The human body has many critically important functions we use in our everyday lives that are commonly overlooked. We use our necks to turn our heads from side to side and look up and down. Our arms perform complex movements to grab, hold, pull and push objects. Let’s not forget those other bones beneath our hips we use for one of the most essential movements: our legs so we can walk.
Unfortunately, minor injuries to our body shunt these unique capabilities. Random injuries affect simple everyday movements caused by a deconditioned core.
Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.
Imagine how your body would exist if we temporarily shut down the use of our arms and legs. How would we move? Your head could still move up and down and side to side. Our torso could still sit up, rotate the spine and hips, and extend the spine.
Now, imagine your arms and legs had perfect functioning capacity, but you couldn’t sit up, extend your spine, or rotate your back. Life would be kind of rough. Looking over your shoulder to back out of a parking spot would be a struggle. Returning to an upright standing posture after a meal at the dinner table would pose a challenge.
People are also reading…
These issues illuminate the importance of having a strong, durable and unhindered collection of muscles, tendons and ligaments in the body’s core region. Our “core” is a collection of joints and muscles in the neck, upper back, lower back and hips. Granted, overall full body strength is critical to longevity and wellness. However, a significant amount of strength originates from the inner stabilizing features of the core.
A helpful tactic for our personal training clients is to bring awareness to core muscular facilitation of the neck, shoulder blades, abdominal, and hips to ensure the body sits, stands, and walks optimally upright.
Take a moment to visualize our bodies from a side profile. Note three key reference points: the ears, armpit, and hips. Making efforts to line the ears up over the armpits ensure the head is not hunching forward. Stacking the armpits over the hips presents the classic “hunch back of Notre Dame” rounded thoracic spine. Ensuring to stabilize the hips under the armpits prevents slouching in chairs while driving, sitting down at lunch, or performing desk work. These simple cues significantly aid in activating core musculature and contribute to injury prevention to the neck, shoulder blade region, and lower back.
Here are some helpful cues to typical activities we perform in our everyday lives that can bring awareness to utilizing our core muscles.
1. Looking at the phone: When texting, surfing the web, or interacting with your favorite social media platform, use your hand to bring the phone to face height. This prevents the head from tilting forward and causing an excessive outward bow in the thoracic spine between the shoulder blades. Additionally, ensure to line the ears up over the armpits. Positioning the ears over the armpits engages the muscles surrounding the neck to line the cervical spine correctly over the body.
2. Typing an email at your desk: Having the hands extended out and looking at a monitor for hours influences forward slouching of the upper back. This slouching creates rounding in the thoracic spine and collapse of the rib cage. To prevent this, use the cue “keep your armpits over the hips.” As I stroke the keys on my keyboard, producing this award-winning article, I am practicing this tactic to ensure my back doesn’t round. Unfortunately, my shoulder blades and lower back yell at me when I forget to do this while typing emails, reports and exercise prescriptions. Therefore, I must remind myself to keep my armpits over my hips at the desk.
3. Having a beer or glass of wine with your pals: Chairs at restaurants, bars, or in a friend’s patio chair at a picnic usually have smooth surfaces. This causes the buttocks to slide forward, resulting in the hips sliding in front of the body in a structurally weak position. This “sitting butt slide” can lead to impingement of the lumbar vertebrae leading to public enemy number one in the lower back world, sciatica. Keeping the hips underneath the armpits fends off nagging lower back pain, such as sciatica, after prolonged bouts of sitting.
These cues help to prevent debilitating afflictions on our bodies. Practicing these movements trigger muscles responsible for engaging the core. Regular attendance to a local gym, yoga class or recreational physical activity plays a prominent role in fitness; however devoting awareness toward simple tactics can strengthen our core without doing a sit-up or plank. Activating the core throughout the day and preventing common injuries is a key ingredient to help our everyday functionality.
Activating the core throughout the day and preventing common injuries is a key ingredient to help our everyday functionality.
Is it better to dwell on pains and problems or look ahead to “the next logical step” to achieving health and joy?
Just five minutes of inclined walking once a week can improve muscular strength, decrease joint pain, and add another fun and engaging adventure to a weekly walking routine.
Sean McCawley shares exercises to strengthen balance and help avoid dangerous falls.
Even fitness gurus like Sean McCawley get the urge to indulge in less-than-healthy treats. Here is what he does.
A visit to Washington D.C., reveals a city full of stairs.
Everyone gets sick but if we include regular exercise and recreational physical activity into our lives, we don’t have to be sick for very long. That’s why it pays off to be healthy.
Missing a week of exercise at your local gym is not the end of the world. Having the “slow drip” dose of simple and effective exercises every day promotes substantial results too.
Before you embark on an trip, it’s a good idea to prepare yout body a few months in advance to manage the stresses of travel.
Isometric exercises may be an alternative for people pressed to find the time to get to the gym.
What happens when you miss your workouts for a week? It’s not all bad news.
When tech blunts physical activity, we can still avoid underuse injuries through efficient and effective forms of exercise, columnist Sean McCawley writes.
Napa fitness expert Sean McCawley discusses the importance of keeping your knees strong and healthy.
Preparation is a tool for success. To mitigate the unhealthy effects of eating out too much, we can look at the menus of our favorite restaurants ahead of time to make healthy decisions for our nutritional success.
Weight loss and weight gain are constant balancing acts. Where can we start on a path to productively managing our weight?
Finding a way to squeak in an extra healthy habit significantly impacts our everyday health and happiness.
A fall can cause something as minor as a scraped knee or as catastrophic as a broken bone. One way to minimize injury is to have strong fingers and hands.
Maintaining a healthy body while occasionally indulging in less-than-healthy meals and snacks comes down to a question of balance.
Discomfort is an understatement for severe cases of sciatica, but identifying its common causes is an effective first step toward a plan of action to prevent it.
Fitness expert Sean McCawley introduces the lumbopelvic hip complex and explains why we might want to learn what exactly it is.
It’s not breaking news that staying active keeps us healthy but it’s important to strive for a balanced fitness routine that will keep you going and avoid injuries.
Sitting isn’t bad for you; sitting for too long without moving is. Napa fitness expert Sean McCawley offers exercises to do to counteract stiffness and stress from inactivity.
If losing extra fat and keeping it off is your goal, it’s important to understand that first you have to establish a foundation of eating healthy and adhering to exercise for at least three months.
SAID means “Specific Adaptation to an Imposed Demand” and this includes long hours sitting in an airplane or car. What can you do to help your body out after you get off the plane or out of your car?
Fitness trainer Sean McCawley experienced challenges to his healthy Napa lifestyle on his 10-day trip to Portugal.
Finding time to exercise is challenging but if you can find time to perform one or two exercises first thing in the morning, this can can accomplish simple and effective exercises.
On the run up to a championship match, the foods you choose will make a difference.
What’s for dinner? Before you turn to Door Dash, fitness pro Sean McCawley has a suggestion.
When striving to meet fitness goals, try keeping in mind a growing a plant — both a plant and your body thrive in a nurturing, supportive environment.
Exercising first thing in the morning may sound like a challenge, but the benefits far outweigh the pain of getting out of bed a few minutes earlier.
Rise and shine — or rest in bed? Sean McCawley provides reasons for getting yourself up in the morning.
We don’t realize how vital lower back health is until an accidental injury debilitates us, but exercises can help avoid this calamity.
A long-plane ride, turning your head the wrong way, even sleeping in an odd position, can tweak your back just enough to derail physical activities. The first step in avoiding these injuries, is learning the anatomy of your spine.
We can fall into an unhealthy rut of spending too much time on our phones. Take some time for yourself by stepping away from your cell phone to experience the gifts the world offers us that are right in front of us.
If you can’t make it to the gym six times a week, you can still achieve optimal fitness by choosing compound exercises.
A few popular questions fitness trainer Sean McCawley is asked are: “How many calories should I consume?”, “Are carbs bad?”, “Should I be paleo?” and “What type of protein supplement should I take?”
Staying hydrated is important to overall health, longevity and functionality, writes fitness coach Sean McCawley. So how do you drink enough water each day? He has a plan for you.
If stepping into a gym is as intimidating to you as a walk in Jurassic Park, Sean McCawley has idea to help you overcome your anxiety and give yourself a gift of exercise.
An exercise program of resistance training can significantly increase your body’s ability to build strength in your bones.
From construction worker to desk worker, we all have muscles we don’t use in a typical day. Your can supercharge your fitness by adding exercises that target these areas of the body.
If you struggle adhering to an exercise program, pick out a few keywords of how exercise makes you feel like what you’re doing has value.
Fitness expert Sean McCawley explores why and how to do pushups.
She wanted to lose 10 pounds before a vacation on the beaches of Portugal. Fitness trainer Sean McCawley helped her come up with a plan.
Our spine is akin to a highway in the human body. By engaging in physical activity that keeps the spinal muscles active, we perform proper maintenance on our main freeway of nerves, just as of Cal Trans workers cares for these roads.
Our willpower and perseverance to make a trek to a local gym, take a yoga class or participate in outdoor physical activity are equally, if not more powerful, than any medicine that keeps us away from the doctor’s office.
Crunchy, salty, and sweet treats can provide comfort, joy and salvation from challenging times. We can’t just extract them from our lives on short notice but here are tips to still enjoy them with moderation, accountability and control.
One of the easiest ways to improve your health in 2022 is to be sure you are drinking enough water.
A plan to enjoy 2022 and reach our goals begins with Two great places to start building a good foundation of ensuring we reach our goals in 2022 is to eat the right foods and adhere to a exercise routine.
Napa Valley fitness guru Sean McCawley has suggestions for what to do when your lifestyle has you wound up tight as a violin string.
Finals week — or any week during college — may not be the prime time for thinking about healthy food choices, but Sean McCawley offers some easy-to- make alternatives to one more bowl of instant ramen.
Nutritional advice today can be confusing and often contradictory.
Napa fitness guru Sean McCawley outlines how to use your gardening tasks for a fitness routine worthy of a gym-workout.
Stress has a profound effects on our well-being, but exercising even once or twice a week can also have a profound impact on stress.
Carbohydrates, proteins, and fat are the big three that are predominantly focused on the back of nutrition labels when counting calories.
If you see a rogue candy wrapper left over from trick-or-treaters, bend over and pick it up. Practicing mindfulness of picking up objects from the ground helps mitigate the debilitating effects of back pain while bending over as we progress through life.
We spend so much of our time sitting, including driving to work to get ready to sit some more. Napa fitness coach Sean McCawley suggests exercises you can do in your car to counteract the toll that prolonged sitting takes on the body.
Napa Valley fitness pro Sean McCawley shares thoughts about the importance of continuing to get down and dirty — or at least being sure to include a few bends every day — as we age.
It’s a hassle to regain the strength of our hands if unmaintained over time. Sean McCawley has suggestions to keep yours strong.
Constraints of hours in our demanding schedule is an eternal balancing act. Don’t the let the idea of “I don’t have enough time” hold you back from much needed exercise.
If we don’t have a physically active profession and spend 40-plus hours a week at a desk, we have to find new ways to stay as physically fit as our hard-working ancestors. Becoming a recreational athlete is one of them.
Focusing on the well-being of your hip flexor muscles is a great solution to alleviate common lower back symptoms in which our society struggles with on a daily basis.
You never know how much you use your scapula — aka, your shoulder blade — until it isn’t working well.
Having a goal to work towards can give a boost to striving for health and fitness goals. Sean McCawley shares one success stor.
Do you feel you just don’t have time to exercise? Napa fitness guru Sean McCawley has suggestions for getting around this obstacle to fitness.
If your routines help you feel better throughout your day, keep them going. Sure, scientific data is always going to benefit us but it’s the traditions we practice that make us feel good that scientific data doesn’t necessarily support.
A personal training client showed up sporting new clothes, hairdo, new sunglasses — and a new confidence. What was his secret? A few lifestyle changes.
Fitness guru Sean McCawley urges people to turn off the electronics and enjoy conversations dinner with their families.
Balance can be defined as the ability to correct imbalances. Sean McCawley has an exercise to help this.
Not many of us have the skill and talent of the champion Olympic gymnast Simone Bile, but there are ways to improve our balance.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to walk at snail speed because of nagging knee pain, but one way to keep your knees healthy is to make sure you do hip-strengthening activities.
We can’t thrive in life when being held up by painful symptoms such as sciatica. Pick exercises that are simple, effective, and easy to replicate on weekly basis to help us live pain free, happy, and strong lives.
What causes the debilitating condition sciatica and can a good exercise routine help mitigate it?
All kinds of emotions can hinder fitness plans. Sean McCawley has ideas for moving ahead to accomplish even the biggest “hairy audacious goals.”
Getting ready to travel again? Make sure to plan ahead for trips with a balanced exercise prescription to ensure your body is strong and injury-free to enjoy these life-changing experiences.
The challenges of pregnancy are many, but understanding that the body can still benefit from a structured fitness routine throughout pregnancy helps the body ride through the mental, physical and emotional undertow.
Weight management is challenging. As we age, our metabolism decreases. However, the advancement of our age and the slowing of our metabolism is usually not the primary culprit when it comes to gaining excess weight.
Ball-and-socket, hinge and saddle — these are just a few names of the joints responsible for the elaborate movements of our bodies. They are masterfully engineered, however, they are at risk if they are left unattended.
‘Blue Therapy’ is the new way of practicing mindfulness while being in the middle of the sea enjoying nature.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, [email protected], or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
Build your health & fitness knowledge
Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week!
