Fitness Tip #6: Nautilus machines are useful for injuries and some bodybuilding and very little else. If you don’t have a recent limiting injury (and even sometimes if you do, depending on what it is) and you aren’t trying to inflate yourself like Mr. StayPuft, you shouldn’t be using isolation machines. By locking your body into place to isolate one muscle group, you totally lose the workout for your proprioceptive and stabilizing musculature – ie. the things you need in every day life and in sports! Get off the machines and pick up a weight (or yourself)!
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Corrective Exercises
Corrective exercises serve to counteract the bad habits we fall into with regards to posture and movement. They can relax tight muscles and reactivate lazy ones. They help resolve chronic injuries and prevent new ones by realigning our spine and keeping joints moving efficiently.
One simple corrective exercise that can be performed anywhere easily is a chin tuck. It involves pretending your head is on a platter and sliding it backwards, giving yourself a double chin. You should sit up straight while performing this exercise. This helps loosen the tight muscles at the base of your skull and regain mobility in the cervical spine that is lost from slouching. It can be done in sets of 10, 2-3 times a day for less neck pain, shoulder pain, and headaches.