Habits of Health Weekly Meeting

Posture, The Importance of

The body’s ability to heal itself or correct itself can be instrumental in bettering our health, but it can also be detrimental, especially when it comes to our posture.

When we feel a little out of sorts, a small ache or pain in the muscles, the mind (subconscious/unconscious) will adapt the body, incorporate other muscles to do a job, to mask or alleviate the uncomfortableness being experienced. The problem is that these adjustments typically happen unconsciously.

That compensation can lead us to use muscles for purposes that they were not designed or meant to do.
When the muscles tell the bones to move in ways that are improper, they end up violating the design and function of the body.

Imagine, if you will, the knee joint. The knee joint wants to move back and forth in One Direction, and with only a little sideways movement. Ideally, when walking, we would place the foot in front of us, the toe pointing in the direction we are walking and the knee, when it bends, would track directly over the toes.

Now imagine, someone walking duck footed, their foot pointed out to the side. The knee no longer goes straight back and forth, but now a torque is put on the knee, which creates friction and that friction turns into wear of the cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.

The shoulder is a completely different joint with movement in many directions. This movement can be inhibited if a person rounds her shoulders forward or raises their shoulder towards their ears. If this takes place, full function cannot happen and the torque and friction will eventually cause pain and suffering.

If the hips collapse, creating either an interior or posterior tilt, pressure can be put on the abdominal organs, creating gastrointestinal dysfunction. This interior or posterior tilt is common with people who are overweight or obese.

If one hip rotates in a forward manner, it raises the trochanter and causes the leg length to extend. If the hip rotates in a posterior manner, the trochanter is raised and leg length will appear to be short. Either way, it creates a permanent limp for that person. That limp reflects through the entire body structure, affecting the way all the muscles coordinate and perform.

Another situation for those who are overweight or obese is that the thighs become large, creating a permanent wide stance and physically prevents a proper gait to take place.

If weight is the cause of posture dysfunction, then the obvious choice is to lose weight (fat). If your posture dysfunction is created by too much sitting and lack of movement, then the obvious choice is to increase activity. If your posture is affected by an injury, then the obvious choice is to incorporate the Egoscue method.

One way of improving posture and muscle function is to adhere to the Egoscue method of motion. This was developed by Pete Egoscue over 40 years ago and can help anyone move towards a healthy posture.
Pete has written two books that I recommend: Pain Free and Health through Motion.

Together (with Good Posture) i Can

 

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Michael McCright
Free Health Coaching – provided by the "Together i Can Group"
Together i Can Inc.
September 28 2022

Call 619-316-6900