QUESTION:

David: Thank you for your Q & A column - I always look forward to your next installment. I have a question about posture and your abs! I have a very swayed back, and that seems to affect the shape of my abs. My brother is in very good shape and he has the same problem, though not as noticeable as me. Do you have any suggestions on how to correct this, keeping in mind that I play hockey once a week year-round and work as a heavy truck mechanic? I just can't seem to focus and start a workout regimen. I eat fairly healthy and don't drink much alcohol, I'm 41 and 6'1" tall 35" waist, about 235 lbs., 44" chest. My main problem is the love handles and beer belly. Keep up writing your articles, they're great!

Regards,

Terry C.

ANSWER:

I'm glad you asked this because posture is a very important topic for functional movement in everyday activities as well as in athletic performance, but I don't think it has been emphasized enough.

Posture is extremely important because posture is the position from which movement begins and ends. If you do not express good posture, your body is subjected to undue stress especially in your joint structures. Having ideal posture creates a balanced environment for all your supporting structures and helps avoid helps avoid injury and "deformation" of the body (such as the way you say your swayback changes the appearance of your abdominal region).

From reading your question, it's apparent that you have several issues that need to be addressed, but first and foremost is your posture situation and what you call a "swayback." If your brother has the same condition, then you can probably look at your dad and grandfather and find the same postural circumstances. Sometimes people get swayback confused with a flat back. Swayback is a condition that creates a posteriorly rotated pelvis (pelvis tucked under tush), rounded shoulders, bent knees and forward head posture.

Most swaybacked people are on the tall side. They tend to look down on other people, which contributes to this type of postural imbalance.

To understand it more, we must look at "upper cross" and "lower cross" syndromes. Upper cross syndrome is created by an imbalance between your trunk extensors and your trunk flexors. The trunk flexors tend to be dominating and stronger, thus creating a short tight abdominal region, pulling the rib cage closer to the pelvis.

Characteristics of this condition are forward head posture, drooping rounded shoulders and a "pigeon chest." The knees and ankles tend to bend because they have to counter-balance the hump-backed upper body. In swayback posture, we could easily have both upper cross and lower cross syndrome and often do. One leads to the other and vice versa.

To compensate for the sway and to keep the center of gravity over your base of support (your feet), your back and pelvis tend to flatten out and drift forward. Lower cross syndrome consists of tightening of the hamstrings and abdominals while lengthening the lumbar erectors, thigh muscles and hip flexors.

To correct these postural situations we must stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the long and weak muscles.

For example: To address the rounded shoulders - stretch the chest muscles, and perform exercises such as the prone cobra, dumbbell bent over rows and alternating Supermans.

To address the lower cross syndrome, we would we need to stretch your hamstrings and abdominals and tighten the hip flexors with such exercises as like the Prone Jackknife.

The second part of your question was related to your recreational hockey playing. When looking at how to structure a training program to enhance performance in your sport, ask yourself, "What position does a hockey assume?" The answer is, a bent over position (picture the body positioned for a slap shot movement).

This position and movement is made up of several different movement patterns. The slap shot is a combination of a side lunge, and upper body twist and a push. So some exercises you would want to include would be multi-directional lunges, woodchoppers and bent over rows.

Hockey is also different from other sports because you get pounded into the boards. This can result in massive structural damage to your body. There are some steps you can take to help prepare and compensate for this type of collision. First you must have good stability in your neck and lower back. To obtain this stability, your conditioning program should include, but not be limited to Swiss ball neck training, one arm C. R. A. C. dumbbell press, and supine lateral ball roll. Your program should also include shoulder shrugs, dead lifts and high pulls. These exercises strengthen the muscles in your cervical spine area and develop good core strength.

The final part of your question was, "How do I get rid of the love handles and beer belly?" First of all, the love handles and the beer belly come from poor eating habits. Part of your body's ability to store fat so easily has to do with your genetic code. We carry fat as a protective mechanism to guard against starvation.

All body fat will decrease in response to a calorie deficit created by exercising more and eating a little less. However, love handles and the beer belly usually come from your body having stubborn fat deposits. These stubborn fat deposits are fat cells that will not relinquish their energy without a fight. I'm sure you've noticed that even as you lose weight, the abdominal fat is usually the last place to go.

Stubborn fat cells are estrogen dominant cells and estrogen is a fat-producing hormone. You mentioned that you don't drink much alcohol, but take a close look at how much is not much. Believe it or not, beer contains hops; hops contain estrogenic compounds which help you develop that beer belly (so there is some truth to the idea of the "beer belly" and you should minimize alcohol consumption when fat loss is your goal)

To rid yourself of body of stubborn fat, you should also eat more cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Avoid drinking anything from a plastic container, avoid soy proteins, eat organic food as much as possible, increase omega 3 oils (fish) and decrease your omega 6 intake.

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