New fitness program helps poor posture
YMCA offers new fitness program for bone health
Most of us spend hours hunched over our desks at work. We look down at our phones while typing out a text and lean to the side to carry groceries. Over time, such posture pitfalls can have a negative impact on your health.
Carol Crooks, a wellness coach and personal trainer at the YMCA, has taken Bonefit Training through Osteoporosis Canada and will be offering a new program called OSTEOfitness at YMCA Central Park Athletics.
The program will run on Thursdays at 1 p.m., from July 27 until Aug. 31.
The program is free to YMCA members or $90.40 for non-YMCA members.
“This workshop is perfect for someone post-fracture or post-rehab,” Crooks said. “A lot of people come to a gym and they walk on a treadmill or start lifting weights, but that could put them at risk for a fracture. So this will teach them how to do it properly.”
Crooks said poor posture puts extra stress on your joints which then can drain your energy and can lead to skeletal, circulatory, digestive and respiratory system damage. Crooks knows first-hand the effect poor posture can have on your health.
She watched her mother-inlaw battle osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue, often linked to poor posture.
“She didn’t exercise, which is key,” Crooks said.
“She didn’t take calcium and as a result watched her spine compress. It was horrible to watch the pain she was in and the disfigurement. My mom has fallen and broken bones and now is scared to walk for fear of breaking something else.”
Osteoporosis is a thinning of the bones caused by factors such as age, drugs and treatments, hormones and various diseases.
Osteoporosis can affect men and women at any age, but it seems more prevalent in those older than 50. Bone density loss occurs without notice and results in fractures primarily in the spine, shoulder, wrist and hip.
“They call it the silent thief because most of us don’t know it is happening to us,” Crooks said.
“We don’t usually find out until we have a fracture and this happens to 80 per cent of people.”
Crooks says simply correcting your posture can help you take control of your bones and health.
“Proper posture when sitting is both feet flat on the floor, knees bent and in line with your hips,” she said. “Lower back is up against the chair. You want to take your shoulder blades back like they are wings and feel like you have something lifting up your breastbone at the same time. And your chin should be slightly tilted down. That’s proper posture.”
Proper posture is simple and can save you later in life, Crooks said.
For more information on this program contact the YMCA at 519-419-1267.