There are two main types of muscles that contribute to a solid core

Sitting at your desk all day, every day, is eventually going to cause some kind of pain and dysfunction in your back, unless you take proactive measures to stop its occurence! For most people, a prescription of improving posture would suffice but its hardly that simple of a problem. No matter how many times you are told to sit up straight, you’re not going to be able to maintain it unless you have postural balance. No matter how you spin it, good posture starts with the muscles. 

Postural and phasic muscles in the core contribute to postural balance

In order to take action, you need to understand what is happening in the muscles of your core which contribute to good posture. 

• Postural muscles are the deep-lying muscle sets that work to maintain your posture despite the downward compressive force of gravity. These muscles are primarily composed of slow-twitch fibers and are almost always active. Therefore, they tend to tighten from overuse.
• Phasic muscles are mostly composed of fast-twitch fibers and are activated according to your level of movement. People who are sedentary tend to severely underuse these muscles, which then lengthen and become weak. 

This has a double-down effect on your postural integrity, pulling your body out of balance and leaving you stiff and sore. So what is the solution?

At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we use chiropractic modalities such as spinal adjustment and mobilization to restore range of motion, increase circulation and reduce back pain. From here we can start on a program that focuses on stretching and elongating tight postural muscles, while strengthening weak phasic muscles to lend another layer of support and strength to the core. The outcome is a more stable situation that facilitates the maintenance of good posture at all points of the day. If you are interested in improving your postural health, give our office in Sacramento a call to schedule an appointment today.