Site navigation and social media links
3 Posture Conditions That Can Cause Us Pain
Health | May 07, 2015
Unless there are some traumatic injuries or birth defects, the human skeleton is designed as follows:
1. The head is centered over level shoulders
2. The shoulders sit directly over level hips
3. The hips are firmly planted over symmetrical knees
4. The knees and ankles are aligned with feet pointed straight forward
Bones do what muscles tell them to do. Muscles have a length-tension relationship to one another. When this length- tension relationship is disrupted by a muscle becoming too short, long, strong or weak, it impacts the proper rate of contraction and the sequence in which muscles fire. This results in inefficient and/or uncoordinated movement, and the whole skeletal system is affected.
The hip girdle changes its tilt, the back changes its curve and the whole body begins to compensate creating misalignments. These misalignments lead to abnormal wear and tear in the joints. After a time, misalignment can cause musculoskeletal breakdowns, injury and pain.
The first step towards more personal approach towards mitigating the symptoms and eliminating the causes of your pain is to find out what condition posture you fall into. This will help you to choose the right exercise routine targeted towards the compromised functions of your body, and enhance your ability to heal yourself. I’m currently posting routines that are universal for any posture and will help you get rid off acute pain and chronic pain. As we progress I will be posting routines specific for certain condition postures in order to help you more effectively fix the specific deviations typical for your posture type. There are 3 condition postures with basic characteristics that are fairly easy to spot.
Condition Posture #1 – Basic Characteristics
- visible arch in the lower back (anterior pelvic tilt) – this is the most important clue for this posture condition.
- Knees face outwards (external femur rotation)
- Forward rounded shoulders
- Feet turned outwards (feet everted)
Condition Posture #2 – Basic Characteristics
- Torso Rotation and/or shoulder elevation
- Pelvic rotation and /or elevation
- Asymmetrical position of your arms or legs
Rotation is the major clue for Condition Posture #2 – You can be a blend of Posture #1 Condition and Posture #2 Condition. You can also be a blend of Posture #2 and Posture #3.
Condition Posture #2 – Basic Characteristics
- No curve in your lower back and both hips tilted under (posterior pelvic tilt) – major clue for this condition posture
- Head forward of shoulders
- Shoulders rounded forward
- Abs sucked in and hands showing in front
Here’s an example of a healthy and functional posture. All load bearing joints – shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles – are stacked, leveled and in 90 degree angles. It’s actually amazing to see how perfectly are our bodies designed to function. Gravity is our friend when our body is in good alignment, but when something goes out of whack, gravity can be a bitch.
I can’t stress this enough – Bones do what muscles tell them to do. The Postural therapy series in the ZGYM uses muscles to reposition the skeleton to its original functional design. Postural Therapy routines are series of exercises designed to reposition, strengthen, and stretch specific muscles to correct dysfunctions and re-align the body so that it can function normally and without pain.
Private Member |
Hi Z! I just want to let you know that 2 months ago, after doing scorpio push ups in BodyCrush #17 X, I woke up the next day with severe muscle spasms and I developed pain in my left tricep, in the left shoulder, behind left shoulder blade and in the left elbow. A few weeks ago MRI confirmed a cervial herniated disc in C6/C7. I have been training with you for 5 years and have tons of strenght, so I don’t think I had a problem in the technique. Probably I got unlucky, but my physiatrist said the scorpio push up move is very dangerous, as the spine twists at the same time as a LOT of pressure is directed towards the shoulder and cervical area (especially people with long backs). Just to let you know.
Anyhow, I would really appreciate a postural therapy set for cervical/neck problems!!! I am SUPER bummed, since all strength has disappeared from my left tricep and I can’t even do a push up or a dive bomber properly anymore 🙁 It feels terrible, since I have been able to do tons of them before. Luckily this will probably heal in time, but it will take months to get my strenght back in the left arm. I try to stay positive and do the push ups in workouts with my knees on the floor. Luckily my legs are still super strong and my physiatrist said I have great overall muscle strength – thanks to you! 😉
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Anu, I always advise everyone to talk to their physician before starting any exercise programs or moves. It’s been known that even the best athletes have been injured from even the basic exercises.
I remember when I got a herniated disk myself over a year ago and I was in shock too, because I thought that someone who’s as strong as myself shouldn’t have such severe problem. After doing my postural therapy and studying the Egoscue method I realized that my body wasn’t as functional as I thought it was. In fact, there are tons of athletes with major dysfunctions and chronic pain. Functional strength is not how much weight one can lift or how fast one can move or run. Functional strength means being able to perform an exercise without any compensatory motions, being able to repeat an exercise effectively without little decrease in performance and stay injury and pain free. That’s why is so important to pay attention to our postures and make sure that our bodies are truly functional.
Private Member |
Thanks for replying Z! I have gathered up Egoscue moves for the neck from Pain Free book, and designed my own 30-45 min “rehabilitation program” I try to do every day to enhance my overall posture, but I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas!
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
That’s great, I wish you fast recovery so that you can get back on track!
Private Member |
uk
I looked in the mirror and sure enough my right hip is lower than my left. Scary. Never noticed that before. How do I fix it? Hip exercises? Thanks Zuzka.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I will be posting Postural Therapy routine for hips in two weeks so check back for that. You can start with the Lower Back routine in the Zgym as you never know what caused your elevated hip and the exercises for lower back may help with your hip as well.
Private Member |
I am definatley a 2 with mixes of 1, and 3.
Private Member |
although people do tell me i have good posture all the time. i feel like they are not seeing me right or something because i can feel in imbalance in my body, or maybe it is in my head. I am not sure, but people say to me how do you have such good posture? I just try to stand, sit straight up all the time, all while feeling the different imbalances throughout my body. with time, and the postural therapy it will get better. i already feel differences walking, and so on. Thank you soo much =)
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
You can’t be a blend of 1 and 3. You can be blend of 1 and 2 or 2 and 3. The major indicators of condition 1 and 3 are in the pelvic tilt which is the exact opposite for these two conditions.
Private Member |
Thank you, I think I would be 2 & 3.
Private Member |
québec, canada
I’m a 3 and always had been. It’s a constant struggle to remind myself to sit better, especially in front of a computer.
Private Member |
seattle, washington
So what is the best method of determining your posture? Have someone take pictures? Looking in the mirror seems in someways counterproductive as your will correct your posture as you look.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
You can see a lot by looking in the mirror, but yes, you are absolutely right. The best way to assess your posture is to ask someone to take pictures of you from front, back, and both sides.
Private Member |
seattle, washington
I’ve seen where they have a grid on walls and they set up a camera on a tripod and take those photos at gyms that have physical therapy and posture correction.
Private Member |
Hello Zuzka I’m 3 from I was young today I’m 52 years old…. Could you tell me some exercises
Thank you
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi 🙂 I’d like to help but I don’t understand your question…
Private Member |
Ahoj Zuzka,
I am number 3 as well and miss instructions in this article once you determine your type. Should I focus on shoulders? Or is the problem in pelvis? Should I get stronger back muscles/abs? Or maybe strenthening the butt will help to repair the tilted pelvis? Please, advise. Tnx.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Daadja,
This article is only informational and shows you the 3 posture conditions. If you have any of these conditions, the best way is to start postural therapy, which might be very individual. I have some basic postural therapy routines in the ZGYM that can help you get rid of pain in your ankles, knees, hips, back and shoulders, but you may still have to get on more personalized program that will help you get rid off not just the symptoms but the problem itself.
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
this is very interesting content. I was born with one hip twisted and the other one undeveloped. I had scoliosis as a child and spent long hours at rehabilitation as a child to get my skeletal system straight. I have become somewhat athletic and have been active all my life long. Today I am 31 years old and still exercise. What I have noticed I get knee pain after squats or biking up the hill. I try to keep good position but I might be doing something wrong. My knees are not super aligned – one of them is pointing inward when my feet are straight. Is this fixable? Is this source of my pain? I would love to work on that. If you pointed me at right direction I sure would follow through.
Thank you
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Aurelia, any misalignment in our posture is fixable for one simple reason – bones do what muscles tell them to do. All you have to do is to work on strengthening and stretching the right muscles so that they pull on your bones with the right tension and your knee will be pointing straight forward again. It is more than possible that your knocked knee is the source of your pain, but the knee could be also a result of some other missalignment in your body. I suggest you to get rid off the knee pain first which you can do by doing my Postural Therapy for Knee Pain routine that I have in the ZGYM. Do it daily until the pain goes away completely and then switch to my other Postural Therapy routine that works as a prevention and will also improve your workout performance.
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
I am a condition 2, and surprisingly (disappointed) that I got to the Dr in physical therapy several times before he eventually told me my pelvis is rotated. Next obvious question was…so what do I do now? …no answer! and that was several years ago. He just said keep moving. duh!
Kinesiological stretching has helped a lot, but several months ago I thought this is not treating the cause. Now I am looking at Egoscue and hoping to get this all fixed.
I am not sure yet if I will invest in online therapy with Egoscue center.
would you recommend it?
Has anyone done their skype therapy?
thanks so much Zuzka, I am so grateful for these 2 amazing methods you presented to us.