Adaptability
I often get asked about posture, or specific movement patterns that are optimal for a given exercise. The question is understandable, we all want to move well and feel good doing it, so identifying the ideal position is important to us. The obstacle that quickly comes into focus is the idea that in any given moment an ideal position is outside of what has been described as optimal. Circumstances are always changing, from the environment to how we feel that day. Our bodies look to accomplish the desired task, irrespective of what has been considered optimal. Maybe within that moment the movement we selected for is optimal even if it does not correspond to the textbook. The real answer to the question posed, is that we want adaptability, the ability to accommodate ourselves to ever-changing conditions.
Let’s imagine silly putty for example, it contorts itself to the pressures placed on it. It never takes a rigid shape and attempts to maintain it under every circumstance. It readily changes itself to accommodate the demands placed upon it. Our tissues are actually very much like silly putty, you can see my related post linked below, where viscoelastic properties govern how tissues move. Some tissue types are less like putty than others, but all exhibit the properties in some way. That means they are able to adapt themselves to environmental stresses, if we lose that capability we tend to get in trouble.
The desk worker is a common scenario for the posture element of this post. Sitting for hours tends to lend itself to what is considered unfavorable posture. We slump and the forward head and rounded shoulders look comes over us; we’ve all seen it. We have lumped this position into the category of “bad”, however in reality that is a shape that is selected for under the stresses of long workdays. The solution is not necessarily to sit with shoulders back and chest out, the answer is to be adaptable enough to find another position and maintain it for a period, then shift to another and onward. Remaining adaptable to as many scenarios as possible is how we move well and feel good. If we only have one tool to solve the problem, and that tool doesn’t provide the solution, then we have issues.
Remaining adaptable means being open to other potential solutions, training in ways that provide a novel stimulus and challenging yourself to do things you haven’t done before. That keeps us nimble, agile and more capable. Performing the same activities repeatedly allows for greater efficiency, however to be able to find new solutions to common problems we need creative, adaptable bodies.
Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist
