Is movement and posture important only to athletes, or do the applications go much further beyond?
A layperson may be completely unaware of aspects such as posture and movement. A novice athlete is not always able to attribute sports injuries to a problem with movement. However, the professionals know it, and now you do too, that the way we sit, stand, walk, sleep and work out has a huge impact on what happens to our muscles and bones.
Several unexplained aches and pains are actually the result of bad posture and an improper moving technique.
Posture issues can affect anyone, not just athletes. In fact, if you spend a lot of time sitting, you are prone to a host of spinal issues, causing recurrent neck and back pain.
Contrary to popular belief, there are scientific ways of assessing movement and mobility. These tests can help identify problems and correct them.
Let’s now address a few questions about movement and mobility. Some of the answers may surprise you!
Why do postural problems creep in?
From the time we are born and until the time we learn to walk, we follow a pattern of movements that puts very little unwanted pressure on our muscles and bones. However, as adults, we readily jump into a new activity, sometimes without having the strength or fitness required to do so. This is when problems arise.
Sitting is not a natural state for the human body, but our jobs demand that we do just that for several hours each day.
High intensity activities and those requiring endurance are not to be ‘plunged’ into. Before you begin running a 10K marathon, you need to prepare your body for it.
Exercise that is good for others may not work for you. Several people take to Yoga to improve flexibility and it works too. But in people who are already flexible, the hypermobile joint becomes the weak link in the bone structure.
Sometimes, just repeating the same physical activity over and over again, while also doing it wrong, can lead to a chronic ache or pain.
In pregnancy, chronic back pain is often a result of the excess weight put on the spine. With the right kind of activity and rest cycle, this can be corrected.
How Do I Know I Am Doing It Wrong?
Indeed, in healthy individuals, very rarely will problems pop up in a single day. They build up over time such that you may not even realize there is a problem until it manifests as pain.
Here are a few ways to tell if something is wrong.
Do you find it harder to perform one physical activity over another, all parameters remaining the same?
Do you have unexplained aches and pains, especially after a long day?
Do you remember having an injury that you don’t remember treating?
Have you been to a physiotherapist for any issue, and stopped therapy as soon as the pain was managed?
How you recently started a high intensity activity without the required training? What can a mobility assessment test do for me?
Simply put, it can help you identify if your posture and movements support a healthy body.
A postural assessment can tell you if you are distributing your weight equally on all relevant muscles when you move.
It can help identify problems with both static and dynamic positions- in other words, it can identify errors of posture both why you stay still and while you move.
It can detect problem areas and joints before they progress into inevitable pain.
Mobility assessment can help you identify the root cause of chronic aches and pain, and help you treat them effectively.
What should I do before undergoing a mobility assessment?
A mobility assessment is not prescribed as part of any annual health check-ups. Awareness is only growing about this domain, and about the effects of our own movement on the body. These assessments can be conducted every month, or even every six months, depending on the individual case.
No two mobility assessments are the same, and neither are their results.
Prepare to spend some time with the team that will be assessing you, as they will have a lot of questions to ask you about your lifestyle.
Get the testing done with an open mind- the results may surprise you, but working on them can certainly improve your quality of life.
Mention to the assessment team if you have any chronic ailments or heart conditions that prevent you from high intensity workouts.
It helps to be prepared with information about past injuries to your bones or muscles to discuss with the doctors and physiotherapists present there.
Does mobility assessment really help? Why should I go in for it? Is it expensive? Stay tuned as we answer these questions and share a case study with you next week.
*Medical Disclaimer - The following information is for educational purposes only. No information provided on this website, including text, graphic, and images, are intended as substitutes for professional medical advice. Please consult with your doctor about specific medical advice pertaining to your condition(s)
