Standing Tall

Not so good...

Good body mechanics manifest in good posture and vice versa. To help you evaluate your current posture here are a few keys to look at.

To visualize what normal posture would be, imagine a weighted string hung from your ear. To someone looking at you from the side this string will pass through the center of your ear, your shoulder, the curve of your lower back, your hip, and the outside of your knee down to the outside of your ankle bone. When all these landmarks are lined up, the body is best able to support and distribute your body weight.

Your posture from the front should find your feet square to the ground with your knees pointing forward and your shoulder and pelvis level to the ground with your head rising above your shoulders. Your head should not be tilting to one side or the other. If you drew a line on the ground and stand toe-to-toe to it, your knees, hips, and shoulders should also be square to the line.

Having someone take your picture with as few as clothes on as possible will help you to study your own posture. Take pictures from the front, sides, and back. Look at the height of your knees, shoulders, and hips. Are they equal in height to each other, and to the ground? Can you draw a straight line through all the points described above? Do your shoulders slouch forward? Does your upper body lean back a bit? Is your head in front of your shoulders?

Answering these questions will help you to find if your posture is in balance or not. Joint pain can be caused by our body compensating for a lack of balance in our posture. Gravity is our universal enemy. It never grows tired and it is always at work. Our body can stay strong and healthy by keeping a proper alignment in our posture.

It takes work. It takes work just to stand correctly. But we are not stationary creatures, we sit, walk, run, and move in various directions. To move correctly we need to stand correctly.

Take a look at your posture. Are you standing tall?

Coach Nancy