Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 4

<b>In the final part(4) of this body posture series, I will detail how to correct postural distortions.</b> <br /><br /><strong>Common postural distortions are:</strong><br /><br /><strong>1. Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip Postural Distortion</strong> - This distortion causes you to have increased lumbar lordosis and an anterior pelvic tilt as shown below.<br /><br />Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip postural distortions are characterized by increased lumbar extension and decreased hip extension. <strong>Flexibility deficiencies</strong> for this distortion are tight calves, adductors, erector spinae, rectus femoris (quad), latissimus dorsi and iliopsoas. <br /><br /><strong>Common injuries caused</strong> by this distortion are hamstring strains, groin strains and low back pain. <strong>Core stabilization exercises</strong> such as tube walking, bridges, planks and abdominal ball crunches are also very important. <br /><br /><strong>2. Upper-Extremity Postural Distortion</strong> - This distortion is seen in a person with rounded shoulders or a forward head posture as shown below.<br /><br /><strong>Flexibility deficiencies</strong> include tightness in the upper trapezius, neck muscles, latissimus dorsi and chest muscles (pectoralis major/minor). <strong>Common injuries</strong> include headaches, biceps tendonitis and shoulder injuries. Important <strong>core stabilization exercises</strong> for this distortion include prone cobras and cervical retraction. <br /><br /><strong>3. Lower-Extremity Postural Distortion</strong> - A person with this distortion often has flat feet (pronation), feet pointed outward (slew-footed) and internal rotation of the knees (knock-kneed). During the squat exercise the knees will collapse and the heels will rise off the ground. <br /><br /><strong>Flexibility deficiencies</strong> are tightness in the calves, peroneals, adductors, iliotibial band (IT), Iliopsoas and rectus femoris (quad). <strong>Common injuries</strong> for this distortion are plantar fascitis, shin splints and patellar tendonitis (jumper's knee). <strong> Core stabilization exercises</strong> that can be performed are tube walking, bridges, planks and abdominal ball crunches. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSoZWXMm12ysyLUZMWx6wtRfDuw3EdbMtZFXd0VpeVNG4N3gvT3z2JM46bHnNgCkcHg_E858WFyoxYShyphenhyphen0r55yrRBg6VuuP8dakf7RkkCrTX8th5QgZjb7QYctrBI_6aXRGtAN9Ivj6Y6/s1600-h/3+way+posture.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137267606777761778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSoZWXMm12ysyLUZMWx6wtRfDuw3EdbMtZFXd0VpeVNG4N3gvT3z2JM46bHnNgCkcHg_E858WFyoxYShyphenhyphen0r55yrRBg6VuuP8dakf7RkkCrTX8th5QgZjb7QYctrBI_6aXRGtAN9Ivj6Y6/s200/3+way+posture.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /><br />Stop me if you have heard this before---flexibility and core strength are critical! They are the main problems behind the postural distortions that we have. Now, get that posture corrected! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOURS!<br /><br />Be sure and download your <b><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/p/bodyweight-500-metabolic-fat-burner.html#.UeTaltLqmuI">Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Program</a></b> and start shaping your body faster!<br /><br /><b>Mark Dilworth, BA, PES</b><br /><b><a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com">Your Fitness University</a><br /><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com">My Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://herfitnesshut.com">Her Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com">Sports Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a></b><br />

Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 4

In the final part(4) of this body posture series, I will detail how to correct postural distortions. Common postural distortions are: 1. L...

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Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 3

When the neuromuscular system performs functional activities (body movements) with the least amount of energy and stress on the kinetic chain (human movement system), <strong>functional efficiency</strong> is achieved. <strong>Functional efficiency prevents over-training, injuries and lackluster performance.</strong> The kinetic chain can not have functional efficiency when postural dysfunctions are present.<br /><br />When muscles are operating efficiently, they work together to reduce force, stabilize force and produce force in all 3 planes of motion. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh7K6Ur81o_ES3ar6mFPNPjRUn6XSoAUhhDlZDhsaw7SOTF33YMi5r1AMiHFMuReT-Ce2SsUxZERJJRMNi3XATda0hmcU7ItUa9sXi6ds-_aU9GE4X1JL4av57Ls1Y006tmXCj05OA0Hd/s1600-h/Planes+of+Motion.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137255056883322834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh7K6Ur81o_ES3ar6mFPNPjRUn6XSoAUhhDlZDhsaw7SOTF33YMi5r1AMiHFMuReT-Ce2SsUxZERJJRMNi3XATda0hmcU7ItUa9sXi6ds-_aU9GE4X1JL4av57Ls1Y006tmXCj05OA0Hd/s320/Planes+of+Motion.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /><br /><strong>1. Frontal Plane</strong> – imaginary bisector that divides the body into equal front and back halves. The motions primarily involve abduction and adduction (side-to-side motions). <br /><br />Abduction takes a limb away from the midline of the body and adduction takes the limb closer to the midline of the body. Examples include exercises performed on a hip abductor and hip adductor machines. <br /><br />Other frontal plane motions would be side lunges, dumbbell lateral shoulder raises and lateral spinal flexion. Quickness and agility movements made by athletes require adequate frontal plane stability, strength, power, flexibility and balance. <br /><br /><strong>2. Sagittal Plane</strong> – imaginary bisector that divides the body into left and right halves. The motions involve forward-backward and up-down movements relative to the body and/or joint. <br /><br />Examples would be walking, running, bicep curls, leg curls and seated back rows. Traditional training techniques (such as training with machine weights) have focused on the sagittal plane of motion. This is not an effective training technique if the other planes of motion are ignored during training. <br /><br /><strong>3. Transverse Plane</strong> – imaginary bisector that divides the body into top and bottom halves. The motions are primarily rotational. Obviously, this will be a dominate plane of motion for many athletes. Baseball players (swinging, turning, pivoting, etc.), football defensive backs (hip rotations, quick turns, etc.) are just two examples. <br /><br /><br />The actions of muscles during movements are as follows:<br /><br /><strong>1. Agonists</strong> - These muscles are the prime movers. For example, the gluteus maximus is the prime mover for hip extension. <br /><br /><strong>2. Antagonists</strong> - Muscles that act in direct opposition to the prime movers. The psoas is antagonistic to the gluteus maximus during functional movements.<br /><br /><strong>3. Synergists</strong> - These muscles assist the prime movers during functional movements. The hamstrings assists the gluteus maximus during hip extension. <br /><br /><strong>4. Stabilizers</strong> - These muscles stabilize the body while the prime movers and synergists perform movements. Core muscles, such as the transverse abdominis, stabilize the body while the prime movers and synergists perform functional movements. <br /><br /><strong>5. Neutralizers</strong> - These muscles counteract the unwanted action of other muscles. <br /><br />Postural dysfunctions are caused when the kinetic chain is out of line. <strong>When this happens, synergists often do the work that weak prime movers should be doing.</strong> Notice the following:<br /><br /><strong>1. Altered Muscle Length-Tension Relationships</strong> - The muscles can't develop maximal tension.<br /><br /><strong>2. Altered Muscle Force-Couple Relationships</strong> - The central nervous system is designed to select groups (synergies) of muscles to produce movement. When this is altered, the wrong muscles produce movement at the wrong time. <br /><br /><strong>3. Altered Joint Arthrokinematics</strong> - When length-tension relationships and force-couple relationships are altered, normal joint movement is also altered.<br /><br />These alterations in normal relationships leads to the start of the cumulative injury cycle.<br /><br /><strong>Common postural distortions are:</strong><br /><br /><strong>1. Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip Postural Distortion</strong> - This distortion causes you to have increased lumbar lordosis and an anterior pelvic tilt as shown below.<br /><br /><strong>2. Upper-Extremity Postural Distortion</strong> - This distortion is seen in a person with rounded shoulders or a forward head posture as shown below.<br /><br /><strong>3. Lower-Extremity Postural Distortion</strong> - A person with this distortion often has flat feet (pronation), feet pointed outward (slew-footed) and internal rotation of the knees (knock-kneed). During the squat exercise the knees will collapse and the heels will rise off the ground. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6OahDmC-vexyiAyEaYK33-SPB9MCBWMQe4HHD_6k8RvTY_qB36n1JF0lm9yt5YikJxd_b3Ic5mC2SsamiEn8Vi7oJ0lchbYI3xPYpqL5T3779WjJzymX_YrgbVCv0e0MA8koYcGdwKUn/s1600-h/3+posture.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5135828685359419314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6OahDmC-vexyiAyEaYK33-SPB9MCBWMQe4HHD_6k8RvTY_qB36n1JF0lm9yt5YikJxd_b3Ic5mC2SsamiEn8Vi7oJ0lchbYI3xPYpqL5T3779WjJzymX_YrgbVCv0e0MA8koYcGdwKUn/s200/3+posture.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /><br />In Part 4 of this series, I will detail how to correct these postural distortions.<br /><br />Be sure and download your <b><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/p/bodyweight-500-metabolic-fat-burner.html#.UeTaltLqmuI">Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Program</a></b> and start shaping your body faster!<br /><br /><b>Mark Dilworth, BA, PES</b><br /><b><a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com">Your Fitness University</a><br /><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com">My Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://herfitnesshut.com">Her Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com">Sports Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a></b><br />

Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 3

When the neuromuscular system performs functional activities (body movements) with the least amount of energy and stress on the kinetic chai...

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Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 2

The <strong>cumulative injury cycle</strong> and <strong>postural distortion patterns</strong> are real problems that everyone has to deal with at some point. <br /><br />As was stated in Part 1 of this series, you must correct your postural imbalances and dysfunctions as much as possible to enable your body to reach optimal strength, flexibility, balance and power. <br /><br />I also wrote that if one component of the kinetic chain (muscular, skeletal, neural) is out of alignment, patterns of tissue overload and dysfunction will develop. This misalignment, if left uncorrected, will decrease your neuromuscular control and the <strong>cumulative injury cycle</strong> will begin.<br /><br />Patterns of postural dysfunction are commonly called <strong>postural distortion patterns.</strong> Distortion patterns occur because the structural integrity of the kinetic chain is compromised due to the misalignment of one or more of its components. <br /><br />To avoid postural distortion patterns, you must maintain optimum static, transitional and dynamic postural control. Static posture was detailed in Part 1. <strong>Transitional postural assessments include:</strong> overhead squat tests, single-leg squat tests and single-leg balance excursion tests. <br /><br /><strong>Dynamic postural assessments include:</strong> sport-specific movements, agility tests, gait assessments and reaction time tests. Transitional and dynamic postural assessments will be detailed in Part 4.<br /><br />The cumulative injury cycle, which occurs because one or more of the components of the kinetic chain are out of line, follows this pattern:<br /><br />1. Tissue trauma<br />2. Inflammation<br />3. Muscle spasm<br />4. Muscle adhesions<br />5. Faulty neuromuscular control<br />6. <strong>Muscle imbalances</strong> (less than optimal length-tension relationships). Muscles can develop maximal tension when they maintain optimal length. Muscle imbalances are caused by postural stress, pattern overload, repetitive movement, lack of core stability and lack of neuromuscular control.<br /><br />When this cycle is completed, the kinetic chain can not have <strong>functional efficiency.</strong> When the neuromuscular system performs functional activities (body movements) with the least amount of energy and stress on the kinetic chain, <strong>functional efficiency</strong> is achieved.<br /><br />Common postural dysfunctions are:<br /><br />1. Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip Postural Distortion<br />2. Upper-Extremity Postural Distortion<br />3. Lower-Extremity Postural Distortion<br /><br />These postural distortions will be detailed in Part 3 of this series.<br /><br />Be sure and download your <b><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/p/bodyweight-500-metabolic-fat-burner.html#.UeTaltLqmuI">Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Program</a></b> and start shaping your body faster!<br /><br /><b>Mark Dilworth, BA, PES</b><br /><b><a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com">Your Fitness University</a><br /><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com">My Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://herfitnesshut.com">Her Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com">Sports Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a></b><br /><br />

Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 2

The cumulative injury cycle and postural distortion patterns are real problems that everyone has to deal with at some point. As was state...

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Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 1

<b>Starting today, I will begin a four part series about your body's posture.</b> For your body to reach optimal strength, flexibility, balance and power, you must correct your postural imbalances and dysfunctions as much as possible. <br /><br /><b>Let's start by talking about correct body posture.</b> I will write about postural imbalances and postural distortion patterns in the articles to follow.<br /><br />The structural alignment of your body is called posture. The <strong>human movement system</strong> (kinetic chain) consists of three independent and interdependent systems: <strong>muscular system</strong> (functional anatomy), <strong>skeletal system</strong> (functional biomechanics) and <strong>neural system</strong> (motor behavior). <br /><br />These systems must function properly to allow the kinetic chain to maintain structural integrity and operate efficiently. The <strong>central nervous system</strong> <strong>collects information (sensorimotor integration)</strong> from these three systems to maintain neuromuscular control over the body. Below is an example of good and poor standing posture:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqnr9-yRLT3bPgrzc45RoozvbFECnLlIuUA8OK4LXZOvS9LRSIVQ4uLtWpeVLbOGHn7-aL-W5KzgJoWG01QeAkoe5DIC8A7Fxtd0S80sbn-v99OZWOJDRZiYK2TI4q0tPUfbbfYWeXb8n/s1600-h/Standing+Posture.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134674116545875794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqnr9-yRLT3bPgrzc45RoozvbFECnLlIuUA8OK4LXZOvS9LRSIVQ4uLtWpeVLbOGHn7-aL-W5KzgJoWG01QeAkoe5DIC8A7Fxtd0S80sbn-v99OZWOJDRZiYK2TI4q0tPUfbbfYWeXb8n/s200/Standing+Posture.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Your body should also maintain correct transitional and dynamic posture (discussed in Part 2)<br /><br />If one component of the kinetic chain is out of alignment, patterns of tissue overload and dysfunction will develop. This misalignment, if left uncorrected, will decrease your neuromuscular control and the <strong>cumulative injury cycle</strong> will begin. <br /><br />And, you probably have guessed that this will decrease your performance and lead to injuries. <strong>Also, everyone has more than one postural misalignment or distortion pattern. These postural problems need to be identified before you begin your exercise program. <br /><br />That is why it is important to have a postural assessment performed by a fitness professional.</strong> In Part 2 of this series, I will discuss the cumulative injury cycle and postural distortion patterns. Stay tuned because your posture affects how you live, exercise and compete!<br /><br />Be sure and download your <b><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/p/bodyweight-500-metabolic-fat-burner.html#.UeTaltLqmuI">Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Program</a></b> and start shaping your body faster!<br /><br /><b>Mark Dilworth, BA, PES</b><br /><b><a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com">Your Fitness University</a><br /><a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com">My Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://herfitnesshut.com">Her Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com">Sports Fitness Hut</a><br /><a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a></b><br />

Your Body's Posture---Get It Corrected, 1

Starting today, I will begin a four part series about your body's posture. For your body to reach optimal strength, flexibility, balan...

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