A little bit of trick question here because some would say there is no perfect posture. I beg to differ. However, I don’t see the perfect posture as a static position. It’s more so the ability to stay stacked in ribcage and pelvis while you are moving through space.
So let’s take a bad postural alignment for an example. The classic one is the person that is in a sloppy leaned back “chill” posture. This is many times seen in someone that sits for long periods of time. Why? Because we tend to lean backwards in our chair as we sit. So the alignment follows this pattern while we are standing and while we walk. So if I saw this person walking, I would most likely see a ribcage that is leaning behind the pelvis and has difficulty connecting to their glutes during the push off phase. This is because we need to shift the ribcage forward over the pelvis, in order to get the pelvis to push backwards in space.
So how would we go about correcting someone with this type of posture. I would start with getting them to sense a shift forward of ribs over pelvis. An easy example of this would be a hinge pattern. In a hinge pattern we shift the pelvis backwards as the trunk or ribcage hinge forward. This is good for someone with a “leaned back” posture.
More than likely they will need some support to find this position properly without a compensatory strategies (anterior tilting of pelvis or extension of lower ribcage).
And when I say support I do not mean emotionally. I mean physical support with a table or a wall or even sometimes using pvc pipes or long sticks to hold in front of them.
This little extra support allows the patient to find the proper position of their ribs and pelvis without the sensation of losing balance. Now for the concept of stacking the Ribcage and pelvis, I like to envision the pelvis as a bowl and the ribcage as a box that has the underside of it the same oval shape as the bowl. We want to literally get the ribcage to sit directly into the “bowl” of the pelvis. Guess what muscle does a great job of doing just this? The diaphragm! This is why the diaphragm is super duper important for the perfect postural alignment.
This is the reason why I incorporate deep breathing into every exercise I prescribe to my patients. So I know the diaphragm is working to stabilize this perfect ribcage and pelvis “stacking” position.
So all in all, the perfect posture does exist! It is one that involves stacking of the ribcage and pelvis, from the stability of the diaphragm, and maintained through static and dynamic movement patterns throughout your functional daily activities. Need help with this? Come on in and let’s get your stacking on point!
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