From the desk of Ana Nieto:
Not too long ago I struck up a conversation with one of my clients who expressed disappointment with her posture. I shared with her the problems I used to suffer in the past from scoliosis including back pain, misalignment, and a horrible state of self consciousness. I felt like a hump backed caveman.

But it was only after a few months of high intensity strength training that my pain disappeared forever. Soon after I noticed my chiropractor was a bit shocked to discover how the muscles on the right and left side of my body were almost equally balanced given my previous diagnosis. I had evolved back to a modern-day homo sapien.

I had also encountered a profound epiphany – if high intensity training works for me, then it’s probably working wonders for the rest of my clients too.

Not only should exercise feel good in the short term, but it should help reduce, and very often even eliminate pain for a long time. I frequently get clients who report experiencing terrible neck, shoulder or low back pains, which prompts me to ask the following questions:

• How do you sit at your work desk? Is the chair high enough? Do you feel that the position of your body is correct? Do you catch yourself hunching over your computer like a caveman?
• How comfortably do you sleep? Is the mattress surface soft or firm? Switching to a more firm mattress can greatly help reduce pain.

Next week I’ll be traveling to Spain and my mind’s already preparing a “comfort strategy” for my flight. Sitting inside a plane for 7 hours can really take a toll on anyone’s neck and back muscles, especially for those people who are not in optimal physical fitness. Paying attention to your posture in this setting is the key to walking out of a long flight pain free.

It’s important to recognize that fitness training doesn’t stop at the gym, but should be a continual process throughout your daily life. Form is everything, all the time. It doesn’t matter if you are at work, taking a walk, jogging, sitting, brushing your teeth, or taking out the trash…our body suffers with every bit of “misalignment” we put it through.

Evolution is an ongoing process that needs attention to keep it on the path to progress. Stay fit, stay in form, and say goodbye to that nagging caveman.