Proper posture is crucial in preventing joint and muscle pain. If your body is unbalanced, muscles are going to constantly have to work against gravity and never get a chance to rest. Also, joints that have to adapt to poor posture end up working in arcs that they were not designed to work in. The pain resulting from these two things is called "Mechanical Pain," and it accounts for about 90% of the pain people feel.
Many popular workout regimens do not pay much attention to posture. Pilates is quite different. A good amount of attention is directed to the alignment of joints and the precise action of each exercise. A new study from McGill University in the October, 2009 issue of Clinical Biomechanics finds that this is good, and that Pilates training does help reduce and ward off neck and shoulder pain. It does this by increasing body core strength, as well as the strength of postural muscles.
The study also measured the amount of muscle activity in the neck and upper traps. If you're sitting, and there's still lots of activity in your upper traps, it is a good indication that your posture is less than perfect, and that your poor muscles are likely to be in pain from constant overuse. The researchers found that a Pilates program did reduce this activity, indicating that posture was improved and pain was decreased.
Just about any reasonable exercise program is going to give benefit to the average person. But if you're troubled with constant neck and shoulder aches, Pilates would be a good program for you to consider. I'd recommend including massage to make sure the muscles can move freely. But beware of exercises that cause pain in the neck and shoulders, as these might aggravate a lurking rotator cuff injury.
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