Buidling a Solid Foundation: Shoring up the Posterior Chain

“To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear”
-Buddha

Through my experience I've found that an unhealthy body will detract from being able to express fully and see the world clearly. These two qualities of life should not be underestimated in their ability to make life more beautiful and enjoyable, and it's for those reasons that I feel so strongly about making our best effort to keep our bodies healthy.

One excellent way to improve posture, and strengthen some of the core muscles that support every movement and help improve our posture is the Foundation program, a simple set of exercises that can be done in 15 minutes or so everyday. Doing these exercises is a great start to a strong back and can re-engage the entire posterior chain.

You can buy the book, but the videos on youtube are just as, if not more useful. See the quick 5 minute one below that includes some of the basic exercises.

I feel that this program, is fantastic for anyone who sits for the majority of the day. Sitting hunched over a computer can cause certain muscles to either fall asleep and disengage, or over work to the point of getting muscle knots. It encourages poor posture: rounded shoulders, tight hamstrings, weakened low back. Anyone with this type of job, working 8+ hours a day at a desk or sitting for prolonged periods needs to be doing some kind of recuperative work if they want any chance at staying healthy.

There are other methods to do this, strength training, yoga, foam rolling, and keeping active at the desk to name a few, but none are as simple and as easy to do throughout the day, wherever you are you can do the main exercise, "the founder," and results come quick. While the exercises can get the back fatigued quickly, you will also recover fairly quickly because all you are using is bodyweight and postitioning to get the results.

Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think! And be sure to listen to his cues carefully to get the full engagement. Thanks for reading,

@jakeybrown