Last week I worked on a police officer.
I hate to say "worked on" because my feeling is that I work "with" people rather than "on" them. But, if I tell you I worked with him, you'd think I work with him, which I do not...
Anyway, back to my story - the officer was complaining of pain in the back of his upper arms.
As many people in law enforcement are, he was very involved with working out with weights. It is important to be physically strong in his field. Sometimes it is necessary to control a person, and an officer needs every advantage.
I noticed his shoulders were rounded very far forward.
When you lie on your back, your shoulders should be on or pretty close to the floor or bed.
But, this policeman's shoulders were not anywhere close to the treatment table he was on. I could slide practically my whole fist under his shoulders.
The gap behind his shoulders was huge!
I explained the necessity of getting his back stronger. I explained how his tight front muscles (pectoral muscles) were pulling his shoulders forward.
I explained how his forward shoulders were pulling on and overstretching the muscles in his back and the back of his arms.
His chest muscles were the cause of his pain!
And then I suggested that he lay off the pectoral muscle exercises while he gets back in balance.
He chuckled.
I knew what that meant.
Up to that point, he was with me - he heard what I was saying. But, when I said, "Lay off the pecs for a while," I lost him.
I saw it in his eyes.
He had no intention of stopping his chest exercises, even though they were causing physical pain symptoms for him.
In his mind, working his pectorals was important to his well-being and safety.
My suggestion was outside of his comfort zone.
But, sometimes, there comes a point when someone is so tired of their pain, they will do anything necessary to feel better.
They will stop blaming aches and pains on "I'm getting old," or "My aunt had the same pain."
Sometimes people get to the point where they realize that no one can fix them except themselves. And so they find out what to do.
And they do it.
And they feel better.
Because we can.
You can, too.
Bounce on over to SimpleStrengthening for lots of info on strengthening your back and getting back in balance.
"Because You Deserve To Feel Better!"
