Graphs - Understanding and Using Them

[Music] through the busy day many people carry themselves from one place to another standing walking how do they stand in regard to posture does that slouch look attractive or comfortable why should anyone suffer poor posture when good posture is easy look at that fellow Bob carries himself well doesn't he or take Jane for example her posture adds to her appearance doesn't it in the gym with an instructor perhaps we can study posture with Jane and Bob all right just what is good posture is it rigid and stiff like this is it slouched and Droopy like this actually good posture is the best compromise between straight alignment for balance and gentle curves for absorbing shock let's look at these two sticks for a moment a straight stiff body is Jarred by every step this in your body would be very tiring but certain parts of your body can have a natural curve a gentle curve to absorb Shock watch notice how the cushion can absorb part of the jar but the curve must be gentle too much curve may throw you out of balance so good posture combin straight for balance and curves for absorbing shock of course you want to hold those bones of your structure in the best and most comfortable alignment and let's see why notice how flexible the structure of the body is unless your muscles hold it right your structure soon drops to an awkward and uncomfortable position the pelvis is the foundation of good posture because of its relation to the legs and the spine it can really throw you off normally the pelvis is held by sets of muscles in front and in back these muscles should be in Balance each doing its share if the pelvis is allowed to tilt out of position see what happens to the spine and to the whole body you can see why this is called swayback even though a sway back is seriously out of balance it feels natural to some people do you know why if the posture is allowed to stay like this these front muscles soon become stretched and weak the muscles behind actually become shorter to fit the Tilt strengthen stretch and stay right three steps to good posture but first to check to make sure that we're not fighting anything more than bad habits relax see the hollow two more much can Bob reduce it here all right first strengthen the front muscles with knees up pull up and twist over like that build up to a number of these and you'll feel those abdominal muscles working and being strengthened that's right take it easy at first now to stretch those shortened back muscles using only the muscles of your arms pull your trunk forward as far as you can just let your trunk Coast forward your arms stretch the muscles of your back that's it of course exercises like these will help you correct bad posture and also maintain good posture if you stay right now just as the forward pelvic tilt can induce a sway back the backward tilt of the pelvis can bring about a slou see how the spine curves back and disturbs the body the muscles of the back are stretched and become weak while the abdominal muscles grow shorter even if the slouch didn't Tire you out it certainly would ruin your appearance let's see the exercises to guard against this condition and correct it first we'll strengthen the muscles of the back hook your feet and pull up into high Swan arches like this do you feel the pull now that the back muscles are being strengthened we'll stretch the abdominal muscles by pulling with the arms you see you're really using other muscles to pull these out to their normal length the pelvic tilt has other bad effects when you slouch your body's off balance and you become round shouldered the muscles of the back become stretched and weak these in the chest become shorter maybe Bob will show us how to avoid this first to strengthen the back stand a little away from a wall a little more than a foot away now keeping your feet hips and shoulders all in line press back with your hands that's it you're using those muscles of the upper back you're strengthening them feel it now you are ready to stretch the muscles of the chest standing just a little back of a doorway fall forward relax let your weight fall in your arms don't fight it just relax you feel a pull on those muscles of the chest they're being stretched notice the way Bob keeps his head back and his chin in that not only helps the muscle stretching but develops the neck muscles to prevent a forward head you see round shoulders often bring on a forward head after a time these muscles are stretched in weakened and here's an exercise to keep those muscles strong be sure your head is comfortable on the pad now pulling your chin in press back with your head and hands a deep breath and lifting of the rib box promotes chest posture these strengthened muscles will help you to hold your head high in comfortable posture a good posture comes from strengthening the right muscles stretching others and staying right in pelvis shoulders and head but there's another factor of posture the supports for all this the feet should be strong and flexible remember what we said about absorbing shock the normal foot has two arches the longitudinal Arch and the transverse Arch these arches are important to the absorbing of shock as we walk and there's a simple way to check your foot and see the condition of your arches that's right study your footprint the arch that provides the cushion will not normally print so the normal strong put looks like this and if the Arches are weak they'll make a print like this check also the middle of the ball of the foot if there are calluses here it may be a sign of a weakened transverse Arch and here's an exercise to strengthen both arches the idea is to curl the toes in bunching the towel and then pull the towel tor you that's it curl in if you're doing it right you can see the pocket then the exercise is strengthening your arches you'll want to check alignment of your entire body with a plum Bob do you see the combination of balance with a gentle curve see that the ankles in the pelvis fall along the line here is a gentle curve in the SP fine but again the head and shoulders are right in line once you learn to maintain good posture naturally it's the easiest one to hold of course there's the matter of lateral balance if you suspect lateral unbalance of your posture check with your instructor or your doctor strengthen stretch and stay right learn the feel of good posture it's a valuable asset perhaps Jane is going out on a date you'll find as she does that good posture adds to your appearance and feeling of well-being perhaps Bob is going to see about a job he'll be comfortable and he'll make a good impression because his posture is right through checks and exercises he knows that it will stay right [Music]