[INTEGRATE]

[FONT=&quot]1) Posture and Performance[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]I. Typical Postural Distortions Seen at [/FONT][FONT=&quot]INTEGRATE Performance Fitness[/FONT][FONT=&quot]:[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

- Forward rounded shoulders + head
- Increased lumbar spine curvature
- Tight Muscles: psoas/quads, hamstrings/calves¸glutes/ IT Band
- Weak Muscles: Glutes/ hip stabilizers, lower abdomen,
- Dysfunctional movements: poor balance, poor rotation, decrease hip extension
- Joint Pain: low back, knee, neck

II. Origin of Low Back Pain (LBP): Tight and Weak Muscles
- Lower back region bears most of the weight of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]your body[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Lower back pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint
- The most common reasons for medical evaluation
- Approximately 80% of the adult population will suffer from pain related to the lower back during their lifetime[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
III. LBP most often occurs from: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Strained back muscles and ligaments
- Improper or heavy lifting
- Sudden awkward movements
- Sometimes a muscle spasm can also cause back pain
- Often, there's an accumulation of the stress with one particular event unleashing the pain
- Sitting at desk all day leading to shortened psoas causing:
- Joint Pain: LBP, knee, neck, shortened hams/glutes/quads
- Headaches behind eyes
- Pain at base of neck
- Shoulder impingements
- Sit all day, don’t sit to exercise
- Repetitive stress uni-planar motions: running, riding a bike and swimming
- Muscle imbalances caused by weak: glutes, lower abdomen[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]IV. Poor static posture:[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]
- Forward rounded shoulders
- Slumped over position
- Protruding neck
- “Swayback”

V. The primary causes for decreased bodily performance/joint pain are Muscle Imbalances (MI)
MI’s are typical of poor posture: forward rounded shoulders, headaches behind eyes, tender neck base, diminished lung capacity, joint pain, chronic injuries just to name a few.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
VI. Your nervous system learning how to control your body correctly is the key to movement success.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Your nervous system initiates and controls all human movement. The more faulty your posture is, the more commands your brain has to give for you to move. Balanced muscles enable a direct line of communication from the nervous system to your muscles.[/FONT]




2) Go Shorter to go Longer
(Low and Slow: The Fastrack to Muscle Imbalances http://integratefitness411.blogspot.com/2011/12/low-and-slow-fast-track-to-muscle.html)
Joe Friel, cycling coaching guru, says "A steady diet of slow moderate riding will not improve peak performance. You must ride at intensities high enough to improve the three most critical markers to performance improvement: aerobic threshold, lactate threshold and velocity at VO2 max (Friel, "The Mountain Biker's Training Bible", 2000)."


·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]You can actually accomplish more with less time in the saddle!
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]You don’t need to ride 100 miles be able to finish a century
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]You will build a better engine with shorter bouts of high intensity hill repeats and intervals
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Steady state riding may encourage fat gain
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]The reason is because you will blow your EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) through the roof, and this is what you want. This is by far the most effective way to lose fat and get lean.


In their article "Resistance Training and EPOC," Jeff Reynolds and Len Kravitz PhD state that:
"Research suggests that high-intensity resistance exercise disturbs the body’s homeostasis to a greater degree than aerobic exercise. The result is a larger energy requirement after exercise to restore the body’s systems to normal (Burleson et al. 1998), and thus an explanation for the higher EPOC. The underlying mechanisms that cause the higher EPOC observed in resistance exercise include elevated blood lactate, and an increase in circulating catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and anabolic hormones."


Loosely translated, when you tax the muscles with resistance training at a high energy output/intensity, when you are done training, you will utilize more energy to bring your body back to a normal state than you do with aerobic training. This is why metabolic circuit training is so effective.

3) Functional Training ​

(Functional Training for Cyclists: http://integratefitness411.blogspot.com/2012/01/ride-longer-and-pedal-stronger-with.html)​

• Critical
• Prevents muscle imbalances
• Keeps glutes active
• Flattens out hillsLlast longer
• Fatigue slower
• Burns more calories

Best Exercises​

Bridges​

Planks​

Single leg squats​

Lunges​

Cobra holds​

Turkish Get Up​

​

Worst​

Yoga​

Pilates​

Bosu exericses​

Seated machine work​

4) Breathing
If you aren’t breathing correctly, it is costing you on the bike:
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Oxygen
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Increased pH levels from shallow/increased rate of breathing
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Anxiety breathing stressing the system keeping you in a state of “threat”
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Headaches
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fatigue faster
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]These poor patterns can also have biomechanical implications as well.

Potential Postural Distortions From Poor Breathing
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Poor thoracic spine movement
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Increased forward head posture as accessory breathing muscles (SCM, scalanes, Upper traps) take over
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Altered shoulder function and scapular position/mechanics
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Increased tone of the low back muscles
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Decreased pelvic floor strength leading to potential instability at the lumbar spine.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Increased tension in the lower back
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Pronounced “sway back” leading to decreased room for the diaphragm to move downward during proper breathing
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]This will also tighten up the hip flexors and weaken/inhibit the glutes.

 

[rola643]

Looks like a good outline. I am one of those who suffers from LBP and have learned to deal with it.

 

[INTEGRATE]

What makes it worse/better?

 

[rola643]

Say for example if I do a ride that is either hilly or in the wind my Lowe back is killing me when have to work very very hard. Standing all day climbing in and out of my bucbket truck is another one or standing long periods working in the bucket. If I do hyper extensions when it gets really tight seems to help the most.

Riding road or MTB as a general rule is not uncomfortable only on very strenuous rides.

 

[Gandalfe]

At a young 56 years of age, stretches help me the most. Working at a desk, not so much.

 

[INTEGRATE]

Check out "The New Rules of Lifting for the Abs" by Lou Shuler and Alwyn Cosgrove. Might help.

 

[Footoflead07]

You mentioned shallow breathing, any suggestions to make sure you are breathing correctly? Any method to control your breath?

 

[INTEGRATE]

The best way is voice lessons in all honesty, but not realistic for most people. Talk to someone who sings, and ask them
For help.

There are a whole slew of breathing meditations in iTunes that are helpful. "Working Out, Working Within: The Tao of Inner Fitness" is a great read with really effective breathing exercises.


I'm writing an article on that today, I will post when I finish it up.

 

[Footoflead07]

Just read your article on breathing, interesting I'm actually a Band Director in Texas do breathing is like the number step to sounding good haha (air makes our sound!). So I know how to breath correctly was just curious if you had a method to make sure your not just huffing and puffing uselessly.

I guess I mean if you suggested trying to breath in a rhythm with your cadence or something of the sort. To keep from winding yourself