Wednesday, 29 April 2009

test your posture

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Good posture can be the difference between assisting your physical development and undermining it. Here are three tests for your posture.
Stand facing a full length mirror. Check that the following are true of you:
1. Your shoulders are level
2. Your head is straight
3. The spaces between your arms and sides seem equal
4. Your hips are level
5. Your kneecaps face straight ahead
6. Your ankles are straight
Now stand side-on or ask someone to help you make the following assessments of your posture:
1. Your head is erect, not slumping forward or backward
2. Your chin is parallel to the floor, not tilting up or down
3. Your shoulders are in line with your arms, not drooping forward or pulled back
4. Your stomach is flat (probably not as much as you’d like!)
5. Your knees are straight
6. Your lower back has a slightly forward curve, not too flat and not hollowed out
Now move over to the wall.
1. Stand with the back of your head touching the wall and your heels 15cm away from the wall.
2. With your buttocks touching the wall, check the distance between your lower back and the wall with your hand, and your neck and the wall.
If you can get your body between 2.5 - 5cm from the wall at the lower back and 5 cm from the wall at the neck, you're close to having excellent posture. If you can't achieve this , your posture my need professional attention from a chiropractor or osteopath to restore the normal curves of your spine.
Pilates is an excellent form of exercise to address postural issues.  
Posted by comotivate at 2:11 AM in Get Fit Goal
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