The evidence is very shaky on whether stretching works as we originally thought. It is relatively clear that while it can help alleviate pain & improve flexibility in the short-term, long-term effects are inconsistent. Static stretching also does not appear to meaningfully improve posture and it also hampers performance when taken too far. Dynamic stretching can have a place in a dynamic warm-up.
Knocked knees are a result of the body trying to find joint actions it is naturally missing in order to complete the gait cycle, or allow for full human movement. This comes at a cost of stressing tissues and joints around the pelvis and knee. To fix it, we should start with the root of the problem – the pelvis in Anteiror Tilt.
Winged scapula are often a result of the shoulder blade not being able to glide freely on the ribcage due to compression within it (poor breathing mechanics). This causes the scapula to deviate outward in an attempt to find more movement.
In order to stand with good posture, we are looking for a “stacked” ribcage over pelvis.
This allows the diaphragm and pelvic floor to be aligned with one another for optimal function.
There are frequent situations when a protruding abdomen can cause an excess of air, gas, and pressure within the abdomen, resulting in a visual presentation of a stomach that sticks out, but isn’t necessarily ” belly fat”.
High arches prevent the arch from dropping and lowering into the ground in walking/running. This causes a lack of “yielding” into the ground which can result in many compensations. In order to address this, we should re-teach the missing link: Pronation and also likely internal rotation.
Breathing involves many joint actions at both the ribcage and pelvis. If you cannot breathe well, your skeleton is likely biased in a state of inhalation or exhalation. Being stuck in a given orientation of joint actions can restrict other ones, resulting in certain tissues and structures repetitively being stressed over time.
The Infrasternal Angle will give us a starting indicaition in terms of where you likely are restricted in terms of breathing and what your skeleton joint position biases are.
Lateral pelvic tilt is often a result of a compensatory strategy the body has adapted to because of an imbalance of musculature within the pelvis. We want to address that by giving more “pushing” muscles on the higher side and more “weight-bearing” muscles on the lower side.
If your feet are flat, you are not going to get your arch to “re-rise” without a lot of help, especially from something like an orthodic. Pay attention to your pelvis because it’s a primary factor.