Dr Emil Kleen on Standing

Here follows some further description of standing and a picture from the same source. In my view, it describes a very stylized standing form, akin to the stylized (and problematic) form gymnasts end their routines with today. My thought is that this reflects an early start on an unhealthy trajectory in modern standing. Interestingly, the picture doesn't fit the description in your quote of what should be happening in the pelvis. Your quote suggests a tucked pelvis; this picture, doesn't show a tucked pelvis. It does, however show a lot of other flaws - locked knees, swayed back, too pointed out feet, raised chin, etc.



Standing Fundamental Position (Fig. 33). - In taking this position -

1. The heels must be together in the same frontal plane (in cases of knock-knee this is not possible).

2. The. feet must form a right angle with each other. In Denmark and elsewhere the angle is given as about 70°.

3. The knees must be fully extended, or even somewhat hyper-extended.

4. The trunk must be held erect, with shoulders lowered and drawn back.

5. The head must be kept erect, with chin slightly drawn in. Eyes to the front.

6. The arms must be held close to the sides, with slightly extended elbow, wrist and finger joints, and the palms against the thighs.

The correct position is most easily taken if one attempts to raise the crown of the head as much as possible while the shoulders at the same time are lowered and drawn back.

The principal working muscles for taking and maintaining this position are : -

(a) The posterior neck muscles, because the line of gravity for the head falls in front of the cervical spine.

(b) Back muscles, because the line of gravity for the head and trunk combined falls in front of the spine.

(c) The posterior shoulder muscles (Trapezius, Lat. Dorsi, Rhomboids), to hold the shoulders down and back.

Besides these, for the balancing of the body in the joints of the spine, hips and ankles, first one and then the other of the muscles passing over these joints must work incessantly.

The line of gravity may by a slight forward movement of the pelvis be put behind the frontal axis of the hip joints, so that stretching of the ilio-femoral ligament prevents the trunk falling back and makes a great deal of muscle action unnecessary; but in a correct position this does not occur.

The knee joints are, on the other hand, so well fixed by hyper-extension and by tension of the ligaments and capsule at the back that their muscles practically need not work.

So far as the ankle joints are concerned, theoretically they ought also to be sufficiently fixed, because they are ginglymus joints, and because their axes are not parallel but form an angle of 70° to 90° with each other, but on account of the gliding in them the help of the leg muscles is necessary for balancing the body.

No, I don't agree. I don't think one should depend on tautness in the ilio-femoral ligaments to stabilize the spine. Otherwise, for example, ballet dancers, who have a great deal of turnout (which requires a great deal of flexibility in the ilio-femoral ligament), would have unstable spines. I fall in this category having grown up doing Indian dance (baseline: feet facing outwards 90 degrees).

You want a well-stacked vertebrae and tone in your intrinsic back muscles to stabilize your spine. As part of learning tallstanding, I instruct people to look for softness in the groin by doing a small squat, straightening out their legs but not "locking out" their groin or their knees.