messenger bags

September 14, 2009 - 11:58pm | 6 posts

aynurk

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messenger bags

Hi Esther, I was wondering what you thought about messenger (courier) bags. Do you think they can be bad for the back? I'm beginning to think using a messenger bag during university gave me a high right hip. I would cross the strap over my torso and carry it low, below my right hip and it would be a little heavy. Could that cause a high hip? Thanks in advance.

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September 15, 2009 - 2:30pm | 1 post

Esther Gokhale

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09/10/2008 - 8:36pm

It's about how you use a messenger bag, or any other bag for that matter. It's normal to carry things asymmetrically, play tennis asymmetrically, etc. When possible it's good to distribute your bags evenly, but that isn't always possible. The main thing is not to let your asymmetric activities twist your structure around. It's okay for muscles to develop asymmetrically, but not bone to be asymmetrically pulled around.

Now that you have a high hip, the important thing is to release it. Stretching (the quadratus lumborum comes to mind, but there are many relevant muscles), massage, acupuncture can all be helpful in addition to, of course, our simple techniques of stretchsitting, stretchlying, inner corset, etc.

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September 16, 2009 - 5:36am | 1 post

Tom-

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09/09/2009 - 2:26am

how do you get on with learning the glide walking aynurk ?

I ask because:
my hip isn't correctly aligned (is that the right term?) - I have gotten a lot of osteopathic treatment in the past which helped me a lot but they couldn't seem to shift the hip. They speculated that the misalignment happened when I was very young, possibly even as a newborn (maybe from that good old tradition of dangling the baby by one leg and giving it a good slap!)

I notice it when trying to walk correctly. I notice the difference in my legs and feet and bum muscles. It has been difficult to learn the glide walking, but, it feels to me like it is actually starting to correct the problem.

v I havent looked at the excercises in the book for a long time. I'll check them and see if something there might help - when you say stretching "the quadratus lumborum" Esther, is that covered in the book ?

Edit/ I have been trying out squatting lately and trying to let the hips open out a bit as I do so.

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September 16, 2009 - 6:23am | 1 post

aynurk

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I generally have hip pain when I walk. But lately I've been doing this stretch: http://www.floota.com/QuadratusLumborumStretch1.html . And I think it helped. My right hip and left shoulder are not as high as they used to be and my hips hurt less. My problem was that the right side of my pelvis was higher than the left side. Also my right shoulder was lower than the left. So my spine was laterally bent. The muscles between my left shoulder and head hurt after walking or standing a while because they were overworking to keep my head straight. Also my feet's turnout were not equal. When I looked down, I saw my left foot point straight ahead and my right foot open to right. My feet were not pointing towards where my head was pointing. Whether I attempted to glidewalk or not my hips hurt. I couldn't correct all this completely but it got better. I couldn't really glidewalk, mostly because I haven't really gotten my feet arches to work and that lessens the strength of the push against the ground. So I am not engaging my glutes adequately and still lead with the pelvis as a compensation. And I've just started to really observe the problems in my movement, it's taking time. This is what I figured.

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November 1, 2009 - 5:47pm | 1 post

Esther Gokhale

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Here's one I like: It's #2 labelled for the back (which in my opinion stretches the QL) http://www.naturalfitnessme.com/workout-pointers/flexibility#quadratus

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November 10, 2009 - 9:48am | 1 post

aynurk

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The QL stretches help even the hips. I figured the cause of the tighened QL is a strained and probably weak gluteus medius on my right side. Also I had a fallen arch in my right foot, overpronation in my right ankle and internal rotation of the right upper leg. I corrected these to a good degree with exercises, now I am working on the gluteus medius. I started to understand what glide walking should feel like.