While growing up I had weight issues and to counteract the weight issues I’d go to the gym and and add more weights haphazardly to my skeleton to get rid of the pounds.

Needless to say, I ended up with chronic back, shoulder, and knee pains. I’ve gotten rid of the knee and back pains. The shoulder pains are a different story and I’ll let you know how that works out when I figure it out.

But for now, I’m sure some of you are interested in how I got rid of my back and knee pains. I first tried chiropractors, there was a clinic that somehow worked with my insurance to cover treatment for a few months. No real results.

Then I got massage therapy. Immediate results, and the painful weekly treatments resolved a lot of the more chronic nature of my back and knee problems. But they soon came back. And I went back to massage therapy, and it went away.. then came back.

So what was going on? Over time I realized that the massage therapy healed the muscle damage, time healed the ligament damage. But my constant posture and incorrect movements was unraveling the healing quickly.

Heeling the Knee

While taking some classes in proper weight lifting techniques, I realized just how important the heel is when applying any force. I began to see that when I tried to come up from squats while pushing down from the front part of my foot, it increased the pain in my knees. So I began to meticulously analyze how I walked, how I stood up from a chair, and how I climbed the stairs.

I began to shift the force of my weight from the front parts of my feet towards the back. Within a few months, my knee pain disappeared. Now I am able to squat down and even place the majority of my weight on either legs without any knee problem. Miraculous? No.. apparently it’s just physics.

Stand up straight soldier

Same goes for my back pain. Growing up I would stoop a lot. This stooping would cause my big head, and my big heart, to pull down on my lower back, hips, and thighs. By the time I was in my late teens, I could not sleep at night because of the back pain. Again I went to massage therapy and it helped, but again it would keep coming back.

So you can guess the fix, I lifted my head up high and walked a little taller and over some time, no more back pains. Now I can touch my toes.

Again, it’s no miracle

It should be obvious to you that not only did I fix my postures, but I’ve also kept exercising and stretching, eating healthier, keeping my weight down. All of these are important factors too. But I know personally how difficult it is to do any of these.. let alone all of those at once.

It requires a change of lifestyle, but it doesn’t have to be radical. What I’d suggest for you, if you’re a fat suffering person like I was, is to at least start by walking a little taller and placing your feet more firmly on the ground.