Evox Fitness Concept

POSTURE, ALIGNMENT AND EXERCISE

Posture can be defined as the alignment of all body segments in a given period of time. The standing alignment should be as close to vertical as possible for all body segments so that the line of gravity passes close to the axes of several joints. (Kendall, McCreary and Provance, 1993)

In training, the “ideal” posture should allow you to maintain balance and balance in different positions with minimal effort on the musculoskeletal system and without discomfort. (Pausic, Pedisic and Dizdar, 2010)

It is not always possible to achieve this “ideal” posture with all clients, it is of utmost importance to know the individual characteristics of the subject: its structure and how the subject works within its balance base - the limitations of mobility and stability - for thus working on the optimization of the individual posture looking for a more efficient and functional interconnection of the different body segments taking into account the subject's past and structural limitations. (R. Ruivo, Exercise Prescription and Assessment Manual, 2018)

Like movement, posture results from the way the tensions created by the musculoskeletal system interact with the body's lever systems and the fascial and articular systems. The nervous system sends, through conscious or reflex activity, stimuli that keep the muscles in a certain state of contraction, which serves as a basis for posture (Gray Cook, Movement, 2010). Despite the placement of bone segments in a pile, these without the tension generated by the soft tissues would not be able to withstand, being these considered passive agents in postural regulation. This regulation by the nervous-myo-fascial system allows for greater flexibility of solutions, presenting more resilience to different pressures as well as the redistribution of tension throughout the system. In this way, when the stimulus is too strong (eg, too much load) the structure may break at different points throughout the system (T. Myers, Anatomy Trains, 2014). These breaks may be visible as alignment failures and will reveal the weakest link in the chain - that component whose improvement will bring about an improvement in the function of the entire system.

Exercise should then positively influence muscle tension, producing efficiency in movement and motor control. In turn, a correct tension for the needs will improve alignment, reaction speed and energy savings in movement. (G. Cook, Movement, 2010)

For this, during the exercise, special attention should be paid to the alignment of the various segments and the progression of the exercise in order to increase the stability difficulties as the subject adapts to them.

It is also essential to train stabilizing muscles whose main function is to maintain the position of the trunk in motion or to avoid unwanted and compensatory movements (R. Ruivo, Evaluation Manual and Exercise Prescription, 2018)

 

Alexandre Lourenço