SITTING UPRIGHT, NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS
Many clients complain that they have always been told to, “Sit up straight!!”, and believe it must be weakness or laziness that they don’t succeed in doing so. Well for hypermobiles this is easier said than done due to that lax connective tissue. In most folks keeping bones in one position and staying upright takes less energy because it is held by the passive tension in the more taut ligaments, fascia, and tendons around it.
In video 1 I let out the tension in the string holding the left femur to mimic lax connective tissue. I can let go on the right femur(taut passive tissue) and it stays in place with no external energy used, whereas the left needs my hand to hold it in place.
Basically it takes more energy to hold us up, and we also end up utilizing muscles that are not “postural” muscles made for long tonic tone. It can make for a lot of fatigued muscles and discomfort, and is one of the reasons that we fidget around and lean on walls so much when we are sitting or standing.
Getting stronger can help to an extent, but again most people are not actively working and contracting so many muscles to stay upright so we can give ourselves a break and maybe utilize an external source(yoga belt) for creating passive tension which will be in the next post
View this post on Instagram