The importance of a personal trainer/personal training

Current fitness and exercise advice of today appears to be missing one vital component. On the whole, the advice and information is based on sound theory, however, with today's sedentary ways peoples' postures have changed for the worse, weakening their foundations to exercise.

Let me explain. An obvious example is an office worker, who is seated for a minimum of around 7hours, and likely subjected to kyphotic position. Kyphosis refers to the slumping forward upper body, also identified in weightlifters whose arms and hands come forwards of their body.

In the office worker, their basic shoulder posture has changed; the shoulders have rounded forwards and it is likely that the head is forward. This increases the likelihood of pain and injury around the shoulder blades and neck. If you wake up stiff in these areas, TAKE NOTE!

To get to the exercise point, someone in this situation needs to choose exercises carefully as some will exacerbate the problem. From a biomechanics perspective, the forward shoulder position is also accompanied with tight pectorals (chest muscle) and a weakness in the muscles supporting the shoulder blades. Furthermore if you breathe through the chest this will complicate things further and increase the potential of injury further due to overuse of the upper trapezius which will then contribute as the primary mover instead of the weakened muscles around the shoulder blades.

Therefore, in the gym or when exercising, an office worker MUST AVOID exercises that strengthen the pectorals (chest), deltoids (shoulders) and likely the upper trapezius (muscle connecting neck to shoulers), strengthen the muscles which oppose this (rhomboids, middle and lower trapezius, erector spinae, lattissimus dorsi - to name a few), as well as strengthen the muscles which stabilise the shoulder blades (serratus anterior, rotator cuff muscles etc.).

Hopefully the complexity of this situation is evident. This is where the role of a personal trainer is vital and essential; but how do you know the personal trainer is considering this? In response to this a new website www.diypersonaltraining.com has been created, allowing members to learn; through step-by-step guides, how to understand their posture and understand how to choose exercise based on this. This appears to be an excellent tool and everyone should consider the benefits of such a service, especially if you realise how important your health is. Also, if you want to avoid injury, pain and future problems, start taking a interest in your health, and in particular to your posture.