The position of your leg while sitting or standing determines the alignment of the body and how the whole structure is held. Leg day is every day.
The Do's and Don'ts
Femurs are key in structural balance and how we place them regularly will determine the alignment in which we maintain our pelvis. Femur alignment corrects two things: mobility and stability of the hip, legs, and feet. Misalignment limits range of motion and muscle activation that can cause hip tightness, knee discomfort, low back stiffness, foot arch collapse, and discomfort... yeah, those are a lot of body parts you're risking! but I'll cover as much as possible in this blog post.
So, let's break this down properly.
In this blog, I will review:
Anatomy of the pelvis and lower limbs.
Posture correction and Posture's and Don'ts in and out of workouts.
Corrective hip exercise lateral leg lift for lateral glute activation and hip stabilization.
By the end of this blog, you will know what to avoid and how to correct hip alignment.
A Simple Visualization:
"The use of the terms "toe in and toe out" describes whether the front edges of the tires are closer together or further apart than the 'straight-ahead' direction. Or, put simply, imagine you are standing up straight with your feet about 10cm apart. Moving your toes outwards (away from each other) by a couple of cms each is 'toe out'. If you constantly walked along like this, you would wear the inside edges of your shoes more than the outside. Likewise, 'toe-in' will have the opposite effect.
You have to maintain the femur aligned to drive the hip correctly. Just like a car's alignment.
your workouts will be worthless if you're steering more to one side than the other."
Source:
It's an all-day everyday thing...
Now let's be clear leg day is every day and it integrates into your daily routine a lot more than you think. How many hours a day do we sit or stand or how many times a day do you think you bend over to pick things up off the floor? This is kind of like a squat or a deadlift... so in some type of way, we are always using our legs!
I won't get into squats, bending, and picking things up off the floor in this blog. This blog is about avoiding the posture positions that cause misalignment and how to correct the body posture. Biomechanics are much smoother when the body parts are aligned.
Understanding anatomy and body posture positioning.
The femurs when placed correctly, help keep the hip balanced and the whole-body structure stable. As we move and go through our daily living activities our muscles are able to build and fire in a more synchronized way, this minimizes imbalances in the body which in turn can cause tightness tension, discomfort, and sometimes injury.
We should also take into consideration fascia and how the hip complex and lower limbs can generate huge fascia line dysfunction.
What is fascia?
Fascia is a type of connective tissue that wraps around all your muscles and other body parts. It separates the muscles so they can work independently of each other and provides a lubricated surface so that the muscles can move smoothly against each other.
The Posture Tips
How to stand correctly and what to avoid...
How you stand is how you hold your base, and this will determine the balance and strength of your whole body structure.
Avoid crossing your legs when sitting...
Important to correct these body posture positions to avoid compression in the hip and lower back.
The Correction
Difficult yet simple corrective exercise...
Try this exercise 3 sets of 10-15 reps on each side, 3-4x a week. Don't rush through the leg lifts!
Workout Correction
Wrapping it up
Why do you want to practice correction...
Reduce low back, hip, knee, leg, and foot tightness, tension, and discomfort due to misalignment.
Improve muscle tone through natural movement and biomechanics.
Balanced and symmetrical look to body aesthetics.
Minimize injury by maintaining a balanced hip and structure.
Improve all styles of training or performance through alignment correction.
Avoid functional scoliosis.
Improve walking, running, and lifting mechanics.
Improve shape, structure, and strength of feet by avoiding collapse of arches due to leg misalignment.
Tips:
Be aware and consistent with the leg alignment correction.
Practice as you do daily chores around the house such as dishes and brushing teeth.
Avoid leg crossing at all costs.
Practice leg alignment while driving.
Stand with your feet straight as you work out your upper body or any exercise that requires you to hinge.
With attention and awareness, posture can be addressed right away! You can start now with sitting or standing.
Addressing your form and posture IS a workout and it takes effort but it's the best exercise you can do.
Till next time with better form and posture we will meet again!
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