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To understand the concept of structural fitness, it helps to think of the body as a building. That is the muscles provide the decoration and, to some extent, the strength, but if the structure itself isn't strong enough, the building is in danger of collapse. Structural fitness is about achieving a harmonious balance between the weights, forces and tensions within the body. It may sound intellectual, but it is actually quite ease once you have taught your body how to do it. Then you will quickly begin to feel the beneficial effects: the various parts of your body working in harmony; the spine will be protected from strains; you'll be more balanced and you'll move better; and you will feel two inches taller, and three inches thinner.


Fundamentally, the body is a long, slim structure supporting the head, and it has two main hinges – one at the neck and one at the lower lumbar spine. This structure houses your nervous system and supports the cavity that holds all your organs.


A healthy person in terms of structural fitness, standing side-on to a mirror, will see their lumbar spine join the sacrum in the lower back with a gentle, gradual curve. The pelvis is tilted upright, so that it is perpendicular, and the centre of gravity between the hips (the point where the horizontal line between the tip of the coccyx and the tip of the pubis is crossed by the plumb line from head to foot), is in the correct position. The abdominal organs rest in the pelvic basin, while the upper torso and the head are balanced on top of the pelvis, via the spinal column. When this structure is perfectly aligned within in a lean body we have a feeling of wellbeing and are able to enjoy a full range of natural movement.
 

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If you're hyper-fit, with a body lovingly constructed from hours of patient work in the gym, then no doubt you'll have impressive deltoids, massive pectorals, and a six-pack stomach you could play tunes on. But take another look…If those pecs pull your shoulders forward, you'll end up looking like Quasimodo. As for those upper abdominals, the pain they gave you when you were building them is nothing compare to the pain they'll give you later. This is because as they shorten they pull a kink in the spine at its most vulnerable point, where the gentle curve of the lower back should flow smoothly into the reverse curve of the bottom. Chiropractors and osteopaths know this as the L5/S1 junction.


And don't think you'll escape this fate just because you're a loveable slob whose idea of a six-pack is drinking one with bangers and mash. You won't suffer the ill effects of being muscle-bound, but a side-on glance in the mirror will speak 1,000 unkind words. It's like being pregnant for the rest of your life, and if you have never met a pregnant women with backaches, you've never met a pregnant women. Sucking in your stomach will work for as long as you do it but this only shoves the strain further up your back, which means that you'll end up walking around like a constipated duck.


To achieve whole-body alignment, you have to start at the body's centre of gravity and the point where all balance and alignment ultimately come from: the perineum.

Think of the muscles here as forming a ''figure 8''. The top loop includes the sex organs, the bottom loop, the rectum. The centre point joining the two loops is the perineum. If you raise yourself up from the centre, tilting the pelvic basin neither one way nor the other, not only will your protruding gut problem disappear but also the perfect equilibrium you've established will propagate itself upwards and downwards throughout the rest of your body. You will find it easy to develop relaxed, open shoulders. You will experience a full range of natural, unforced movement and a new sense of wellbeing. No aches, no pains, no problems.


To find out what the perineum does and why is it so important, take a look at the guts. There's a lot of them, and they mostly just flop about inside the pelvis. At the back they can't fall out because there are bones in the way, but towards the front there's nothing holding them in but a bit of neglected muscle. Therefore, if your bad posture tilts the pelvis down and forwards, then your guts will slop out. Think of putting several pounds of raw liver into a wok and tilting it, and you'll get the general idea.


Finding your centre is only part of the story: you need to keep it. You'll have a new bit of you to work out, especially that neglected lower abdomen. Most importantly you have to train yourself and your body to recognize when you're in balance and when you're not.


If your spine is already wrecked, or locking up in places, or you have twinges you think you shouldn't be having, a diagnosis and a course of treatment by a chiropractor or osteopath, is essential. A specialist can help unlock areas of stiffness and immobility, sort out excessive spinal curvature, and deal with any other structural problems. For instance if you have one leg slightly shorter than the other, the whole body gets involved in trying to compensate for the problem and a measured heel-lift can prove dramatically beneficial.''
 

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Exercises based on the Pilates method are ideal for regaining alignment and good posture. Normally, Pilates-based exercises require the supervision of a skilled practitioner who can watch how your body is responding and adjust the program accordingly, but these exercises can be performed without supervision. Train yourself in them, or incorporate them into your workout. 
 

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What is an optimal posture?
Sayer Clinics doctors and therapists specialise in achieving Optimal Posture. It is the state of muscular and skeletal balance that protects the supporting structures of the body against injury or progressive deformity, whether at work or rest. Correct posture involves joint position and mobility to provide minimum stress on the joints while poor posture increases joint stress and damages discs and surrounding tissues. Posture also involves the chain-link concept of body mechanics where knee pain or headaches can arise from low back joint disorders like scoliosis, spondylitis or spondlolisthesis, all of which are specifically aggravated by poor abdominal core stability and pelvic and lumbar joint arthrosis and stiffness.

The effects of posture are far reaching, involving your psychology and mood as well as physical energy, respiratory, digestive and musculoskeletal systems.

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Causes of poor posture

Poor work/study/resting posture at computer screens, desks and watching TV leads to spinal stiffness and gradual fusion of areas of the spine whilst other joints are overused causing disc damage.

• psychological factors, low self-esteem, shyness , tallness
• spinal developmental and degenerative processes
• neck and back pain leading to muscle guarding and avoidance postures
• compensatory scoliosis (lateral spinal curvature) caused by a shorter leg or pelvic joint subluxation with muscle imbalance and spasms
• excess weight causing sway-back , rounded middle-back, forward poking neck leading to spinal disc damage and nerve compressions (shoulder /arm pain and sciatica)

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Diagnosis
 

A patient's postural faults must be accurately diagnosed before they can be effectively corrected. Examination and diagnosis at Back 2 Fitness includes the following:

• observation of the patient as they sit and move .
• three-dimensional analysis
• spinal segmental alignment
• flexibility tests
• muscle length and strength tests
• diagnostic 'lower-dose' Computerised Digital Spinal X-Ray images, if necessary, may be made privately at the Cumberland Centre in Devonport to  rule out underlying disorders or structural anomalies.

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Treatment

At Back 2 Fitness we are primarily focused on postural and functional optimisation of the spine and musculoskeletal system using spinal manipulation, Pilates based exercise, nutrition and advice on ergonomic seating at work. 

Minimise the effects of ageing and feel more confident in yourself by optimising your posture and mobility at Back 2 Fitness.

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