Posture Analysis Guide. Know your client at first sight.
Understanding concepts and ideas.
Why posture correction and alignment are important in exercise and movement programs.
“Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul.”
-Bruce Lee
Why master postural analysis?
Could it be that incorrectly trained muscles can cause improper musculoskeletal alignment or overall compensation points throughout the body interrupting progression in performance, muscle building, and posturing? Why overlook the fine detail? Wait... what are the details and secrets to this specific alignment-based concept that can be applied to all styles of training? Why is it important? Well, it’s simple if you’re building your biological machine incorrectly you will probably break it down, run it down, and have to replace a part or many. Maybe you’ll start to feel like an old Toyota instead of a Ferrari. The only problem is we don’t have a lease on this body, we can’t return or exchange it, and we have to live in it for as long as we can. So, wouldn’t you like to become a biomechanics specialist?
Removing old ideas and concepts. Freedom to create.
Let’s leave all concepts you’ve learned in the past behind, keep the tools you already have, and let’s make them sharper better, and more correct. I’m not here to teach you the next best move, or exercise. You know your moves; you have your set of exercises or yoga postures. Here you will gather enough conceptual knowledge to allow yourself the mental freedom to modify, improve, understand, and maybe even create your certified unique exercise. I’m here to help you deconstruct and understand the human alignment during movement and exercise in detail because it’s all in the details when it comes to training.
Let’s go back to basics. As instructors and trainers, we can get in over our heads and forget about the basics of building the human structure. There are no skipping steps even the strongest have weak points, going back to basic covers those grounds. Eliminate the weak point in the structure or it will become an obstacle at some point too late.
Know your client at first sight.
I’m starting this training with something you are not trained in, something I have learned through Posture correction training and many years of working in the medical field.
How to deeply analyze the human structure, alignment, and mechanical movements at first sight. This is so important and it will tell you a lot about your client’s potential fascia line dysfunctions, ranges of motion in movements, muscular deficits, areas of over-compensation, and weakness all just by visually analyzing them. You will know best... your client will have his story version of his body. Listen to your client but be strong in your visual analysis.
Posture and natural mechanical movement analysis.
Let’s start with what to look at first.
What are my clients:
· Standing posture
· Sitting posture
· Gait pattern
· Sitting to standing chair transition
· Bending to tie a shoe or pick something up off of the ground
These are repetitive movements that your clients perform all day long, all the time. This is so important to recognize! No matter the athlete or how strong the client is, these natural resting positions will determine the true strength in their ability to hold their body in space correctly. It is beyond important that athletes and the more athletic rest in correct postural body positioning, not doing so can counteract their training and hard work. And of course, this goes for all clients.
Watching them act naturally, observing their natural body movements and alignment while they are not aware is the ticket! They do this unconsciously and repetitively throughout the day.
Posture analysis from the ground up.
Standing posture
·Femur rotation – Foot positioning
This is the base of the structure where it all starts. Foot-to-femur position or rotation will 100 determine the function of the pelvis and muscular structure of the legs.
Externally rotated femurs are what I encounter most; it is much rarer to find femurs internally rotated.
External rotation causes a long list of dysfunctions that I have noticed especially if there is one leg more rotated than the other or in some cases severe external rotation. This external rotation of the femur will throw off the whole fascia line (refer to anatomy trains) causing tremendous structural imbalances that are almost impossible to work through until they are addressed. Your client resting in this improper posture throughout the day is a workout they don’t notice they are doing. Depending on how severe it is it can cause structural changes in the foot collapsing the arches of the feet which weakens them, hip imbalance with noticeable musculature difference in the legs from side to side making one stronger than the other, and well… maybe a history of injuries on the more rotated side. This is well overlooked but easy to spot, the biggest giveaway in structural dysfunction. Femur misalignment is a big hit having them anchored incorrectly into your body being that they are so large throws the skeletal structure off, especially in the pelvis.
Which leads us into….
Following the spinal curves beginning with.
·Hips - Anterior pelvic tilt or a pelvic tuck
We all know these two.
I will address pelvic tuck first as it's less favored and more of an emergency. The lumbar level (low back) will seem flat and the tail tucked in. This is where we start to notice the spine and its waves, we must follow the anatomical curves of the spine when analyzing posture. The lumbar curve is the tail and it helps position the rest of the spine. This position will reflect into the abdomen, psoas, hip flexors, and quad muscles which are usually very tight from the tuck-like position-anterior tightness.
I’ve seen some weird combos here; I can't tell you if femur alignment determines pelvic tilt or tuck iv seen them pretty mixed and match as everyone is so unique.
The anterior tilt/hyperlordosis will create a strong-looking low back to mid-back muscle and a deep lumbar curve that travels into hyperextension through the low-level thoracic causing anterior rib cage flare. So, in theory, the hyperlordosis is through the mid-low back reflecting into the anterior rib cage which will look flared, and can visibly see the bony lower rib structure poke through the upper abdomen. Weak anterior-overworked posterior.
Both anterior and posterior chains must be balanced in strength and not too overworked or there will be an imbalance if one is too strong.
This will then integrate into the rib cage position on the body.
The thoracolumbar junction is where we identify the curvature change of the spine.
·Rib Cage position
The rib Cage position is important in regards to following the curves of the spine. Very overlooked, this is where the thoracic curve of the spine is a gentle outward curve. Think of it as the slightly larger wave. The lunges, the diaphragm, and abdominal muscles are important players in correcting and decompressing this area. This is a big section having two main points of posture correction.
We will start at the thoracolumbar junction-
The rib cage should not be flared or stuck in the extension.
This is an area that is usually confused with the lumbar curve, it's really important to identify that point as this brings out the natural curves of the spine.
The anterior rib cage should be anchored down and flushed not flared, and the upper abdomen should be strong. Via the posterior view, you should see the natural outward curve of the thoracic spine which leads to the thoracolumbar junction. The thoracic should not be stuck in the extension.
Shoulder and head positioning.
Shoulders should sit comfortably on the lateral aspect of the body neither pulled back nor forward.
These spinal curve corrections allow the head to balance back over the body with slight head posture awareness and effort like the arms that neither pull forward or too far back. The head posture relies on constant awareness of proper positioning.
Staying true to form.
These points should all stay true to their form unless moving limbs such as arms and legs which are extensions of the body with capacity for high ROM—here we find the ball and socket joint.
Mastering mobility and stability in these areas takes an integrated series of muscle chains that are almost unrelated to that specific area. It is the case most of the time that the limb ball/socket is unstable due to the centerline being unstable or misaligned. It is safer to align and stabilize the centerline than it is to tug on limbs.
Centerline concept.
Focusing on this centerline allows us to target key points of natural structural misalignment that directly affect physical activities and exercise routines.
Checking in.
Checking your client's natural body position while they are unaware will tell you a lot about their daily movement patterns and you can almost create a whole routine solely based on their natural structural deficits. Know their weaknesses at first sight and you will know what to attack.
I’ll leave you with this quote from a man who had a higher understanding of the art of expressing human movement at a physical and psychological level.
“When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.”
-Bruce Lee
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