April - May 2002 Edition

Keep Your Belly In   By Linda Rosen, Certified Medical Exercise Specialist  For over twenty years I've been telling people to "keep your belly in". I don't go up to just anyone I see on the street, though I do see many who need to be told. It's the women in my exercise classes that hear that phrase in their sleep, as they tell me. It's not just that you'll look better if you hold your abdominals in, your back will feel better and be stronger and you'll stand up straighter. Try this now: Find the spot approximately 1 ½-2 inches below your navel. That's the center of your body. Now pull those muscles in and up, as if you were zipping up a tight pair of jeans, but be able to breathe, please. Doesn't that feel better? You might even feel more powerful, more confident. You look trimmer don't you? OK, now you have to keep those muscles like that until you go to sleep. Hard? Don't get discouraged. It just takes time. You have to develop the strength in your abdominals to be able to do it and have your body and mind work together to be able to use that strength without you even thinking about it. That takes some training and the first thing to do is learn "neutral spine". That's become my mantra over the past 4 years since I took a course in Post Rehab of the Lumbar Spine. Now my clients tell me they hear "neutral spine" in their sleep. But, they are realizing the benefits of being in a neutral spine. Rose Harris of Fair Lawn says that "learning to keep the neutral spine position has helped me to both look and feel better. It has even added to my own feelings of self-confidence, which has definitely added some measure of optimism in my general attitude". And Jean Rothermel, also of Fair Lawn told me that "being aware of neutral spine helps me work daily on my posture as I'm sitting, standing, or walking" and Linda Cole of Fair Lawn said "it helps me while I'm standing in line at the supermarket". So, how do you find neutral spine? Follow these simple directions below and if you have any trouble you can email me at lrosenlaci@att.net and I'll try to help. In my next article I'll give you some exercises for your core muscles to give you the strength to keep a neutral spine and make it natural. Until then, please email me at lrosenlaci@att.net with any questions you have on your posture, neutral spine, or other fitness topics. Finding Neutral Spine 1. Stand up with your feet comfortably apart and your shoulders gently pulled back under your ears. 2. Tuck your buttocks under feeling your belly sink back and your lower back flatten. You are actually doing a pelvic tilt. Your shoulders probably fell forward a little and you're not in a very good posture. This is NOT neutral spine. We're getting there. 3. Now push your buttocks back slightly arching your lower back. Your belly is pushing forward and this also in not a very good posture. This is NOT neutral spine. We're still getting there. 4. Repeat 2 & 3 several times to get the feeling of those postures. First your lower back will flatten and then it will arch. Neither is the posture that you ultimately want. 5. Now find the space in your lower back between both of those postures where you feel most comfortable. That is your neutral spine. Everyone has their own neutral spine. You should feel that your lower back is in neutral, not arched, not flattened, and notice that your abdominal muscles are engaged to keep this position. 6. Try to stay in neutral until you go to bed. Don't laugh!! You'll have to remind yourself often and you can check your posture by glancing in a mirror or a window as you pass by.     See Linda Rosen's Previous Column Improving Your Posture  (February-March 2002)