Posts by Nicole Ross

Sean Bailey75 said:If you're doing it wrong, anything can happen.

If someone were to train correctly and follow the guidance of a professional, they would almost certainly see improvements in a short amount of time simply by engaging the motor reflex of contraction and relaxation. Specifically, if everything is stiff because it's constantly spasming, then even basic exercises focused on maximal tension and release could actually improve circulation and yield results.

Doing nothing as a solution definitely won't produce any results; in fact, things could just get worse.

That is a majorly flawed assumption. In reality, slouching most often occurs due to muscle atrophy in the back and poor circulation in that area. This imbalance doesn't necessarily mean the chest and abdominal muscles are strong if the back and postural muscles are far too weak. Most of the time, the issue is actually that many of those muscles have wasted away from atrophy. In such a case, claiming this is a "normal" state would be counterproductive, because it's an abnormal state that leads to serious health issues.

The only way to help oneself is to take action—start exercising under the supervision of a professional initially, and once you've mastered the basics, move on to more advanced movements.

Don't you think that when someone hunches forward, it shifts their center of gravity? Like, their chin starts jutting out and their weight moves toward their toes instead of staying over their heels?

If you agree with that—which I think you should—then you also have to admit that the body tries to compensate by cranking up the activation in the back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves just to keep the head and torso upright.

You can test this yourself quite easily—just stand up straight and slowly push your head forward while hunching over. You'll feel it immediately—more contraction in the abs, more tension in the back, the glutes, the posterior chain, and even the front of the feet.
Right?

So then, how does a muscle group that's working overtime to hold up the weight of the head and shoulders end up becoming atrophied and weak?
If you give someone with bad posture a little poke, you'll notice they feel incredibly tight all along that entire posterior kinetic chain.

And look, nobody is saying "do nothing"—far from it. But in my experience, the fastest and most lasting results come from gaining better control over the anterior side—basically learning how to relax those overactive chest and abdominal muscles—which is what actually allows the posture to straighten out.

So, how exactly does stretching teach the CNS to dial back the muscle tone?
If someone’s dealing with Kyphosis, it means their anterior tone is cranked way too high—but here’s the kicker: the nervous system thinks this is perfectly "normal." I mean, if it didn't think this was the baseline, wouldn't the anterior tension be lower, allowing them to actually stand up straight?
But if the CNS has already decided this state is "normal," why on earth would it bother changing?
How is it even possible for the definition of "normal" to shift so drastically just from sitting around all day? And why does the front of their body hurt so much when they try to stretch backward to straighten out?
Think about it—if the current length of those anterior muscles is now considered "normal," wouldn't strengthening them actually pull the front side even tighter? Wouldn't that just signal the CNS to tighten things up even more to maintain that "normal" status quo?
The result? You end up with an even tighter front side and an even tighter back side, which just kills whatever rotational mobility they had left—which is probably already pretty pathetic to begin with.

Do you honestly think the CNS can be retrained through the pain caused by stretching? And if that were the case, why aren't little kids constantly stretching to lengthen their anterior side and strengthen their posterior side just so they can eventually stand up and walk?

Do you ever get that feeling where your whole body just feels... tight? Like, incredibly tense?
You know that sensation when you’re sitting there—maybe at your desk or on the couch—and you try to twist around to look behind you, but suddenly your torso, especially your stomach area, feels completely locked up? It makes the whole movement feel clunky and honestly pretty uncomfortable. Or maybe you get that weird, nagging sensation, almost like someone has a hand on the back of your neck, just constantly pulling you forward?