What’s your Position? – Postural Awareness

By Bailey Cockerill

Over the past few months there has been an alarming amount of young individuals with posture that is more commonly seen in people nearing their late 50’s walking through our practice doors. This could possibly be attributed to the way we live our daily lives, behind desks, in front of computers, driving around town and the likes. If we were to actually add up the amount of hours we stay in these positions, it’s no wonder that when we try and be active, moving and functional, that we start experiencing some discomfort.

Assessing your Stance:

Adapted from bodybalance.co.uk

As the postural chart indicates, there’s a huge variance in everybody’s posture, but hopefully we can lean more towards the “correct” posture on a day to day basis, to allow our bodies to work the way they have been biomechanically designed, ensuring a delay in premature degeneration of the various structures.

Ultimately, we’re looking for what is called the “plumb line” where the ears line up with the shoulders, hips and knees. By doing so, weight and load dispersion experienced in the joints is at it’s most effective.

However, naturally, as we age there will be some change in posture, as the disc spaces between the vertebra tend to loose some height, changing the actual curvature of the spine. It is therefore VITALLY important to make sure we start off with a decent posture and age gracefully instead of ending up like the hunch back of Notre dam!

Have a squizz at your posture next time you walk past something that shows you your reflection. If you notice there are some strange angles looking back at you, chat to a Bioknieticist who can assess your stance, tell you where there are weaknesses and tightened structures and provide you with an exercise routine that can improve your everyday position.