Upper Cross Syndrome (UCS) is initially seen as a forward head posture with rounded shoulders, even while attempting to stand tall. Before you WebMD yourself crazy, let me shed some more light on this particular posture predicament.

This less than ideal head position stems from poor sitting posture, over/under-active muscles, previous injury, bad movement habits, and ultimately, results in a muscular imbalance between the front (anterior) and back (posterior) musculature of the upper body, becoming either short and tight or weak and long.

• Short and tight: Back of the neck (suboccipital), chest muscles (pectoralis minor), Rotator cuff (subscapularis), and front of the neck and chest (scalenes)
• Weak and long: Upper shoulders (trapezius/traps), mid-back between your shoulder blades (rhomboids), and upper spine rotators/stabilizers (deep cervical flexors and extensors)

Before moving on, the cervical muscles are most pertinent to correct, because they are most responsible for all of your potential head movement, both on intentionally and our of reaction. Which, by the way, your head weighs about 7 pounds so it would be in your best interest to make sure the muscles keeping it supported are up to the task!

What Does This Look Like?

The three most prominent postural symptoms of Upper Cross Syndrome are:

• Forward head posture
• Hunched back
• Forward rounded shoulders

Forward rounded shoulders (internally rotated) lead to a roundness of the upper back (kyphosis). Once the upper spine (cervical vertebrae) are exposed to prolonged tension in the wrong structural position, or out of ideal alignment, gravity packs a punch in pressing your head forward and down to follow where the rest of your spine is directed. Over time, this is what leads to a hunch back and a host of other shoulder/neck related injuries.

When your chest (pectoral) and neck (cervical) muscles become overworked and tight, it causes significant postural changes to occur because the muscles actually shorten in length; not permanently, but the longer it occurs, the more difficult it becomes to counteract. When the shoulders are rounded forward, the shoulder blades (scapulas) are pulled up and away from their ideal position.

Postural changes often cause a significant shift in the position and angle of the shoulder joint. If the joint is out of place, it cannot move properly. If the joint cannot move properly, you will lose out on potential strength, mobility, and in time it can lead to very serious injuries anywhere from your nose to your toes.

Your level of priority to assess, review, and reverse postural issues should be high. You won’t explode from UCS, but if unresolved, be ready for a host of chronic stress and overuse injuries. I won’t dive into those here because it is out of my professional scope of practice, but let that be enough of a kick in the butt to get checked by a professional.

Self Analysis: Do I Have UCS?

Find a perfectly vertical line. This can be a door frame, broomstick, piece of tape, basketball hoop pole; anything that you can stand next to and set up a camera (or have a helping hand). I personally use video, that way you can just pause and then screenshot the frames that matter (it is much easier than having to take one picture, go check how it came out, try again, etc).

Once the camera is set, take 3-5 full and deep cycles of breath to relax into a natural, resting standing posture. Don’t try and do anything fancy here, just simply stand like you would while in line at the DMV—we all have some great practice in that hell hole of a building. Luckily, I am spoiled and happen to have an align-mat handy (and decided to tape it to the wall). Your shot should appear like this:

Although my posture is not “perfect”, whatever that means, I would deem myself not having the symptoms of Upper Cross Syndrome. However, what I do see is a slight forward round in my shoulders, and a forward (anterior) tilted pelvis. Now that I can see it, I can take the necessary steps in correcting this imbalance. A picture can tell you a thousand words, but if you pay attention to the few words that matter, then you can begin to make big lifestyle changes.

Prevent UCS in Your Future

Let’s face it, your cell phone and sedentary activities are not going to disappear anytime soon. Luckily, there are many ways to strategically strengthen the muscles responsible for restoring ideal posture, as well as release tension from the others.

I recommend seeking a qualified physical/physiotherapist to properly diagnose UCS. Otherwise, a combination of specific strength, stretch, and myofascial release tools can definitely pave the way towards a more comfortable and optimal tomorrow.

The post Avoiding the Rounded Shoulder Chain of Pain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As our daily schedule filled through middle school and beyond, we exchanged what we spent our time on, and it’s only when you dust it off from the depths that you find the nostalgic feeling of childhood. So, you go ahead and pump up the tires, grease the chain, and get ready for a sore butt. Not before long, you take your first pedal out of the driveway and think to yourself, “Man, I hope I can still do this.”

Nearly without fail, you will be able to just get on the bike and go without having a mini panic attack that you are going to tip over and cut up your knee (literally, the worst feeling ever as an 8-year-old). It is as if you didn’t even need to think about how to do it, your body just seemed to remember how to move to keep your balance instantly.

If you are able to remember things like riding a bike, tying your shoes, reciting the alphabet, or snapping your fingers, why can’t you do this with other skills too?

How Do We Develop Skills?

It would be wrong of me to try and elaborate on perishable and non-perishable skills without really shedding light on how our fancy brains and bodies learn skills in the first place.

At the very root of understanding motor control and development in humans, the foundation is built upon the Conscious Competence Model. The Conscious Competence Model can be imagined as a ladder; it provides a way to measure how we move through the physical and emotional stages of learning a new skill or ability. Our consciousness (awareness) associated with our level of acquisition (competence). The four stages of this model are set out below.

1. Unconscious Incompetence

This is where the skill looks and feels like gibberish. You do not even know what you don’t know, and you aren’t even aware that you lack the necessary skills required to complete the task (bummer). When something seems impossible or totally foreign to you, the chances are this is the stage you are in as far as acquiring that skill goes. You are unconsciously incompetent in any area that you have no experience in at all (meaning, you unknowingly don’t even know what the skill requires you to do); that’s a good one for the brain to try and figure out.

In a fitness realm, that could be like attempting a single leg rotational medicine ball throw. It encompasses the skills of balance, body awareness in space, rotational coordination, and manipulating an external object all at once. If you haven’t yet reached a higher learning stage of any of the necessary qualities before attempting this, then you’re onto the next stage.

2. Conscious Incompetence

Alright, so in this stage, you have learned the premise of skill, enough where you recognize you don’t have the necessary prerequisites to execute. This can be through a sudden shock, or moment of reality, where the weak points of your armor show. This can be slightly uncomfortable both physically and mentally, but most heavily taxing on the ego. That discomfort is because you realize how little you actually knew (the transition from unconscious competence) and how much “work” it will take to progress to the next stage (being consciously aware).

This is the moment where the flight or fight can kick in, and where many “exercise dropout” decisions occur. This stage is a question of your being; are you ready to commit to the process? The process of developing skills and abilities which are not instantaneous or automatic, it will take some effort. You have begun to recognize that that vision you hold of yourself isn’t so perfect. Are you going to accept that? Or are you going to follow through with honoring the commitment to improving yourself? It could take a few weeks to advance, but it could just as easily take months or years. It is the moment to put the ego to rest and explore the possibilities to prepare yourself to grow.

3. Conscious Competence

Finally! At this point, we are finally able to learn or execute the skill more efficiently, but it does require our undivided attention and concentration to accomplish. The more complex the skill is, the longer you might hang out at this stage. Conscious Competence consistently requires persistence (jeez, say that five times fast). It is still a long way to mastery, but largely because you are constantly adjusting, shifting, or re-learning how you are doing the skill.

Have you ever seen children go through tasks like tying shoes, writing cursive, or sentence formation? That is the most focused and determined mind in the room, and they have directed maximal effort and brain power to recall information, implement, and execute each step of the way. It hasn’t become second nature to just make the loop-de-loop and pull yet, but with enough persistence, it will.

Most commonly as a coach, I see this in the form of a deadlift. In my year of professional experience, I’ve seen some lumbar spine explosions waiting to happen. You aim to just bend over and simply, pick it up. When delivering coaching cues such as “keep your spine neutral,” “drive your hips back,” “show me your shirt logo,” or “spread the floor and pack your shoulders back.” It’s as if I am speaking the most absurd language they’ve ever heard, and their facial expression says it all.

You might be able to do a great hip bridge and hold a bent over row position, but your body and mind cannot yet connect the dots to cohesively execute a loaded hip hinge (i.e. deadlift, KB swing, tire flip). Once the re-learning process begins, you will be focused on each aspect of the movement while trying to maintain the best alignment and body tension possible while still remaining fluid and relaxed.

4. Unconscious Competence

This is the apex. You have successfully become so proficient at a skill that you are naturally competent and the movement is almost second nature. The ability to continue to improve is totally still in effect, but you will continuously use much less mental power and effort in order to achieve the outcome.

Quantity does not always overrule quality, and the contrary as well. So by now, it doesn’t require as much mental focus to comprehend and go through that deadlift. But that doesn’t mean your brain can head out to lunch while you aim to attempt a near maximal load deadlift. If you’ve ever asked an airplane pilot, they will run through their same checklist before every single flight, regardless if it is their first time in the cockpit or their 1000th. Even if it feels automatic or, so simple to remember, how could you ever forget it? Why provide an opportunity for a weak point in your armor to be exposed?

So for that super simple deadlift, rather than just hoping the body can do everything it is supposed to, run through your body-scan checklist—chin tucked, shoulders packed, elbows long, grip strong, rib cage down, hips loaded back, feet spreading the floor and rooted, glutes ready to drive forward, exhale and engage my core, lift, then smile at the end.

Increase Your Capacity to Become Better

Just like climbing a real ladder, you can get stuck on one rung at times and it can be scary or frustrating. Most commonly, we can fit ourselves into all of these categories, depending on the task at hand. The conscious stages can be a bit tougher and uncomfortable, and that is where a large majority of our actions are. But it is important to not let difficulty overrule the potential to become great or reap the benefits of completing it. It is important to be honest and real with yourself about your experience and proficiency.

Ask for help when needed, take a step back and assess your dilemma, and don’t let your ego control your actions or attitudes. And as I always say in the face of adversity, “To see true lifestyle changes, the secret is to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.” The hardest behaviors to break are the ones that limit the true potential to personal fulfillment” (a quote from the coaches bio page at Orca Empire Fitness).

Whether you are a fitness newbie, experienced junkie, or somewhere in between, there is always the opportunity to increase your capacity to learn, perform, and enjoy the process of becoming a better human every day.

You might also like:

• Practice Consistency as a Skill
• The Five Levels Of Skill Development
• The Psychology Of Skill Development
• CrossFit Skills Don’t Just Happen: Make A Plan

The post Learn a New Skill or Re-Learn What you Think you Know appeared first on Breaking Muscle.