In 1999 I was told to go on the world wide web to check out the PRI by Ken Crenshaw, who was with the Tampa Bay Rays then as an athletic trainer- since posture was brought up during a conversation. I was an intern at the time and wanted to know what resources were the best. The Postural Restoration Institute is again popular again, and my response is you can’t do more with less without being very creative. NCAA has 8 hours for strength coaches and those poor guys have a lot of work to do in very little time. How does one ensure every joint and muscle and motor skill is perfect? Where are these breathing masters with super postures and explosive bodies with perfect nutrition? One young coach asked me if he should be concerned about not having all of the letters next to his name and I said be aware and educated, but don’t loose sleep because you are not training the digestive system or coaching left thumb muscles. I believe in posture and address it, but I think most strength coaches would be smart to stop by a decathlon coach and pick their brain. How does one get prepared for so much with a finite amount of resources? When does general approaches improve specific needs such as spinal shaping and good respiratory function? I have used Zebris and 3-D static posture tools with motion capture to see if new injured athletes are fixed and find that many of the claims by coaches are just internet hype. I am sorry but changing posture is not about pictures online, it’s hard work in addition to the other needs of a program many times. It would be great if 14 year old distance swimmers could olympic lift their way to better health, but much of the starting point exercises must be in place and some athletes can never take advantage of the bigger lifts. Some sports have unique postures, some are better than others. I am a believer in olympic lifting for body balance, and this video shows athletes looking well structured.
