Posture Therapy Services

A woman with her hand on the back of her neck.

I highly recommend Aligned Fitness. I have been undergoing treatments for about two months. I've seen a remarkable difference in how I feel and look!. I'm an orthopedic surgeon and while many of my patients request aggressive treatments, I prefer less aggressive treatments for them and me. I had been having nagging knee and hip bursitis, both of which have completely resolved with my program.  Objectively, my program has resulted in me being 1/2 taller, and my 6 mile run time has improved significantly. Subjectively, I feel better.

R.K.

What is Posture Therapy?

Posture alignment therapy is based on the premise that the human body has a functional position in which the ankles, knees, hips, shoulder and head are stacked in both vertical and horizontal alignment. It's customized in that it looks at each individual's posture to assess the position of the load bearing joints. If one appears out of alignment such as a hip being higher, the feet being externally rotated, or the head sitting forward of the shoulders, these deviations from the norm create muscular imbalances, which ultimately lead to inflexibility, reduced strength, dysfunctional gait patterns, and wear and tear on the joints.

At Aligned Fitness, we prescribe customized corrective exercise sequences designed to shift the bones back to their functional position. We use specialized techniques to trigger a nervous system response and reset stubborn postural patterns. Pictures and videos of individualized exercise menu sequences are then sent for practice at home.

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Corporate Wellness Classes

Aligned Fitness offers corporate wellness classes. Learn exercises to keep you "Pain Free at your PC."  Educate yourself in functional posture and movement re-patterning to protect your spine. Learn techniques to increase oxygen capacity and calm the nervous system for optimal performance in both work and daily life.

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Individual Postural Therapy

We offer both remote and in-person customized posture therapy sessions. Whether your goal is to reduce pain, recover from an injury, or increase performance, we will provide customized exercise routines to reduce pain and restore function.

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Group Classes

Aligned Fitness offers onsite and remote group training. Learn to assess your unique posture in a group setting. Learn a series of functional tests and corrective based exercises to achieve optimal mobility, stability and function.

What kinds of symptoms does postural therapy treat?

  • Lower back pain, sciatica, spondylolysthesis, stenosis, disc herniations, piriformis syndrome
  • Hip pain
  • Shoulder pain
  • Stiff neck, Migraines, headaches, TMJ
  • Knee pain, shin splints
  • Sprained or weak ankles, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, bunions, achilles pain
  • Arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis
  • Preventative treatment for the maintaining optimal muscular health
  • Specialized programs to optimize athletic performance

What does a typical appointment entail?

  • Postural photos with gravity lines inserted using the PTX software system to indicate which of your load bearing joints may be out of alignment.
  • Gait analysis
  • Functional testing protocols
  • A customized menu of corrective based exercises created in a specific sequence to get your body back to it's optimal alignment
  • A digital copy of the prescribed exercises including detailed descriptions of each exercise, pictures, videos, and individualized sets and reps.​

How does it differ from other modalities?

Postural therapy treats a person’s pain without hands on manipulation. Chiropractic, for example, adjusts the body by physically moving bones back to their proper position. Like chiropractic, we attempt to do the same; but understanding that “muscles move bones,” we achieve this by adjusting the length tension relationships of the muscles in order to move the bones back to their neutral position. By influencing both the position of the joint and the musculature surrounding it, the adjustments become more permanent. Postural alignment therapy also differs from physical therapy which typically treats a "symptom" once an injury has occurred. What differentiates posture therapy is it does not let the location of the symptom dictate where to focus. Instead, we take a “holistic” view of the body and assess each individual’s alignment from head to toe to find the underlying dysfunction contributing to the pain symptom. By treating the cause being muscular imbalances and improper loading of the joints, we can reduce both current and future pain symptoms.

Over the Christmas Holidays I found myself in a wheel chair. I had abruptly and unexexpectedly developed severe pain in my right thigh- pain that seemed like sciatica. I could not stand for more than 30 seconds or walk more than 50 feet before having to sit down. "Traditional" medicine was never able to diagnose the situation.  "They" prescribed Tylenol and Gabapentin for the nerve pain.  A friend recommended Egoscue and Aligned Fitness. I had always thought of alternative therapies and medicine as bordering on quack remedies. However, what did I have to lose in this case? Well, now it is late February. At the age of 67, I just got back from a week in Wyoming and Montana. I went cross country skiing 2 days in the Tetons and West Yellowstone! From a wheel chair to X-country skiing in less than 60 days. Pretty darn good I say! Though there are years of bad habits to overcome for this 67 year old, I could not be happier with what I am experiencing. I wish I had found out about Egoscue years earlier and Aligned Fitness years earlier

JC- Palo Alto, CA

What kinds of symptoms does postural therapy treat?

  • Lower back pain, sciatica, spondylolysthesis, stenosis, disc herniations, piriformis syndrome
  • Hip pain
  • Shoulder pain
  • Stiff neck, Migraines, headaches, TMJ
  • Knee pain, shin splints
  • Sprained or weak ankles, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, bunions, achilles pain
  • Arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis
  • Preventative treatment for the maintaining optimal muscular health
  • Specialized programs to optimize athletic performance

What does a typical appointment entail?

  • Postural photos (with gravity lines entered using E-Pete software to indicate which of your load bearing joints may be out of alignment)
  • Gait analysis
  • Functional testing protocols
  • A customized menu of corrective based exercises created in a specific sequence to get your body back to it's optimal alignment
  • A digital copy of the prescribed exercises including detailed descriptions of each exercise, pictures, videos, and individualized sets and reps.​

Over the Christmas Holidays I found myself in a wheel chair. I had abruptly and unexexpectedly developed severe pain in my right thigh- pain that seemed like sciatica. I could not stand for more than 30 seconds or walk more than 50 feet before having to sit down. "Traditional" medicine was never able to diagnose the situation.  "They" prescribed Tylenol and Gabapentin for the nerve pain. The latter was absolutely useless.  A friend recommended Egoscue and specifically with Lisa Decker. I had always thought of alternative therapies and medicine as bordering on quack remedies. However, what did I have to lose in this case? Well, now it is late February. At the age of 67, I just got back from a week in Wyoming and Montana. I went cross country skiing 2 days in the Tetons and West Yellowstone! From a wheel chair to X-country skiing in less than 60 days. Pretty darn good I say! Though there are years of bad habits to overcome for this 67 year old, I could not be happier with what I am experiencing. I wish I had found out about Egoscue years earlier and Lisa Decker is a great therapist and practitioner.

JC- Palo Alto, CA

How does it differ from other modalities?

Postural therapy treats a person’s pain without hands on manipulation which differs from many other types of therapy. Chiropractic, for example, adjusts the body by physically moving bones back to their proper position. Like chiropractic, we attempt to do the same; but understanding that “muscles move bones,” the method we use achieves this by adjusting the length tension relationships of the muscles in order to move the bones back to their neutral position. By influencing both the bone and the musculature surrounding it, the hope is the adjustments will become more permanent. Postural alignment therapy also differs from physical therapy which often treats a symptom once an injury has occurred. What differentiates postural therapy is it does not let the location of the symptom dictate where to begin. Postural therapy takes a “holistic” view of the body and assesses each individual’s alignment from head to toe to find the underlying dysfunction that may contribute to the pain symptom. By treating the cause (muscular imbalances and improper loading of the joints) we can reduce both current and future pain symptoms.