One of the most important things about body mechanics and posture is alignment. As humans, our posture represents how well we move – your posture says a lot about how your muscles and joints are working. Many pains and problems in the body are associated with long-term misalignments. For example, a golf player who is always swinging and rotating in one direction may lead themselves to having asymmetrical overuse injuries over time. These can happen from bad habits or outside forces such as accidents or sports activities. Remember, what you tend to do most your body will want to adapt to (p.s. this is why we constantly vary tempo, angles, range of motion, tension, etc. when training you!)
Alignment refers to how the head, shoulders, spine, hips, knees and ankles relate and line up with each other. Proper alignment of the body puts less stress on the spine and helps you have good posture. The muscles and joints of the body work best when the body is in a certain alignment while moving. These ideal positions help the muscles and joints to produce and reduce force in the best manner. The ability to optimally produce and reduce force is what minimizes the risk of injury.
Treat the body as a system
The best way to ensure proper body alignment is to eliminate any muscle imbalances by treating the body as a system – strengthening weakened muscles, lengthening tight ones, and training good form. By doing so, we can optimize the human musculoskeletal system for long-term health and a pain-free life.
Meet us on the Megaformer this week, and let’s work on your alignment together.
