You Muscle Creep!

Before you go throwing profanities back at me in response to that title, let me explain. There is a phenomenon in the body known as muscle creep. It is the adaptation of a muscle to prolonged changes in muscle length. In other words, your muscles are like putty and if it is put into a position for a long time it becomes comfortable in that position. Have you ever woken up after sleeping on your side all night with a knot or tightness in the muscle right on the inside of your shoulder blade? That is because it was in a extremely shortened state all night and adapted to that position. So when you woke up, it's "resting" length was slightly shorter than when you went to bed. Now, in a standing position it is being stretched, therefore it often cramps up or feels strained.

Peoples jobs are often the cause of these muscular imbalances. For instance, sitting in a chair all day long, the hip flexors are in a shortened state and will actually "creep" to that length. The upper back is usually in a slouched position with rounded shoulders, therefore the trapezius muscles become lengthened and pectoral muscles become tight. Also, the low back muscles become lengthened and the hamstrings become tight. With prolonged posture issues such as these, the body can become misaligned because of muscle impairments. Joint issues will most surely arise due to load bearing issues from the neck, down the spine and trailing into the knee and ankle.

These muscle imbalances are developed over prolonged periods and cannot be corrected with an hour in the gym or even in the physical therapists clinic. They must also be corrected over a prolonged period of time, just as they were developed. Posting reminders to sit up straight at your desk at work, or taking frequent “healthy posture” walks around the office along with a good muscular strength and flexibility routine can do wonders for the posture.