From my experience, steps are often missed in the name of either ignorance or in the attempt to please client or athlete demands when someone is starting an exercise or sport performance program. If you have a building that wasn’t structurally sound, would you pile people into it? How about if you have a car that had a bad alignment issue, would you take it to the track for a race? Why do we treat ourselves differently when it comes to starting a fitness program?
Posture is the position from which movement begins and ends. Ideal posture is the position from which the body performs most efficiently.(1) If you have poor static posture (just standing or sitting in place), the chances of you having poor dynamic posture (during movement) is exceedingly high. The nervous system is constantly learning and remembers movement patterns, but it cannot distinguish between good and poor movement.(2) Since structure dictates function, poor alignment produces deficient motor engrams (movement patterns). Garbage in, garbage out. Movement with malalignment continually perpetuates faulty motor patterns (your movement software). Crappy hardware (posture) produces crappy software (movement patterns).
This thought leads me to my suggestion for all trainees regardless of skill level. Prior to embarking on any exercise program, spending time correcting musculoskeletal imbalances issues is a good idea. When you start to pile training volume on top of existing dysfunction, you just get more dysfunction which in time will lead to pain syndromes and injury.
In the youtube generation, far too much emphasis is being placed on how much weight you can press, squat, clean, or pull without tending to the structural alignment and relationship of tonic and phasic musculature of athletes and general fitness clientele. Doesn’t anyone wonder why professional athletes tear their ACL without any contact?! God isn’t striking athletes down for the fun of it; the process of degradation has been going on for a long time prior to the injury event. Who is looking for these signs and symptoms of imbalance?
Proper structural alignment is needed for optimal and consistent human performance. The most common areas for dysfunction in the human skeleton from my experience are at the pelvis and the head/neck/shoulder complex. Distortion of these areas of the body are commonplace largely due to our sedentary lifestyle, being seated often, lack of postural awareness, and improper fitness plan programming but the cause(s) of the malalignment(s) should be determined by the professional for each individual.
The unfortunate ramifications of poor posture are pain syndromes, premature skeletal degradation, injury, altered recruitment patterns of tonic and phasic musculature, and faulty movement patterns. In order to not perpetuate existing dysfunction, posture should be normalized prior to progression to hypertorphy, strength, and power training phases. The suggested progression should be as follows:
Posture correction – stability/mobility – hypertrophy – strength – power
The amount of time you spend on each phase will be determined by the allowed time parameters and the needs of the client or athlete. Strength, power, and/or hypertrophy phases should not precede posture normalization or you risk piling training volume on top of a weak, imbalanced structure.
If you’re in the Simi Valley area and would like to train with FPS, please stop by our facility at 595 E Los Angeles Avenue, Simi Valley 93065. You can also contact Rob for more details – Rob@functionalps.com.
Resources
(1) Chek, Paul “Posture and Craniofascial Pain”, Chiropractic Approach to Head Pain. Ed: Curl, D. Williams and Wilkins, 1994
(2) Chek, Paul “The Golf Biomechanic’s Manual: Whole in One Golf Conditioning”, 2009
