Posture/Balance/Gait/Feet - no, not way you freak

[Brahma]

So.

Anyone paying attention to their posture or balance or gait or foot health in a way that's worth talking about?

I've been working with a physio/PT and have progressed past the back pain to start learning to lift weights properly, only ever screwed around with dumbbells a bit.


Anyway, my balance is all kinds of shit and it's holding him back from pushing me on the weight increases even and he says it'll improve as we work our way forward but I wonder if there's anything else I can be doing.


He did catch that my gait is poor, I knew that because my cobbler commented once that I wear my shoes down unevenly when I was getting them resolved.


Went to one of those foot places in the mall and they didn't seem to have any answer other than "give us 300 quid and we'll make you a shoe insert that you'll use for the rest of your life".


I'd rather fix the issue then bandaid it, so with a bit of googling I started walking barefoot a lot more, even do a bit of cross country jogging in bare feet and it feels good at least and seems to be improving my foot strength

 

[Daddy's Angry Juice]

Ive made a lot of progress in working on my posture, its been great on my back I dont hunch any more when sitting down or walking. It was a lot of work at first because it was just an easy habit to fall into, but after the first 2 months it just became second nature, 100% worth the effort tho. Im currently working on how i jog, as i tend to just use the ball of my foot.

 

[Inebriated Ark Monk]

Start with a basic balance progression -

Narrow base->tandem base->single leg standing

Intermittently perform on different surfaces, and make sure to do some eyes closed balancing. I would start with something like 1 minute x2 each position 2x daily. I would definitely look at improving the balance first, addressing true asymmetry is a much longer-term issue. Determining if it's a true leg length discrepancy (i.e. you were born that way) vs. environmental, postural, or alignment issues being the root cause will require a PT who knows what they're doing. Only do some kind of insert if it's determined that you have a true leg length discrepancy. Have your PT check your hip alignment, spinal alignment, and the angle at your knees (valgus/varus positioning, Q angle). If they are not competent doing that get a different therapist.

 

[Bloitzhole]

I have a highly pronounced inward flex when running so my soles used to wear super unevenly after a few thousand km, but I only realized ofc when I consciously checked.
Bought a gel insert for it and it really helped, feels way better to run now. If you've never looked at the bottom of your shoes to see if they wear evenly, might be a good idea to do so soon.

 

[.iota.]

Anyway, my balance is all kinds of shit and it's holding him back from pushing me on the weight increases even and he says it'll improve as we work our way forward but I wonder if there's anything else I can be doing.

yoga. learn how to do sun salutations, then do them everyday. go to a yoga class (if only once) to learn the proper cues and form. mountain pose, specifically, will help the most. the series of poses will teach you where your imbalances and misalignments are, and practicing every day will allow you to work within your ability to correct them.

mountain pose seems simple, but it's an incredibly effective way to develop proper alignment by assessing and correcting every aspect of your posture so that you're able to feel the difference between when you're aligned and when you're not. if it would be helpful, i'll write a step-by-step guide through the pose for you.

 

[CrunkLord420]

Everything I've learned about fitness says you need to strengthen your back muscles in order to have good posture. Sedentary people with de-conditioned bodies cannot will their bodies to constantly maintain good posture because they're too weak. Good posture comes naturally with strength.

Billions must do calisthenics

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

Obligatory feet joke goes here

 

[TenMilesWide]

Everything I've learned about fitness says you need to strengthen your back muscles in order to have good posture. Sedentary people with de-conditioned bodies cannot will their bodies to constantly maintain good posture because they're too weak. Good posture comes naturally with strength.

Billions must do calisthenics

If the jewtube health guys I keep getting recommended have taught me anything, it's that the first step really can be as simple as intermittently maintaining good posture. If you can sorta pull yourself into the right shape for a little while, just do reps of that until you can do it longer.

 

[CrunkLord420]

If the jewtube health guys I keep getting recommended have taught me anything, it's that the first step really can be as simple as intermittently maintaining good posture. If you can sorta pull yourself into the right shape for a little while, just do reps of that until you can do it longer.

That's some lazy cope shit they use to pander to lazy white women. Do planks.

 

[TenMilesWide]

That's some lazy cope shit they use to pander to lazy white women. Do planks.

Planks and other isometrics were the key ingredient to this method as presented.

 

[Shig O'nella]

Got a rink near you? Skating.
No rink, just concrete? Skateboarding or rollerskating.
Afraid of faceplanting into a hard surface? Yoga, karate or dancing (OK, the last one can involve serious egoplanting)

You learn to keep your balance fast when it fucking hurts not to.

 

[Brahma]

Ive made a lot of progress in working on my posture, its been great on my back I dont hunch any more when sitting down or walking. It was a lot of work at first because it was just an easy habit to fall into, but after the first 2 months it just became second nature, 100% worth the effort tho. Im currently working on how i jog, as i tend to just use the ball of my foot.

What are you doing? Just consciously standing up straighter when you remember to or something more systematic?

Start with a basic balance progression -

Narrow base->tandem base->single leg standing

Intermittently perform on different surfaces, and make sure to do some eyes closed balancing. I would start with something like 1 minute x2 each position 2x daily. I would definitely look at improving the balance first, addressing true asymmetry is a much longer-term issue. Determining if it's a true leg length discrepancy (i.e. you were born that way) vs. environmental, postural, or alignment issues being the root cause will require a PT who knows what they're doing. Only do some kind of insert if it's determined that you have a true leg length discrepancy. Have your PT check your hip alignment, spinal alignment, and the angle at your knees (valgus/varus positioning, Q angle). If they are not competent doing that get a different therapist.

Thanks for the ideas on balance. Makes sense.

I'll talk to him about that other stuff, we did a bunch of measuring and poking and posing which might have been some of it, but we didn't discuss it really or any implications. Might be on me because initially I wasn't really interested in what why how, I just wanted my soreness gone.

I have a highly pronounced inward flex when running so my soles used to wear super unevenly after a few thousand km, but I only realized ofc when I consciously checked.
Bought a gel insert for it and it really helped, feels way better to run now. If you've never looked at the bottom of your shoes to see if they wear evenly, might be a good idea to do so soon.

That's what I mean, I'd like to figure out how to outright fix it. I did a free assessment in a foot place and they were able to point out problems, pronated, improper loading etc, but their only solution was orthotics

yoga. learn how to do sun salutations, then do them everyday. go to a yoga class (if only once) to learn the proper cues and form. mountain pose, specifically, will help the most. the series of poses will teach you where your imbalances and misalignments are, and practicing every day will allow you to work within your ability to correct them.

mountain pose seems simple, but it's an incredibly effective way to develop proper alignment by assessing and correcting every aspect of your posture so that you're able to feel the difference between when you're aligned and when you're not. if it would be helpful, i'll write a step-by-step guide through the pose for you.

Yeah I'll have to find one. I'm out in the boonies but might be worth travelling for. There is a Pilates at the local rec centre which I was considering

Planks and other isometrics were the key ingredient to this method as presented.

Any link to that method?

Got a rink near you? Skating.
No rink, just concrete? Skateboarding or rollerskating.
Afraid of faceplanting into a hard surface? Yoga, karate or dancing (OK, the last one can involve serious egoplanting)

You learn to keep your balance fast when it fucking hurts not to.

Out in the boonies so no to all of the above, might commit to travelling in to the city of a night though.


Thanks all, a mine of information!

 

[DSP for president 2032]

Pointy shoes are a holdover from when men rode horses everywhere and needed to be able to fit our feet into stirrups more easily. I agree, they look cool, but they wreak havoc on your feet. (not even going to get into the torture devices that women are often expected to wear)

I switched to wide-front clown shoes and my feet are naturally starting to look more like the "funktional foot" as my muscles and bone align more naturally while walking and running (found the image on a German website lol). Also started doing exercises where I try to 'grip' or 'squeeze' the floor to strengthen the muscles that operate the toes, followed by massaging them so they align better. Never had back pain or posture issues, but I imagine a good foundation would be very helpful for that. I did have the beginnings of hammer toes, and those can really become a painful problem. The surgeries people get for them also tend to cause more pain than they fix.

Don't know if you need to hear this, but most people run with bad form.

Striking with the heel is just punishing your knees for no benefit.

Do you run barefoot-barefoot, or with "barefoot shoes"?

 

[Daddy's Angry Juice]

I was just being very conscious about my posture, and straightening it when ever I notice slouching or generally bad posture, it was a like manually breathing at first, but like I said it became a lot easier overtime. it also helps to sit with your feet flat on the floor. Been doing that for the last 6 months or so.

 

[Gog & Magog]

Everything I've learned about fitness says you need to strengthen your back muscles in order to have good posture. Sedentary people with de-conditioned bodies cannot will their bodies to constantly maintain good posture because they're too weak. Good posture comes naturally with strength.

Billions must do calisthenics

So what you're saying is Null's got bad back posture?

 

[CrunkLord420]

So what you're saying is Null's got bad back posture?

I can only send him so many youtube shorts of half naked dudes doing muscle ups.

 

[Vecr]

Balance is important. I wouldn't suggest it if you're overweight, but sometimes I do dynamic exercises with light weights with my heels off the ground the entire time. Doing it with heavier weights would be practical, but I don't want to risk my tendons and ligaments. That's the same reason I don't recommend it for overweight people.

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

I've never had much issue with my feet other than leaning inwards on my left foot, but ever since I got my current job in which I walk 12-14k steps a day, my feet have noticeably started getting shaped, and my outside toes are.. not curling, but turning a bit onto their side. My feet are pretty decent for my age I'd like to think, so it doesn't seem weird that some proper real blue collar work type shit should finally influence them.

That said, I saw a documentary on LeBron, and while putting millions of dollars into his body and health, his feet are fucked. Like, it's as if his toes are retreating up onto the primary shape of his foot and the sole takes the blunt of the frontal pressure too.

Anyway: I've started really trying to correct my posture. I'm tall and everything in the world happens at my waist height, so it's hard to keep upright. I did however always think of my balance as "a stack of rocks" which made it hard to correct, whereas that skinny faggot who wants to reverse aging rather said "imagine a string down the base of your skull that pulls you up". Completely changed my view of it. No longer trying to stack rocks but rather just straighten up and sink down back a tiny bit, but see how vertical I could keep.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Posture Pals is the definitive word on posture.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

necro
watching billion year old congressghouls hunch over their scripts is a great way to be "scared straight"