Pain Free Summer Fun

Tips for Staying Healthy & Enjoying an Active Summer Season

Summer is upon us which means our season for peak physical activity has arrived.  As the weather warms up and the days get longer, we move more.  Making sure your body is aligned and balanced is one of the simplest things you can do to ensure you have the physical foundation to make the most of that extra movement.

Whether your goals for the season are to elevate your fitness, improve your physical appearance, or spend more time doing recreational activities with family and friends, here are the top reasons good posture can keep you healthy and moving well throughout the summer and beyond.

Maximizing Fitness and Sports Performance

When our body is aligned correctly, we can generate and transfer force more effectively.  This makes our movement more efficient leading to improved performance in sports, exercise, and everyday tasks.

Much like aligned tires help to maximize the gas mileage of a car and enable a vehicle to cover more ground before the dreaded low fuel light illuminates, good posture minimizes the amount of energy wasted during movement.  This means you can do an activity for longer or tolerate a higher training demand before fatigue sets in or your form starts to break down.

Avoiding Injury

Good posture allows our muscles to work together cooperatively and our joints to move smoothly and freely.  It also helps distribute the mechanical stress of movement more evenly throughout the body.

Imbalances that disrupt this collaborative effort result in increased demand on vulnerable and overworked areas of the body.  As overused muscles become tight and stiff from inadequate recovery and underworked muscles become weak from inactivity, our range of motion becomes restricted.   Concentrated force overloads bones and unnecessary friction during movement grinds away on joint surfaces.

Proper posture reduces unnecessary wear and tear and minimizes the stress and strain placed on our muscles, bones, and joints during movement.  And it makes movements safer and more stable.  The result – a more resilient body that is less likely to be limited by nagging pain or sidelined by an avoidable injury.

Enhancing Recovery

Balancing training demand with recovery is essential to staying healthy and making continuous gains in fitness and sports performance.  Proper posture minimizes the stress and strain placed on the body during exercise, resulting in less cumulative wear and tear and boosting overall longevity.

Good posture also creates a rock-solid foundation for recovering faster after workouts.  Restoring balance to the muscles and proper alignment to the joints helps relieve tension and stiffness and improves blood flow.  It also lowers stress levels and helps restore a sense of calm after a strenuous activity or workout.