Recently, I have received several questions regarding pain and posture. I think that addressing this topic could benefit many people. In the first of this two-part article, I will discuss the most common lower body postural problem, or the lower crossed syndrome. With the next installment, I will cover the most commonly seen upper body postural problem.
Vladamir Janda, M.D., a leader in the field of manual medicine, first discussed the lower crossed syndrome. This condition describes a pattern of tight muscles and weak muscles. Due to the improper length of these muscles (the tight ones being short, and the weak ones being long), we develop postural imbalances, and eventually, pain. Let’s face it…most of us tend to sit at a desk, usually typing at a computer. Hour after hour, day after day, this poor posture leads to joint and muscular imbalances. People who suffer from these postural problems frequently complain of a tight low back and/or hip pain. If left unchecked, the imbalances can continue to create a chronic pain condition that becomes more difficult to correct. However, if we can detect the problem early and make appropriate corrections to the musculature, it is possible to negate the effects of the bad posture. Now we’ll take a look at the reason why the muscle pattern is called a “crossed” syndrome, and we’ll discuss how to help correct it.
The reason why the syndrome is called a cross syndrome is because it resembles the two lines that make up the cross of the letter “X”. What does this mean? Basically, it means that the four ends of the letter “X” represent a specific muscle group (you can refer to the diagram to the right to help with your visualization). The muscle groups represented by the two ends of each line, one line being “/”, and the other line “\”, go together. As you can see, the two muscle groups cross one another. The combination of these two muscle patterns make up the lower crossed syndrome. Okay, let’s begin to break down this muscle imbalance.
First, we’ll consider the top right corner of the “X” to be the stomach muscles, and the bottom left corner of the “X” to be the gluteal (or butt) muscles. These two muscle groups are paired together and make up the “/”. In this improper postural pattern, these two groups of muscles become weak. Now, imagine the upper left corner of the “X” to be the low back muscles, running up and down your spine, and the lower right corner of the “X” to be the muscles that flex your thigh up to your chest. These two muscle groups are paired together and form the “\”. These muscles tend to become very tight and shortened.
So, what does all of this mean? Simply put, because we spend so much time sitting, we tend to develop tight low back muscles and tight hip flexor muscles. The tight muscles lead to weakened stomach muscles and weakened butt muscles. This results because the tight muscles literally “shut off” the opposing stomach and butt muscles &the muscles don’t work when we are sitting. They therefore become weak. Well, now that we’ve established this improper postural pattern, what can you do about it.
First, you must make sure the joints in the low back and pelvic area are healthy and working properly. Next, you want to stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the weak muscles. There are many books that describe great ways to stretch tight muscles. In this case, you would want to stretch your hip flexor muscles and low back muscles. More importantly, however, is strengthening the stomach muscles and gluteal muscles. The reason that strengthening is more important is because when you stretch a tight muscle, it only stays stretched until you go back to the improper posture again. But, if you strengthen a weak muscle, it will work all the time to help reduce the negative effect of the tight muscles … in effect, shutting them off or relaxing them.
I hope this article has helped you understand a very common postural problem and has given you enough information to begin working to correct the imbalanced muscles that are involved. If you have any questions regarding this or any other topic, feel free to contact me. I wish you best of luck with your exercises. Remember, if you work hard to maintain a healthy posture now, it just might keep you healthy in the future!
