Back pain and running go together because the movement of the leg moving up requires the use of the sacroiliac joint (also called the SI joint). Ideally, when your right leg moves up, the right SI joint moves back.

However, for a lot of people, this joint becomes stuck or locked up and the movement is no longer as smooth and pain-free as it should be or could be. Any time a joint is unable to work as it’s designed it will inevitably lead to pain.

When the SI joint doesn’t work as it is designed, it usually leads to low back pain and hip pain. Many people believe the SI joint is not a movable joint, but this is simply not the case.

Restoring the normal movement to this area and then strengthening the surrounding muscles with specific posture exercise go a long way in stabilizing the area and reducing the likelihood of a re-aggravation of pain in this are.

Another overlooked aspect to back pain and running is the need to adequately stretch following a run. Many remember to stretch before (even though most experts believe you should walk or lightly job to warm up before a run), but do not stretch after they run.

In particular, making sure the hamstrings and hip rotators are stretched will go a long way in reducing your back pain.

I exercised my way into bad posture? Sure you did. You used your muscles (exercised) by simply doing your normal daily activities the same way over and over again. While you were performing some activities repeatedly, other activities were being ignored altogether. Your normal movements usually consist of things done in front of you, while the workout of your back muscles is holding you up. That would be fine if you were in an ideal posture position all day, but usually you’re not. You slump, you slouch, and sleep in the wrong way.

Your back muscles got longer and longer and hence weaker and weaker until they were asked to do the same work or more under less than ideal circumstances. Now you are hoping to correct weak muscles by holding them in place? By keeping them from moving? They have to move to get stronger! Sometimes posture just seems like this big spine problem, so you think that it’s just about the bones.

So it makes sense to you that if you can put braces on teeth, why not just hold you bones in place. Your bones are supported by your muscles and you need your muscles to work at their best to make a difference in how which position your spine holds. Muscles can become shorter or longer depending on the exercises and movements for which they are used.

While this works against you with bad posture, this is the key component to how you’re going to get your posture to change. This also means that should you do a great job changing your posture and are looking good, if you return to the same activities that got you into your bad posture in the first place, your bad posture will return.

Your muscles respond to the activities for which they are used. If your job puts a strain on your posture, it’s up to you to do the exercises to counteract what’s been going on all day. You must exercise to change your posture, and that is a good thing.

The good news is you don’t need to spend an equal amount of time undoing the damage that took hours, days and years to accomplish. You’ll need to work on improving your posture with exercise, but posture supports can be very helpful.

When driving, many care seats do not come with adequate lumbar support. It is a huge task to ask automakers to come up with a lumbar support to accommodate every shape and size of person. Some of your high-end vehicles have lumbar support that is adjustable and may suit your needs. However, there are plenty of products available (and some you can make on your own) to take care of helping you remember to sit up straight and support the normal curve of your low back while driving.

A simple low back support can work wonders in this task. If you have no idea what is a good size for you, start small. My patients are told to use a small hand towel, roll it up, and put rubber bands around it. Place it in the small of your low back. It’s not going to stay in place unless you maintain good posture, and it can easily be put away if you don’t like the looks of it sitting in your seat all day. You can move up to bigger towels and you don’t have to use the entire towel to gather low back support. When sleeping, pillows work as great posture supports.

If you sleep on your back, a pillow under your knees will take a lot of pressure of your low back. When sleeping on your side, a pillow between your knees takes a tremendous amount of pressure of your hips. The key when working with any of these posture supports is keeping them in place while you’re using them. In sleep, I’ve found the big “body pillows” to be very useful.

Other products that strap to your leg are available, if not very attractive. The body pillow works well and is very comfortable along with helping your shoulder position when sleeping on your side. Body pillows are also inexpensive and easy to use. Too many products require extended adjustment periods to get used to, allowing you to get regular use out of them. Not with the body pillow. I would imagine that within the first couple of days that you’ll wonder how you’ve ever slept without one.

The body pillow is also very helpful in getting you off your stomach when you sleep. Making the transition from stomach sleeper to back sleeper is a big change. You’re more likely to have success if you make the move from your stomach to your side. The pillow will create the positional support you need.

Posture supports do just that; they support, but they don’t fix.

Carpal tunnel syndrome seemed to affect almost everyone before positive steps were taken to identify the culprit in this new epidemic. Many of my patients that work at computer workstations even have the “proper ergonomic workstation design” picture displayed prominently on the back side of their i.d. badges.

Yet these people are patients in my office for conditions and back problems that aren’t being helped by ergonomics for computer workstations. It’s still possible to slouch and slump in your workstation.

Just being seated for long periods of time creates shortened hamstrings and hip flexors. Slouching and slumping will continue to put stress and strain on your upper back and neck.

The one thing I’ve seen repeatedly that even the best ergonomics can’t seem to help is bad posture. I keep seeing new and improved reminder systems that will help you remember to sit up straight, but less emphasis on really making a lasting change.

Alarms can be shut off or ignored. You can only get reminded or scolded so many times about your posture before you start to tune it out. If you engage in preventative things like stretching and strengthening activities to improve your posture, no one will need to remind you to sit up straight and your workstation ergonomics will be less of a factor in keeping your injury-free and out of pain.

It makes sense that no matter what your occupation, if you spend extended amounts of time in the same position, your body will begin to stay that way. Your body loves to adapt. If you lift weights, your body thinks that you must need bigger muscles to accomplish your daily activities. On the other hand, if you don’t lift weights, your body assumes there’s no need for big muscles.

If you are hunched over the keyboard, your body begins the process of creating a computer posture for you. A postural change that will help you stay in the position that you are in the most.

So to solve this problem (yes, computer posture is a problem), you’re going to have to do activities that tell your body that your desire is to sit up straight — and out of pain.

The great thing about your body is that you won’t have to do the additional activities nearly as much as you are doing the position that is contributing to your computer posture.

You just have to do it effectively. You have to target the muscles of your back that support your posture and help you maintain a straight position. Just going to the gym and bench pressing is not going to get you the results you’re after.

Spend time exercising your back and you’ll make it difficult for you body to keep you hunched over your desk.

They are either in pain or tired of seeing their rounded shoulders and since their problems seems to get worse with each passing hour at their computer, it only makes sense that it must be a computer ergonomics problem.

So why doesn’t everyone have the exact same posture? Why do only some of the people sitting at a computer all day get the rounded shoulders and forward head posture while others get low back issues and some no problems at all.

Is it really only about the computer ergonomics?

If we were to following everyone around during the day, we’d probably find that some people have added in back strengthening activities, even if just be accident. They may not even realize some of the good things they’re doing to help their posture.

Maybe they exercise, or hit the gym regularly. It could be that even though they don’t specifically target their posture muscles, they do enough of a well-rounded exercise regimen to positively effect their posture.

Computer ergonomics are a good thing. Since their implementation, repetitive stress injuries have decreased and I think we all have a better understanding about how a small, seemingly insignificant movement can be magnified by doing it over and over again for long periods of time. Still, your posture will play a huge role in how you feel.

For others, the reason is purely cosmetic. They want to look their best. Whatever your reason, if it helps you decide once and for all that you need poor posture correction, I’m all for it.

Where I see people run into trouble is that they think they just need to exercise their back. In a way that’s true. However, what you’re really doing is counteracting everything you do on a daily basis.

If you job involves a lot of activity and movement, you may not need to work as much on your posture muscles as someone who sits at a computer all day, or someone that drives all day.

People that do a lot of reaching in front of them (like hairstylists and mechanics), may really need to work to make a change. They are constantly straining their trouble area and will need to put some time in.

Whatever your reason for finally deciding to change your posture, it’s a good one if it helps you get it done. Some people get overwhelmed when they first start learning any of the exercises.

So make it easy; just choose one. Do one of the exercises every day until you get comfortable with it. Then add another and another until improving your posture is “just something you do” and isn’t so hard to work on. You can do it!

If your daily activities require you to sit in front of the computer all day, back and shoulder blade pain may be on their way if you don’t take steps to prevent it. If you’ve already got these symptoms, the treatment is the same as the prevention.

As a frequent computer user, you’ve probably already been told to take breaks from sitting in that position at least once per hour. Doing this give the muscles a chance to relax and regroup. A good formula is to figure out how long you can work before you experience the first symptoms. Let’s say that’s 55 minutes. Subtract ten minutes from that time and you’ve got the longest amount of time you should spend in front of the computer before taking some sort of break.

What are you doing during that five minutes of rest? Are you still in a position that will continue to allow the muscles in the front of your body to grow short? Take the time to stretch them out. Or you can keep working, but maybe it’s time to return a few phone calls or drop off those files to the guy down the hall. Just break up your activity and get some movement.

A quick and easy stretch that will actually keep the pain from coming back right away can be done right in your office. Find an open doorway and brace yourself against the frame. Push forward and feel your chest muscles and the front of your shoulders stretch. Hold it for just a few seconds. Now repeat that about five times.

Are you giving your back muscles a chance to improve in strength? A simple exercise to help with back and shoulder blade pain is slowly move your shoulder blades together. One way of describing this motion is to imagine that you are squeezing an orange between your shoulder blades. Hold that position for a few seconds and release.

It’s not necessarily your work that’s causing your problem, but it is likely that your daily activities are very repetitive and they are leading to your posture issue and your back and shoulder blade pain. Take some small steps and you’ll be amazed at the difference.

Your back pain is not necessarily caused by a lack of exercise, but it’s probably a good place to start looking. When I ask patients if they exercise, most are still saying “no.” Those that do exercise tend to stick with the same machine or routine for their entire program. (And almost none of their “routine” exercises focus on improving their back muscles.)

So on one hand, we have those that don’t exercise and have lower back pain. It’s easy to take a guess and see that their spine is having problems due to a lack of muscular support. While their spine may need more work at this point (check with your healthcare professional), eventually they’ll exercise lower back pain away by creating a muscular back support around their spine with regular exercise.

Those that do exercise, but are not performing a variety of movements are causing a different problem; muscular imbalance. They are likely only developing certain muscle groups while largely ignoring others. Worse, they may be performing activities that are alarmingly similar to what they already do all day.

They are strengthening muscles that are already overworked (muscles in the front of the body) and not strengthening muscles that are typically ignored (back muscles). This is a standard recipe for developing lower back pain problems and should be avoided.

Overall, maintaining a variety of activities that includes exercises to enhance cardiovascular health, strengthening and stretching will help exercise lower back pain away for good. The same formula works for almost everyone. First, due some exercise regularly. Next, make sure you take some time to strengthen your back muscles (especially if you already know you need it!).

For most people, it’s the position of the head that keeps gravity pulling all day on their necks and upper backs. Move your head forward an inch and you have increased the force of gravity on your supporting muscles by a factor of ten.

The answer? Work on improving the neck and back muscle strength to gradually bring the head back over the shoulders and eliminate the head moving forward and increasing the pressure on your spine and muscles.

For women, they also deal with their chests being acted upon by gravity, pulling them downward. Be warned, though. Adding a back support of any kind will help support your back but not fix your posture issue. If you seek out a posture bra back support, you’ll want to take a two-tier approach to ending your back pains.

You’ll still want to find an exercise program to build up the strength in your neck and back muscles, which will almost immediately get you some back pain relief. If you proceed with the posture bra purchase, you’ll just want to make sure that you don’t lazy about taking care of your postural muscles.

Wearing a posture support of any kind for extended periods of time (like weeks or months) can gradually decrease the strength of your muscles. It’s like they’re not even being used, so why would they stay strong? If you stopped using your legs, they too would eventually get weaker. The same principle applies to your back muscles.

Evaluate your computer workstation and take a look at any current exercises you’re doing. Do your normal daily activities use your back muscles? Or can you add in things that increase your need for your postural muscles, which will reduce your need to seek out a posture bra back support. Sometimes we think we’re doing all we can to solve a problem, but our efforts just are specific enough to truly address the problem.