Sit Up!
How many times were you told as a child to ‘sit up straight’, ‘don’t slouch’ or to ‘stand up tall’? How many times as a parent have you said it to your children? Whilst the intention may be good the instruction is misleading and could be the cause of many problems including lower back pain and persistent sports injuries. When we were told to ‘sit up’ what did we do? The majority will tighten the lower back and push the chest forward, yet if you look at the back it is not sitting straight – its pulling the lower back in and shortening the spine. It also instils the belief that if we are doing something wrong, such as a slouch, we need to do something extra to correct it rather than to just stop slumping. So why should this interfere with our sport? The tension we apply to carry out these instructions will soon become habitual until excessive effort and tension is applied to all actions. Don’t believe me? The next time you get out of your chair see how much effort you use and ask whether tightening the lower back, pushing the chest forward or using the arms to get up is necessary? If these actions are present in this everyday movement, what inefficient actions are present in your sporting movements?
The idea that we should be sitting and standing straight is rightly based on the belief that good posture is good for health bad posture is bad for health. In this article I argue that whilst this appears to be true, the conventional methods to achieve it is misguided. Rather than concentrate on posture we need to look at why we have lost it.
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.
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.
· “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! 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. 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.
· “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. We are misguided 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 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.
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.
Roy Palmer is a Teacher of The Alexander Technique and author of The Performance Paradox: Challenging the conventional methods of Sports Training and Exercise. More information can be found at www.artofperformance.co.uk
He works with sports people of all abilities to improve performance whilst reducing the risk of injury.
