May 12, 2011
Anatomy I
Professor Kriota Willberg

It is rare to find someone with a complete and perfect symmetrical body. Every human being has his or her own skeletal structure and no one is alike. If you are one of those few people lucky enough to have “perfect symmetry and balance,” you might end up finding a flaw elsewhere, or so I’d like to think.
For myself, being as active of a dancer that I am, I already put a tremendous amount of wear and tare on my body, especially since I’ve been studying for eighteen years. The chances of me being perfectly in balance are slim to none. No matter how much physical therapy I do on my body, if I continue to dance with extreme physical motion I will always have something that is not in place. After doing these assessments I discovered a few things I didn’t realize about my body, but after analyzing them I see how they possibly may trigger some of my areas of discomfort. These imbalances affect my everyday activities, physical comfort, range of motion, and general sense of well-being.
I have the privilege of having a physical trainer to assist me at work before every performance. She’s there to make sure my imbalances are cared for and I’ve been given exercises to strengthen my weak areas. The main areas I’ve decided that need major work consist on my shoulders, spine, core, and ankle/foot. I’ve selected a series of exercises that I believe will help improve my weaknesses.
My overall posture is very good and that helps my head alignment as my chin is in place, balanced directly above my shoulders. Moving towards my shoulders it’s not completely obvious, but my right shoulder is slightly higher than my left. Resulting to my arm alignment, the left is longer than the right. Because my right shoulder is higher than my left, that affects the length of the arms. These imbalances could possibly be from constantly carrying heavy bags on my right shoulder, which I do often since, that is my dominant side. I tend to always have a strain in my right side, which is constant discomfort. After discussing with my personal trainer we discovered that my left side is weaker than my right. I have a series of exercises to strengthen my shoulder that works while retracting the scapular muscle. I also have wall push ups to strengthen the shoulder and a lat pull down exercise that will strengthen not only my shoulder, but my upper back as well.
Starting with my arms specifically my triceps, this exercise consits of dips from a bench. Making sure that my body is low almost to the floor, the elbows are close to my sides, pressing upward until my arms are straight. Do 3 sets and complete 15 repetitions. An upper extremity exercises include the push-up plus:on toes. The starting position for this exercise is by having my hands placed on the floor and balancing on my toes. I then perform a push-up and give an extra push at the end to being shoulder blades forward on rib cage and hollow out my chest. This exerices is to be done 10 times per set while resting 15 seconds after each set; a total of 3 sets per session. Another upper extremity exercise is the wall shoulder press-out as I mentioned earlier. With palms flat on the wall, shoulder-width apart, and elbows straight, with shoulders pressing back and then returning. This exercise is to be done 25 times with 2 sessions per day.
Once I have strenthened my arm and upper extremity it is now important for me to strengthen my scapula, which will lastly help reslove my shoulder imbalance and weakness. My work out will start with progressive-resisted abduction while standing. I will hold 5-pound weights in each hand and raise my arms out from the sides. This exercies is to be done 10 times per set, 3 sets per session, and one session per day. I will then move to scapular flexion, which also includes holding 5-pound weights. Raising both arms forward while keeping my elbows straight. This exercise calls to be repeated 10 times per set, 3 sets per