There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of posture in athletics. Perfect posture is all relative to the athletic environment that you are in. For example, a rower has a very different dynamic posture than a gymnast. The rower may have rounded shoulders and forward flexion of the neck at the spinal joints while the gymnast stands up straight, joints stacked in perfect symmetry. Is one posture better than the other?? Most of us would say the gymnast has better posture. It doesn’t really matter in athletics which is better or not because we are looking at them in a static position. Remember, we are training athletes to move, not to stand still. We should assess posture in a dynamic environment and look for coordinated movements with smoothness and efficiency. Posture is highly individual to each person’s body structure and highly adapted to the activity the athlete is engaged in. A posture that works well for one, may not work well for another. As strength and conditioning professionals, we see muscle imbalances in a static position and try to correct it because of the increased incident of injury.  This may be true but static posture has very little relationship to movement. This is a non-functional tool and should not be the baseline for postural assessment. We need to remember that the body is asymmetric. It would be unrealistic to think that there would be muscle balance right to left or front to back. We know that the pecs are stronger than the upper back muscles and the quads may be larger than the hamstrings. Does this mean we need to build the hamstrings or are the quads overdeveloped?

Dynamic Assessment

To do this you simply have to watch him/her move. Knowledge of the athlete and demands of the sport are very critical in this assessment. Taking video of the athlete while moving is a great tool to go back and watch in slow motion. You want to look for smoothness, efficiency, and rhythm most importantly. If there is a break in rhythm and flow when the athlete moves then there may be some corrective measures that need to be implemented into their current training program. If you notice a lack of rhythm then you need to look at the smaller body parts and see if they are working in coordination with the bigger ones. The assessment is not rocket science but you need to have an “eye” for it. Knowing what the movement should look like and comparing and contrasting with that visual image is essential to good screening.

Training

Strength, flexibility, balance, and movement need to be addressed incorporating multi-joint, multi-plane work. Focusing our training on the “anti-gravity” muscles are particularly important in maintaining body postures in sport. The 4 anti-gravity muscle groups are the gastroc/soleus group, the quadriceps group, the gluteals, and the erector spinae group. In addition, the abdominal complex also plays a major role in dynamic posture. It is vital to train movements over individual muscles because the transference to sport is greater. Training should be done in an open chain environment with your feet on the ground. An over-emphasis on prone/supine exercises will not improve dynamic postural development. Tight muscles also attribute to poor posture. Include a daily flexibility program specifically addressing gastroc/soleus, psoas, lats, pecs, and hip flexors and extensors.

In conclusion, the big picture here is to assess each athlete with an open mind and with knowledge of them and their sport. Everyone is built differently and just because he/she may appear to have poor posture in a static position does not mean that there is a problem. In the division 1 collegiate setting it is important to remember that these athletes are here because they are good at what they do and chances are they have been doing it for a long time. Trying to fix things that are not broken is not always the best answer.

Adapted from Perfect Posture, Vern Gambetta

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