2. VIEW FROM SIDE
The ‘plumb line’, is a straight line right from the vortex of
head through to the foot, passing the ear lobe, centre of
shoulder & hip, in front of ankle and through foot. – My
plumb line is moderately straight however my shoulder is
slightly out of line, this could be due to a number of
factors.
In this image, my posture appears relatively good
however I know from feedback that I have tendencies to
arch my lower back when dancing. This arch is known as
‘Lumbar Lordosis’. Although there is a subtle curve in my
lower back in this picture, this is just the shape of my
body and not down to poor posture. This therefore shows
me that the problem is within my performance rather than
a physical problem with my posture.
This image also shows that my arms hang slightly in front
of my body whereas arms should hang in a straight line,
resting comfortably alongside hips.
3. VIEW FROM FRONT
The ‘plumb line’ should pass through the centre
of the nose, mouth, chest, abdomen, belly
button and legs. As can be seen in the
picture, the line passes through these which
shows that my body is in line and technically
have correct posture. There are always things I
can do to maintain and improve my posture
such as core stability exercises for example
holding the plank.
HORIZONTALLY –There should be a straight
line between the tips of the shoulders, tops of
hips and knee caps. However my left shoulder
is slightly higher, my left hip is also slightly
higher which could be due to the shoulders
being out of line which has gradually pulled my
hips out of line. This is probably from wearing
shoulder bags so I am now wearing a backpack
to ensure the weight is distributed evenly.
4. VIEW FROM BACK
The ‘plumb line’ should pass through the centre
of the skull, the spine and between the
buttocks. Once again my plumb-line is
relatively straight however, as explained on the
front image, I can see that my left shoulder
blade is slightly higher than the right. This
could be due to wearing heaving one-
shouldered bags on my right shoulder which
has pulled my posture down on that side and
made my left shoulder appear higher. My right
shoulder muscle is most probably more
prominent as well because of the weight it has
taken and therefore the strength it has built up.
In order to straighten out my shoulders, I am
now using a backpack so weight will be evenly
distributed between my two shoulders and one
will not build up more muscle than the other or
be pulled down.
5. PARALLEL POSITION
Weight should be evenly spread over
heel,ball,toes,’long’ toes, no ‘rolling’ of weight
inwards or outwards. Lower legs sit over the
axis of the heel (talus) with the knees directly
above the apex of the instep. Knees should not
be ‘locked’ i.e patella relaxed.
As part of a basic standing posture
checklist, my partner looked at these things on
me. She noticed that my left leg bows
outwards.
9. ANAYLSIS OF MY FITNESS
I feel overall I have a satisfactory to good level of fitness however I would
like to improve on it as the better fitness and stamina I have the more I
will be able to dance without losing energy and therefore I will be able to
spend more time and energy improving on my dance technique and skills.
From the fitness table, I learned that overall I have good fitness and my
BMI is within the healthy range. However my aim is to achieve the ‘Elite’
status across each of the tests. Although ‘the plank’ was not on the fitness
table, this was one of our tests. I held the plank for 2 mins 16 seconds and
I aim to increase this to 3 mins by the end of my 3 month fitness program.
To achieve a BMI of 20, I would have to lose 11kg which I feel is an
unachievable amount of weight to lose in this short amount of time. I have
therefore set myself a more sensible goal of a 3kg weight loss (half a
stone) to give me a BMI of 23.
10. In order to improve my aerobic fitness I have
produced a 3 month exercise plan.....
MONTH 1
Day Morning Afternoon Evening
Monday BODY ATTACK
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday JAZZERCISE
Sunday SWIMMING
For the first month of my fitness plan, I have chosen just 3 activities for the week as I do not
want to push myself too hard at first otherwise there is no room for progression. Body Attack
and jazzercise are intense classes and similar to aerobics so very good for aerobic fitness. I have
then chosen swimming as my third activity as it is a lot less intense and requires a different sort
of energy to the other two so gives differentiation to my fitness plan.
11. MONTH 2
Day Morning Afternoon Evening
Monday BODY ATTACK
Tuesday
Wednesday BODY ATTACK
Thursday JAZZERCISE
Friday
Saturday
Sunday SWIMMING
To increase the activity in my fitness plan, for the second month I have opted to take part in
another body attack class as after a month of doing one class, my fitness will have increased so
that I am able to do two and not struggle. I have chosen body attack over any other form of
exercise because it is intense but at the same time I really enjoy it and therefore I have the
motivation to do it so it is not an unachievable goal.
12. MONTH 3
Day Morning Afternoon Evening
Monday BODY ATTACK
Tuesday
Wednesday BODY ATTACK
Thursday JAZZERCISE
Friday
Saturday BOOTCAMP
Sunday SWIMMING
To further increase the intensity of my fitness plan for the final month, I have added in another
class, Bootcamp. Bootcamp is the most intense of all the classes and this is why I have left it
until the final month once my fitness has built up to a level that can cope with this.
