Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes and eyes and ears and mouth and nose, Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
We all remember this childhood song, but who could have guessed that our crazy music teacher (and they are ALL crazy) was trying to teach us about perfect posture when exercising.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes are 4 out of the 5 check points that I monitor on my clients to make sure they maintain the optimal positioning throughout their workout.
Here are the 5 posture check points:
Head
Shoulders
Hips
Knees
Toes (Feet)
What I look for:
Like the middle diagram in the picture, I look for your ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and foot to all be stacked one on top of the other. No matter your body position, try to line up as many of these check points as possible: standing, sitting, laying, kneeling, even on all fours.
Who cares, Lance!?
Want to increase the strength of your lifts
Want to feel a 'better burn'
Want to fully develop muscles
Want to prevent injuries
Maintaining good posture will prevent altered muscle lengths, faulty movement patterns, and poor joint mechanics that can inhibit ALL of the above.
The gym is the graveyard for good posture:
Hunchingover the stair stepper, stationary bike, or elliptical
Arching your back with any lift
Letting your head jut forward when doing push-ups or crunches
Squatting, lunging, or leg pressing with the hip, knee, and foot misaligned
Common causes of bad exercise posture:
Tiredness
Using too much weight
Lacking body awareness
Lacking the knowledge of proper exercise positioning and posture
Remember the posture song:
Before you are just about to begin your exercise or cardio session
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
and eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
We all remember this childhood song, but who could have guessed that our crazy music teacher (and they are ALL crazy) was trying to teach us about perfect posture when exercising.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes are 4 out of the 5 check points that I monitor on my clients to make sure they maintain the optimal positioning throughout their workout.
Here are the 5 posture check points:
What I look for:
Like the middle diagram in the picture, I look for your ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and foot to all be stacked one on top of the other. No matter your body position, try to line up as many of these check points as possible: standing, sitting, laying, kneeling, even on all fours.
Who cares, Lance!?
- Want to increase the strength of your lifts
- Want to feel a 'better burn'
- Want to fully develop muscles
- Want to prevent injuries
Maintaining good posture will prevent altered muscle lengths, faulty movement patterns, and poor joint mechanics that can inhibit ALL of the above.The gym is the graveyard for good posture:
- Hunchingover the stair stepper, stationary bike, or elliptical
- Arching your back with any lift
- Letting your head jut forward when doing push-ups or crunches
- Squatting, lunging, or leg pressing with the hip, knee, and foot misaligned
Common causes of bad exercise posture:Remember the posture song: