Fitness Tip | Physical Imbalances and Improper Posture

• Posted: September 3, 2009
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• Author: Heather Edwards
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• Filed under: Divorce Stories
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• Tags: optimum performance, physical imbalance, postural alignment, proper posture

Your knee hurts when you run.  One side of your body goes lower than the other when you squat.  One shoulder sits higher than the other.  You are prone to injuries.  Or, nothing is noticeable but you feel something is off in your body.  If you’ve never had a physical imbalance or postural assessment, how do you know what needs to be corrected so you can prevent injuries and go through life enjoying everything you do?

Posture is the alignment and function of all parts of the kinetic chain at any given moment.  The kinetic chain is the combination and interrelation of the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems in your body.  So in essence, any deviation from proper postural alignment can cause a change in the body’s center of gravity, which affects the ability of the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems to work together.  The correct functioning of each system, both statically (without movement) and dynamically (with movement), is required for optimum performance and movement.

The main purpose of proper posture is to maintain the alignment of the musculoskeletal system that allows our center of gravity to be maintained over our base of support.  The ability to effectively maintain balance is termed as postural equilibrium.  In essence, posture is the position from which all movement begins and ends.  When you have proper postural alignment, you are able to optimize the ability of the nervous system to communicate effectively with the muscular system.  All of this insures that the muscles are optimally aligned and functioning properly with the body’s joints, which in-turn allows for proper dynamic muscle actions in multiple planes of motion.

Any imbalances you may have can be corrected by strengthening and stretching various muscles throughout your body.  Knowing which muscles need to be strengthened or made more flexible is determined by a physical imbalance/postural assessment.  Work with your Certified Personal Trainer to correct your imbalances through a combination of proper flexibility exercises and strength training to help keep your physical imbalances at bay.  Also, be sure that your trainer knows how to properly perform an imbalance/postural assessment and design a workout program to correct them.

So what’s keeping you from fixing your physical imbalances?

Reference: The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).

© 2009 Heather Edwards, CPT at www.HeatherCPT.com.  All Rights Reserved.

For a full bio of Heather Edwards, click here

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