Strong Spines with Good Morning Washington DC
We are all always on the go! From commuting to carpooling to traveling for work or pleasure.
Our lives don’t ever s t o p. Here is the rundown from my Good Morning Washington segment- everything you will need to help carry and wear the things you use most.
Check your posture every time you check your phone:
You need to understand what your neck is putting up with! Think of your skull as a watermelon and your spine as a toothpick. There is only 1 toothpick holding up that HUGE watermelon. Give your spine a fighting chance and hold the phone up to eye level don’t drop down to where your phone is resting.
The wonderful thing about technology is it is becoming more and more portable- and by portable I mean smaller. But that doesn’t mean that you have to shrink with it. Check your body every time you reach for something that has a battery and ask yourself: is it reacting to me? Or am I reacting to it? (read more on that here.)
Your Side Bag Balancing Game:
Gravity is real. Your body is constantly moving to balance itself, so when you add extra weight like a messenger bag or purse your body needs to compensate. Help it out by wearing your bag across your body and either in front or behind you. This will keep the weight as close to your midline (aka the center of your body) as possible and make the balancing adjustments smaller and easier.
Okay, so you have the strap across your body, but how far down your body does the weight hang? This is the key behind how heavy your bag feels. My rule of thumb is to keep the bag at hip height or higher. Think: the lower the bag the harder it is for your body to stay in alignment and protect itself. Sidenote: This is the same concept for carrying a child or anything heavy for that matter.
Carrying the Weight of the World on Your Back:
So, there are all these problems when carrying your belongings on your side, and once you master it your body will be rocking! But a natural alternative to carrying things on your side is wearing it all on your back- the backpack!
The backpack on its own is not a solution, there are still issues that need to be addressed. 1st of which are the adjustable straps. THE LOWEST PART OF THE BAG SHOULD BE AT HIP HEIGHT. This does not mean your should put the bag on your back, adjust the straps, and never worry again. My rule of thumb: revisit strap length seasonally-> more layers = longer straps.
Last thing, I promise. Packing your backpack can make all the difference. Newer backpacks really help with this because they provide a padded technology pouch. The main goal here is to pack the heaviest things closes to your body. This leads us back to the same concept of keeping the weight closest to your midline.
CHECK OUT THE WHOLE SEGMENT HERE
CHECK OUT THE WHOLE SEGMENT HERE
⬇⬇ Don’t miss a Jōbu-thing: Sign up for our monthly newsletter below! ⬇⬇