Postural Tip of the Week: A is for Active Abs!

This week, we want to talk about your abs.  Often, we find that people's left abdominal wall is much less active than the right.  Look in the mirror.  Is your right shoulder lower?  This may be due to increased abdominal tension on that side.  Instead of turning down the abdominal tone on the right, we want to increase the activity on the left to match what is happening on the right side!  (I mean, really, did you expect a bunch of PTs to tell you you don't need abs?!)

When standing (you get a bonus if your weight is over your left leg!), reach down slightly with your left arm.  Think about allowing your left ribcage to move toward your left hip bone.  When in this position, you should feel your left abs/obliques turning on.  Now, this usually won't feel like you've done 1,000 crunches, but you should feel an awareness that the left abdominals are "on".  Hold in this position.