Postural Assessment - Making the invisible, visible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL9hAYBaos4

Jan 15 2020 – Chris’ weight was around 235lb, he had been training consistently for 3 months, was able to drop 20lb, but now his progress had begun to slow, and his motivation was fading. I took Chris’ through a full body transformation, where we the rebuild stability in his joints, conditioned his heart rate, and built muscle mass At the end of 2020 Chris weighed around 197lb.

Postural assessment are done in three view, front, rear, and side. Assessments make the invisible visible, meaning they highlight areas for improvement.

At the start of each training cycle, I take assessments photos, and determine the postural deviation. This will give me incite into what muscles are impacting the clients ability to move, which muscle are lacking range of motion, and the exercises to avoid. Using this information I will develop a training plan to tackle #1 issue. When the training cycle is completed (1-2 months), there will be significant visible improvements, if not, the program is not effective, client will not see results.

First we determine Chris’ postural deviation. Each training cycle we focus on improving the #1 deviation, once corrected, we move on to the next. Jan 2020 we see excessive curving of the low back & neck, the upper body is forward from the centerline, it is almost like he is falling forward, and the toes are catching his weight. This is commonly seen in people with lordosis posture.

Lordosis posture the pelvis is tilted forward, excessive curvature occurring in the front of the body & neck. Short and tight muscle are likely going to be the chest, quads, & mid back. The shut-off muscle are likely going to be the obliques, upper/lower traps, rhomboid-serratus complex.

In lordosis posture the #1 focus will be on strengthening abs & hip extensors (hamstrings), stretching hip flexors (quads), iliopsas, & spine extensors.

Hypertonic muscle are short & tight, these muscle are overactive, overused, constantly under tension, having a hard time relaxing, leading to structural limitations. Hypertonic muscle need more passive range of motion, requiring positional isometrics, joint mobilization, and soft tissue work.

Inhibited muscle are lengthen/shutoff, they are not activating. When a muscle is not pulling the corresponding joint into position it is a indicator of neurological limitation. To correct this we will use eccentric positional isometrics (Squatting slowly, holding the bottom position), stability & tension drills. I think of inhibited muscle like a highway covered in forest. In order to access the roadway we need to clear cut the growth.

Front view we start looking at the feet. Jan 15, we can see the right foot is pushed back, left foot is forward. The right foot is slightly rotated externally, his body and head are off the center line. Sept, we can see the foot stance widen, right foot rotation gotten worse, body and head are further from the center line. Back view we see a similar pattern, the September picture shows the right side of the body is further pushed back then the left side, the hip & shoulders are not level and are looking twisted. This is causing uneven weight distribution as the left foot will bear majority of the body weight. When the foot is in a externally rotated position, the body is vulnerable to lower body injuries.

Each joint has a maximum capacity (range of motion), damaged soft tissue and muscular tension will restrict mobility of the joint capsule. A lack of mobility in one joint creates compensation in joints above and below, disrupting movement patterns. External rotation of the foot, is restricting mobility of the ankle, creating tension on the knee joint, and tightness in the hip joint. This will cause dysfunction in the walking pattern, the foot begins to roll on the pinky toe, this is called ankle inversion. If this not addressed prolong running/walking will wear on ligaments leading to ankle sprain and knee tears.

Chris’ likes to do 5-10km walks in the river valley, correcting the walking pattern becomes the #1 priority. Short tight muscle will be hamstrings, posterior obliques, lumber extensor. These muscle we will hit with joint mobilization technique, and positional isometrics such as dead-hangs, side planks, lunges. Lengthened inhibited muscle will be psoas, rectus femoris (center quad), external obliques, & neck. These muscle we will do things like L- Sit variation with slow movements, and long stretched holds. If program is working Chris will able to walk as much as he wants, and the feet will begin to straighten, we see this in the July 2022 photos.

December we can see the shoulder are rounding forward, ribs are depressed, and there is a lateral shift. This type of posture is cause by tight hamstrings, over active glutes (to much sitting), hypermobility, slouching, and poor sleeps.

There is no stopping in the training, we are taking the work from one training camp and building on it to the next.

If the Jan 15 exercise selection is correct, Chris’ body will return closer to the center line. Our last in-person session was July 2, we can see the knee are in a much better position, as are the arms, shoulder and head. Curvature of the low back has gotten much better, neck is good still needing improvement. In Dec, knee & shoulder are off the centerline, forward lean is returning, this will be the starting point for this year programs, and we flow into the new year.