Illustration | ASILLO 3D JULY 2019 | 65
isit physiotherapist Freddie
Murray at his exclusive
private clinic Remedy in
plush London hotel The Ned
and you’ll find a man with
drooping shoulders and
crossed legs, slouching forwards as he quizzes
his clients, trying to get to the bottom of the
aches, pains and injuries they might be suffering
from. It’s surprising – there are few people
you’d expect to personify perfect posture more
than the man tasked with honing the bodies
of elite athletes and celebrities (Foo Fighters
frontman Dave Grohl credits Murray with
transforming his body post leg injury). But
this embodiment of relaxation is exactly what,
according to Murray, you should be looking
to emulate for most of your day.
‘Muscles are like light switches – they should
be either on or off – and neither state will cause
the body problems,’ explains Murray. ‘But if
they’re constantly working in the background
- like a dimmer switch – when you’re essentially
at rest, they’ll quickly fatigue, leading to
increased tension, muscle stiffness and the
sensation of pain.’ Indeed, experts now believe
that walking around in a state of stress that
means you’re wound tighter than a jack-in-the-
box, coupled with training schedules that focus
on activating and strengthening muscle groups,
is giving rise to an increase in muscle injuries.
Think bruxism: an unconscious clenching of the
jaw muscles that can lead to chronic pain and
tension headaches. Or creeping yet debilitating
lower-back pain, tight shoulders and a stiff
neck that raise their ugly heads whenever
shit hits the fan at work or home. If only,
physiotherapists across the country exclaim,
you’d flip the switch and turn them all off.
ALL WOUND UP
Musculoskeletal issues, including back pain,
neck tightness and upper-limb problems, are
the second most common cause of sick days
in the UK, losing the nation 30.8 million
working days in 2016 alone, according to the
Office for National Statistics, and accounting
for around one in five of all GP appointments.
The issue is that it seems easier to try to
correct imbalances or strengthen weak
muscles through exercise regimes than tackle
the root causes: a fixation on flawless posture,
a desire to look as sculpted as possible and
a high-stress existence. ‘Society doesn’t
advocate women slouching and relaxing their
stomachs – it doesn’t make for a good look on
Instagram,’ explains
Murray. ‘But it’s not a sin to
relax, to slouch and release
your stomach muscles.’
Letting it all hang out, he
insists, is actually normal
and healthy, if only because
it encourages the body to
switch from the sympathetic
nervous system (that
which powers your fight-
or-flight response) to the
parasympathetic system,
known to conserve energy,
slow the heart rate and
relax your body.
Peter O’Sullivan,
professor of musculoskeletal
physiotherapy at Curtin
University in Perth,
Australia, is also trying to
re-educate the masses on
how to treat and prevent
muscular pain. A large part
of the problem, he posits,
is the belief that strong abs
are the holy grail of fitness.
He explains that, 15 yearsago, all the research being published directed experts
to prescribe sufferers of persistent back pain with
core-strengthening moves. Patients were told to
brace their abs and target the transverse abdominis
with static planks, which worked for some, but, for
many, it actually perpetuated the problem.
In recent years, Professor O’Sullivan challenged the
evidence and identified the issue. ‘Increased activation
of the abdominal muscles increased the activation of
the back muscles, creating a bracing effect on the spine,’
explains Murray. As a result, everything seizes up.
Professor O’Sullivan’s work also sparked a re-evaluation
of the importance of ‘good’ posture. ‘To date, no
research has found any relationship between posture
and musculoskeletal injuries, damage or the development
of pain conditions,’ says Dr Eyal Lederman, an
osteopath and honorary senior lecturer at University
College London’s Institute of Orthopaedics and
Musculoskeletal Science. ‘If you’re experiencing pain,
what position or posture you sit or stand in is unlikely
to be the cause.’ It turns out that there’s no such thing
as perfect posture. Indeed, a study published in Manual
Therapy, in which 295 physiotherapists were quizzed
on what they believed to constitute a neutral spine orgood sitting posture, showed that only a sitting posture
that “matches the natural shape of the spine and
appears comfortable and/or relaxed without excessive
muscle tone” was recognised by all as beneficial. Murray
adds that, by pushing the idea of bracing your muscles,
you’re failing to appreciate your body’s natural strength.
‘The majority of acute back pain tends to get better on
its own after six to eight weeks, because the spine is so
strong. Sucking in your stomach or holding yourself
upright is unnecessary at best and damaging at worst.’
Then there’s the issue of stress and anxiety, whether
situational or chronic, which causes the body to tense.
Dr Lederman explains that, despite extensive research,
the reason tense muscles lead to pain still isn’t known.
‘A potential theory is the notion of sensitisation: that
pain is created within the central nervous system – in
a state of stress itself – and that triggers the illusion
that the muscle or muscles residing in the particularly
stressed area are painful. ‘Because the experience of
pain resides within your nervous system, it’s readily
influenced by your emotions and moods. This could
explain why relaxation, which is also a central nervous
system process, can bring about an alleviation of pain.’TAKE A
BREATHER
Perform this quick
test to check if your
body is in fight-or-
flight mode
Place one hand on
your belly and one on
your chest and breathe
naturally. If the hand
on your chest rises first,
this is a sign that you’re
using your neck and
respiratory muscles to
breathe, rather than
your diaphragm.
Taking a minute to
practise deep-belly
breathing is your
immediate muscle-
relaxing remedy.‘Society doesn’t advocate
women slouching – it doesn’t
look good on Instagram’
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