A small group of Wellness Center participants are standing a little taller and straighter this spring after Kelly Whittemore, a student intern, gave them some tips and exercises in her posture class that ran Mondays for five weeks.
Kelly graduated May 7 from Shippensburg University in south-central Pennsylvania, after completing her internship and one remaining class at Keene State College. She had also served as an intern during her high school years at Conval in Peterborough.
The people who enrolled in the special posture class were either ones who said they always knew they had a posture problem or someone had recommended the class to them, Kelly said.
The basic idea behind good posture is that one’s ears should align with their shoulders, which should align with their hips and their knees and their ankles. “That’s the first step—to recognize that you’re not straight up. Being hunched over is a real problem, ” she said. “So many people have sat at a desk and had years of working with their head pushed forward.”
Kelly’s own posture sits a little straighter than most. She has two, 18-inch steel rods in her back as a result of surgery she had in high school to correct her severely curved spine from scoliosis. Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that can develop in children during their growth spurts. Kelly’s spine was actually rotating, she said, and “doing nasty things.” The surgery fused the spine together.
She was warned that she may not play sports again after the surgery, but six months later she returned to play field hockey and then softball, two sports she played throughout her college years as well.
It was actually the experience of having surgery and then going through lengthy physical therapy and rehabilitation that sparked Kelly’s interest in Exercise Science as a field of study. As a high school student she served as an intern in the physical therapy department. In addition, she spent time in medical rehab and on the Fitness Floor, and loved it.
When it was time for college, Shippensburg was one of the few that offered an Exercise Science major, plus a women’s field hockey team. Kelly played and coached throughout college. For her senior year internship, Kelly inquired back here at the Wellness Center and staff member Allie Meader became her supervisor.
In addition to the posture class she designed, Kelly also worked with Cardiology, Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab, performed health assessments and helped in the Adult Fitness classes. To complete her credits, she needed to a do a research and design project and was encouraged by her professor to explore the area of posture.
After announcing the upcoming class to Wellness Center members, Kelly first had participants undergo a basic posture assessment that she had designed. The assessment included measuring flexibility and also an endurance test so that she could see how strong the person’s core muscles were. “If your core muscles are weak, it really affects posture,” she said.
Among the nine participants in the class, Kelly said she talked often with them about how hunching over compresses your abdominal cavity and lungs, making it difficult to breath. “If you keep your body up and opened up, you can breath easily,” she said.
The posture class consisted of arm and shoulder strengthening exercises, as well as working on the core muscles and some basic aerobic exercises. Kelly said she noticed people get out of breath easily even though the movements are not strenuous, simply because their body is pressing in on their lungs.
Good posture can also prevent injuries. When you’re sitting straight, the proper muscles are engaged, not just compensating for what you’re doing incorrectly, she explains.
Kelly says by the end of class, participants told her they noticed when they were leaning forward and knew enough to straighten themselves up. “They cue themselves and they don’t get short of breath now,” she said. Though the class has ended, participants were given a worksheet with the exercises for them to continue on their own.
After gradation, Kelly will take some time off to hang out with her toddler nephews who live near her in Bennington, but she hopes to continue with her schooling and, ultimately, to work in a wellness center type of facility.
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Perhaps Emilia can offer her expertise here, but I am not familiar with top, or expert scoliosis physicians here in the US.