our ability to move well over time. The loss of core stability along with decreased mobility in our hips and mid-back places undue strain on back and neck. This results in compensatory S-curves with increased strain in the neck and low back areas of our spine.
The good news is that we can retrain, refresh and renew our natural patterns of movement - at any age. With practice for enhanced body awareness and muscular control, you can rebuild core stability, strength and mobility for your hips, legs, feet and ankles. And you can learn to attain and maintain a neutral "J-spine" to move well without strain on your back and neck.
My best to you as we learn to move well - together,
Dr. Darcy
