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poise,
posture and performance Posture
is a term to describe shape whether good or bad. Poise is either present
or absent at any moment so to describe poise as good or bad is to
misunderstand its meaning. The term posture
is generally accepted to relate to the dynamic relationship of
the body segments in activity. Poise
is
a state; an ability to maintain appropriate muscle tension at all times
in both movement and static positions. A
well-balanced structure is supported and mobilised by gravitational
forces
with
minimal effort. Good
posture
is considered vital for health and functioning of the internal
organs and all bodily functions. A poorly balanced structure requires
inappropriate muscular activity to maintain position and initiate
movement. This constant state of activity leads to unnecessary
contraction to hold a position and impedes functioning. For example,
tight muscles around the torso restrict movement of the ribcage
and prevent natural breathing
. Poor posture is seen as a
widespread problem afflicting the majority of the adult population
prompting anthropologist Raymond Dart
to refer to it as ‘the pandemic condition of malposture
’. As far back as 1945
malposture was regarded as a problem that required intervention. A study
in the United States prepared for the White House Conference
for Child Health and Hygiene assessed the physical abilities
of a wide cross section of children. The subjects were monitored
performing a number of simple acts such as standing, sitting and
squatting. The number of older children ‘exhibiting poor body
mechanics’ was a staggering eighty per cent! If
poor posture cannot be attributed to a specific medical condition, it is
most likely to be something we are doing to ourselves that is to blame.
So how do we develop poor posture
?
The conventional view is that it is due to habits developed through
laziness and to treat the condition we therefore need to try harder to
improve it. A lazy attitude may contribute to the problem, but not in
the manner we might expect. Once a habit is learnt it cannot be unlearnt
by trying harder. Good
posture is seen to have many advantages. From an aesthetic point of view
it can enhance image, sending out the right signals (body language). For
an athlete it is seen to be essential. But what is a good posture? We
recognise poor posture when we see it, as it is evident in the majority
of adults regardless of athletic ability. But just to confuse the
matter, people with an ideal ‘plumb-line’ posture can also have poor
movement patterns. This is because it
is not the shape that
is important but how it is maintained.
An apparent ‘good’ posture can be achieved with totally
inappropriate muscular activity. The distinguished physiologist Charles
Sherrington
once
described our systems for maintaining posture as the ‘most uncertain
and untrustworthy of all’. This is not encouraging when all corrective
methods for improving posture rely on the very systems that are the
cause of the problem. The fact that posture can deteriorate suggests the
fallibility of the controlling mechanisms. The conventional definition
of good posture
is
the correct alignment of body parts supported by the right amount of
muscle tension. This view has led to the development of exercises to
tone up postural muscles diagnosed as weak in order to achieve the ideal
shape. Attaining good posture then became an end in itself. However,
these methods do not go deep enough to address the cause and are
consequently based on a partial understanding of the condition. Posture
is the manifestation of attitude
and not simply a matter of muscle tone. Every pathway from the
brain leads eventually to a muscle. Our state of mind therefore
influences every move and muscle action, to put it another way - we are
what we think. A sports commentator
may use the phrases, ‘their heads have dropped’ or ‘the
spring has gone from their step’ to describe the losing side. In
contrast the winning side will have ‘their heads held high’ or be
‘walking tall’. It is no accident that many phrases used to describe
attitude are bodily in nature, such as ‘stiff necked’ and
‘spineless’. Words used to express
physical attributes, such as ‘balanced’ and ‘centered’, are also
suitable to describe character. ‘Attitude’ also applies to both. Non-Verbal
Communication
is
an established branch of the behavioural sciences used extensively by
the police and in the business community. We make many subconscious
movements and gestures allowing others to read our thoughts or
anticipate our actions. Looking
Good
Although
poor posture is regarded by many to be a factor in performance,
conventional exercises developed to address the problem fail to
recognise the cause and cannot therefore offer a long-term solution. The
wrong concept of a problem leads to seeking the wrong solution. In many
cases, athletes experiencing difficulties with technique or repetitive
injury do have poor posture. A poorly aligned body uses inappropriate
muscle activity to move resulting in mechanically inefficient movement
of the joints. However, it is wrong to assume that posture is to blame.
The assumption that the problem can be corrected by strengthening the
weaker muscles through exercise is misguided. This superficial approach
ignores the cause and simply tries to correct the symptom. Our
body is shaped by how we use
it. Habit
determines use and subsequent condition of muscle; therefore
it is the underlying habits that need to change. Poor muscle tone is not
the root cause of poor posture; it is the mechanisms that control muscle
that are at fault. Attempts to correct
posture by exercise achieve, at best, temporary aesthetic
results, or complicate the problem by consolidating the poor habits that
led to the condition. Trying to correct posture through exercise
involves the same faulty patterns guided by a poor sense of body
awareness
. If we can unknowingly get
ourselves into this state, how are we to know the way out of it? I
repeat, exercises do not change habits - they re-enforce them! The
initial mistake made by the pioneers of exercises to improve posture was
to confuse the outward sign of poise, that is the good posture of gifted
individuals, for the desirable goal. Changing the body to look right
does not attain poise. Many of the systems designed to improve posture
use a number of Alexander’s methods, often without recognition, but
have not appreciated the basic principles. It is not possible to take
individual precepts from a philosophy and make them work as part of
another. These systems advocate exercise to achieve the desired results
whilst ignoring the essential step of preventing use of the habits that
caused the condition. The
methods designed to correct posture are flawed and based on the
following misconceptions. ·
“We can control individual muscles.”
We
do not have direct control over individual muscles, only the movement.
When we choose to move, the movement is organised by subconscious
centres of the brain that do not contain individual muscle actions. Try
to contract the biceps
muscle without thinking of moving your arm and you can begin
to appreciate how it works. What we sense is a feeling associated with
that movement and not the muscle. We cannot know if an action lengthens,
shortens or even uses a muscle, only that we have performed a movement
we associate with the feel of it. One exercise system to improve posture
even goes to the extreme of instructing participants to engage the
postural muscles in each exercise to twenty-five percent of its
strength! This level of control is just not possible. Injury
and
poor habits may lead to a change in the pattern through repetition of a
degraded movement
. Following
injury, the actions of the muscle to prevent movement of the damaged
area or to compensate for temporary loss of mobility become habit. These
compensatory measures become part of the permanent pattern and will feel
normal. The subconscious and habitual nature of movement combined with a
lack of attention to the activity means deviation from the natural
pattern may go unnoticed. If we do not have an accurate account of how
we execute a movement, we cannot be sure of correctly following the
instructions of a coach. Many coaches
will
have observed this when a pupil’s actions bear no resemblance to their
command. ·
“The problem is with the muscle.”
Posture is the manifestation of attitude. Exercises designed to
strengthen the perceived weak postural muscles do not get to the cause
of the problem. If a muscle is weak, it is most likely through lack of
use if not activated due to a faulty movement
pattern.
If you don’t use it, you lose it! A muscle can also appear weak if it
is habitually held tight because further contraction is not possible.
Our shape is a result of an intricate balancing act involving every
muscle of the body. Weakness in one area usually indicates excessive
tension in another. The task of trying to achieve balance by working on
individual groups of muscle is not only time consuming but pointless.
What are we trying to achieve if we do not know what is the correct tone
for each muscle? In recent years there has been a move toward
‘functional exercises’ designed for a specific sport. The theory is
that each sport will place demands on a particular group of muscles so
exercises can be used to strengthen those required by the athlete. Yet
if these muscles are deemed to be essential for their sport then surely
the athlete participating in that sport should already have the
appropriate strength where required. Changes in one part of the body
achieved with exercise will bring about, often unexpected, results in
another. Muscles perform their function as directed by the controlling
mechanism. Postural exercises call into play the same mechanisms that
created the poor condition in a more vigorous manner. The result is
‘stronger’ muscles at the mercy of the faulty controlling
mechanisms. The careless driver now has a more powerful car. ·
“We know what good posture feels like.”
The knowledge of how to maintain good posture
has never been at a conscious level. The absence of poor
habits allows good posture in children without us having to ‘do it’.
Once habits start to interfere with the process and posture deteriorates
we cannot know what to do to get it back. It is foolish to believe we
can improve on what should be a natural process by trying harder. In
order to perform corrective exercises it is assumed an individual knows
how to use the muscle in question with the appropriate amount of
tension. If we had this ability we would never have developed poor
posture initially. The underlying condition causing poor posture cannot
be used to improve it. Poor posture is a symptom and should not be
addressed by direct means. To know what good posture ‘feels’ like,
we need to have it. ·
“To correct posture we need to try harder.”
In fact the opposite is true. The centres of the brain that mediate the
postural reflexes
are at a level below conscious awareness and are therefore
beyond our direct control. Any attempt to correct posture by a conscious
act will interfere with this process. The common response by those
wishing to ‘correct’ their immediate posture is to stiffen up,
shorten the back, hold the breath and adopt the military stance. Young
children
are
often used as an example of good posture, yet they give no consideration
to it. They allow it happen by not interfering with the process. To
achieve ‘good posture’ we need to learn what
not to do so as not to impede
the righting reflexes. ·
“Good posture improves performance
.”
As described earlier in this section, good
posture does appear to promote efficient movement, however we need to go
deeper to understand why. This view puts the cart before the horse. It
is the ability for efficient movement that promotes good posture. Good
posture is an indication of poise consequently poor posture is a sign of
lost poise. A poised athlete
moves freely with minimal effort and is not pulled out of
shape by excessive muscle tension. The athlete without poise uses
inappropriate muscle action in all activities, including
the exercises prescribed to correct posture. If an individual has
poise, corrective exercises
are unnecessary and could even lead to its loss. If
an individual does not have poise, corrective exercises are
counterproductive serving only to complicate the problem. Postural
exercises may show improvements to shape, but by whose yardstick and at
what cost to poise? The shape is not important. A better shape and sense
of feeling stronger is not necessarily a good result. In a poised
individual the appropriate muscular activity to maintain balance is
activated by postural reflexes
.
When the reflex excites the muscle we experience only the movement, not
the effort. For example when the patella
(knee)
reflex is tested we have no sensation of applying effort to move the leg
because we receive feedback of effort only if
we have voluntarily
activated the muscle. In standing we do not need to
voluntarily control muscular activity directly and therefore should have
little sensation of strength. If we ‘feel’ stronger we are probably
overworking the muscle. Exercises
for developing specific muscles do not promote the balance and
integration required for poise
.
New habits are learnt by using muscle to perform moves that may not
correspond to their natural function. The postural reflexes in
conjunction with the learnt pattern co-ordinate muscle activity for
balance without the need for extra effort. Exercises
designed
to aid athletes could therefore have the unexpected side effect of
restricting movement. When we engage the habits developed through
exercise to attain what we assume to be ‘correct’ position or
movement, we
interfere with preparatory actions
for movement. I
believe targeting the postural muscles for specific exercise
encourages inappropriate use for actions that they are not
intended to perform, ultimately leading to loss of poise. Promoting
Poise
Poise is not acquired through conventional exercises that generally concentrate on the muscle. As discussed earlier in this section, many exercises lead to loss of poise through the piecemeal approach to developing individual muscles or muscle groups in isolation. Poise comes with an understanding and experience of free movement. Balance
is vital for poise. The common response to perceived loss of
balance
is to stiffen in order to prevent a fall. We need to feel at
ease with movement to remove the fear of falling. When we use
inappropriate corrective actions in response to a perceived loss of
balance we increase the risk of a fall. The grace exhibited by practitioners
of the martial art Aikido
is
due to their ability to fall without fear of injury. Regardless
of the condition of the nervous system, balance can be improved by
learning how to eliminate the unnecessary preparatory acts that we
usually associate with a given movement. Applying the wrong kind of
effort leads to a misuse of our mechanisms for movement. Once our
complex systems for balance are impeded all resulting muscular actions
will be corrupt and inappropriate. Poise can only be attained when the
habit of interfering with the mechanisms for balance
is
removed.
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