The humble wall angel is  just one of the exercises that are designed to strengthen muscles that may be weakened by bad posture, especially if you work in an office and spend 8 hours a day sat at a desk.

The wall angel should be performed slowly, and gradually progressed. If it feels painful or uncomfortable, consult a physiotherapist or personal trainer before continuing.

How to do wall angels

• Stand against a wall with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Gently press your lower back against the wall.
• Keep the back of you elbows, forearms, and wrists against wall.
• Bring your arms up and down slowly in a small arc of motion while ensuring your elbows are always in contact with wall.
• Repeat this exercise 10 times.

Tags: Corrective Exercise, personal training
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Sports Scientists at Manchester Metropoiltan University claim to have discovered why women who often wear high heels can sometimes find it painful to wear flat shoes.

Scans of the calf muscles in a group of frequent heel wearers found muscle fibres were, on average, 13% shorter than in those who tended not to wear high heels at all.

The study which was undertaken for the Journal of Experimental Biology also discovered that high heels led to stiffer tendons in the calf.   To fight this researchers have suggested that wearers of high heel should also spend some time wearing flat shoes and stretch the calf muscles regularly

Professor M Narici, who led the study, said in the 1950′s office workers who wore high heels often complained that they found it painful to walk flat footed when they took their high heeled shoes off.

But until now no one has looked at what is actually happening in the muscle itself.

From a group of eighty females, the team took eleven volunteers who had regularly worn 2 inch heels for four years or more and who felt uncomfortable running in flat footed trainers.

MRI scan’s showed that there was no difference in the actual size of the calf muscles in the heel wearers compared with a group of females who wore flat shoes.

However an ultrasound scan revealed that the muscle fibres were indeed shorter in the females who wore heels.

 When the subjects were asked to lay on their front on an exercise mat, the scientists noticed that the angle of the heel in the high heel wearers was greater due to their shorter calf.

In the final part of the study, they found that the high-heel wearers’ tendons were also much thicker and stiffer than in those who just wore to flat shoes.

This causes discomfort when jogging on flat feet because the tendon cannot stretch enough, Professor Narici stated.

But do you need to give up your high heels altogether?

This study seems to back up what we have already know and our advice here at North West Personal Training Manchester is not to wear heels or flat shoes on a regular basis but to wear a variety of different heel heights to get the calf muscles working through the greatest range of movement. Stretching your calf muscles and achilles tendon after your workouts will also do wonder.

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Corrective Exercise is an innovative technique to influence muscle imbalances and posture in a positive manner by performing specific exercises. Here at North West Personal Training we feel it is important that any muscle imbalances are adressed and a corrective strategy is devised for each client on an individual basis. This would generally involve an assesment of a clients static and dynamic posture which enables us to select exercises specifically focused on any problem ares identified.

This is an area that is often overlooked by other personal trainers. If muscle imbalances are not addressed the body is forced into a compensatory position and this can increase the stress placed on the muscle which will eventually lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue, irritation and injury.

Example:

If your job involves sitting at a desk for most of the day then you may develop habitual posture due to long hours slumped in a chair over a desk. This can also be caused by poor training techniques such as overtraining the chest and the “mirror muscles” on the front of the body. The effect of this is that the chest and lat muscles shorten and shoulder is drawn forward causing a rounding of the shoulders, known as thoracic kyphosis, which can eventually lead to a hunchback. When this happens our body reacts to compensate this by forcing the head carriage forward and increasing the curve in the lower spine (lumbar lordosis), which can lead to lower back pain. A corrective exercise programme for this would involve stretching the tight muscles such as the chest and strengthening the muscles that have become weak such as the rhomboids allowing the body to maintain correct posture.

When you book your initial free personal training session here at North West Personal Training we will perform a full postural assesment and make recommendations to you based on this.

Tags: Corrective Exercise, posture
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