Posture types – Part 3

Flat-back posture

Flat-back posture is the lack of mobility and flattening of the lumbar spine. The features are as follows:

 Head is forward  Cervical spine is slightly extended  The rectus abdominis and external obliques (EO) are tight and become the most dominant of the abdominal muscles  The hamstrings are tight  The one- hip flexors are found to be long and weak  The pelvis is posteriorly tilted  Back erectors are slightly stretched  Knees are slightly flexed

Flat-back posture is common in:

 People who tend to perform lots of ‘sit-up’ type of exercises  Boxers  People with poor core and back stability and who have had long periods of inactivity

Guidelines for the correction of flat-back posture:

 Regain mobility in the lumbar spine  Use strengthening exercises for the lower back  Stretch the hamstrings  Strengthen/shorten the hip flexors  Stretch the rectus abdominis – ideally over a stability ball

Suitable Pilates exercises:

 Pelvic tilts, Shoulder bridge, rolling back  Swan dive, swimming, spine twist  Half and full Roll up, chest opener  Focus on set up position and realigning cervical spine  Focus on stretching hamstrings Sway-back posture

Posture features are as follows:

 Head/chin is held forward  Cervical spine is slightly extended; neck flexors are weak  Thoracic spine has increased flexion (kyphotic); thoracic extensors are weak  Lumbar spine is flexed (flat lower back)  Posterior tilted pelvis – pelvis is swayed forward in relation to the feet  Hip flexors are long and weak  Obliques (upper fibres) can be short and tight, lower area is weak  Erectors (lumbar) are strong but not short  Knee are hyper-extended  Hamstrings are short and strong

Sway-back is common in:

 Young people such as teenagers  People who stand for long periods of time, with the majority of the body weight resting on one leg

Guidelines for the correction of sway-back posture:

 Increase thoracic spine mobility  Increase strength in neck flexors  Strengthen trapezius  Strengthen and mobilise lumbar back erectors  Stretch obliques (upper fibres)  Stretch pectorals  Strengthen lumbar back erectors  Stretch hamstrings  Re-educate for neutral spine alignment and ‘standing tall’ with the weight evenly distributed over both feet. Use the ‘triangle’ imagery – weight over the 3 points of the feet – big toe, little toe and centre of the heel

Suitable Pilates exercises

 Spine twist, chest opener  Back extension, swimming, swan dive  Pelvic tilts, shoulder bridge  Focus on set and realignment of full spine

Scoliosis

Normally develops within the thoracic or the upper lumbar areas of the spine, but can also occur just in the lower lumbar spine. The curvature of the spine from scoliosis may develop as a single curve shaped like the letter C or as 2 curves shaped like the letter S.

Who suffers from scoliosis?

Scoliosis affects a small percentage of the population. However scoliosis can run in families. If someone in a large family has scoliosis the likelihood of an incidence in another family member is much higher – approximately 20%.

Scoliosis is a condition that is represented by an abnormal curvature of the spine or vertebral body. It can develop due to several conditions such as congenital development or degenerative issues. A large number of cases have no known cause and are defined as idiopathic scoliosis.

In other instances adult scoliosis can be caused by the degenerative changes of the spine. Other spinal deformities such as or round back are associated with the common problem of osteoporosis (brittle bone diesease) or osteoarthritis in the elderly.

If allowed to progress in severe cases, adult scoliosis can lead to chronic back pain, deformity and difficulty in breathing.

Scoliosis is different for every individual and a single realignment programme cannot be written, as this type of posture needs specialist diagnosis to determine the severity of the spine’s shape.

Suitable Pilates exercises

Its important to work closely with any clients that have this spine shape and create a programme suitable for them as an individual. Our advice is to organise a pre-class consultation with a client that presents with scoliosis to discuss their range of movement. Following this discussion, you will be in a better position to prepare suitable exercises the client can comfortably achieve during your session.

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