As a health and fitness person, I’m sure you have heard that having good posture is highly beneficial and that you should do what you can to train your posture. But do you really know why it’s important? And do you actually know what good posture is and how to train it – or do you just think you do?
Why is posture so important?
Posture plays a fundamental role in all aspects of our lives.
As human beings, our bodies are super intelligent and designed to function in so many subtle and complex ways to perform a huge variety of tasks. But as a society, we have adapted to a lifestyle that requires less and less movement and our bodies have responded by becoming less capable of movement, even normal, everyday-type of movement that was so much a part of our ancestors lives. I mean, one of the most common forms of disability today is back ache.
But movement is life. From a scientific point of view, movement generates kinetic energy. The more we move, the more energy we build-up. Energy cannot be created or destroyed just transferred from one type or object, to another. The more kinetic energy we build up through movement, the more energy we have to be converted into other forms, to do other things. And who doesn’t want or need more energy?
So what does posture have to do with this? Efficient posture unlocks freedom of movement i.e. it allows for more movement and better quality movement. The type of movement that doesn’t put wear and tear on your body or create fatigue. Quality movement feels good, boosts circulation, distributes nutrients and oxygen and eliminates waste from the body. Today more than ever, we need more movement in our lives and good posture is the absolute foundation of and is fundamental to quality movement.
Poor posture, in and of itself (like slumping in a chair all day) puts undue pressure on our joints, muscles and internal organs but also leads to weakness and imbalance which further causes us to move incorrectly to compensate for the weakness. So poor posture really is a double-edged sword. It causes weakness and pain, which causes incorrect movement, which causes more weakness and pain.
A Postural Mind-Shift
The new way to really think about posture, is not that it’s some static thing that needs to be held in place at all times but rather that posture is about movement. The goal of postural training isn’t to be able to stand up straight but rather it is freedom of movement – the ability to move without any pain or limitation and perform any and all tasks efficiently. Good posture is dynamic, not static. It supports movement rather than inhibiting it.
Another mental shift is that postural training doesn’t necessarily start with exercises. It starts with a commitment to focus on your body, as often as you can. True postural training begins when you can tune into your body, connect with it and feel what it needs. When it needs to move and when it needs to rest.
And finally, you didn’t just wake up one day with poor posture, everyday life made it that way. Likewise, if you make a commitment, you can use those same everyday moments in life to create positive changes in your body. Our brains are wired to get better at what we practice, so instead of practicing bad habits, if we can develop and practice new, healthy habits, we can get better at those too. Its all about what you become used to, you are in control of your movements, posture and lifestyle decisions. So get used to doing what’s good for you and commit to making what’s good for you, your new normal.
Postural Myths Debunked
- Posture has to be held and means never slouching – NOT TRUE – Posture is not about the way you stay still. It’s about the way you move and that means any and all movements including slouching. Why would we be given the ability to slouch if we were never supposed to do it? Sometimes rounding the back is necessary for the task at hand or just feels good. The key here is balance. Our bodies are designed to move and so we aim to create balance and stability in our bodies through good posture to support our movements.
- Good posture is standing up straight with shoulders back and down – NOT TRUE – Our spines are actually s-shaped, not straight up and down and the reason for that is to absorb shock and vibration. By forcing your spine into a solid pillar, you are reducing your ability to absorb shock, thus inviting injury. Not to mention creating tension and limiting your mobility. Likewise with the shoulders, forcing them down and back is tiring and difficult to maintain. People often let the rib cage pop out when forcing the shoulders down and back. This creates tension in the neck and lower back and instability in the trunk. Postural training builds strength throughout the body, the consequential result is that the shoulders will naturally sit in the right place when sufficient strength has been built.
- Bad posture comes from weak abdominals – a more accurate expression would be posture is affected by core strength. There is a lot of confusion around what the core is and many people think its just your abs. But really your core is made up of 4 muscles – the transverse abs which wrap around your torso like a corset (not your rectus abdominis/6 pack abs), your diaphragm under the lungs, your pelvic floor at the base of your pelvis and your multifidus, a small set of muscles on either side of your lower spine. A strong core means not just strength of all 4 of these muscles but also tone and simultaneous engagement i.e. all 4 activate together when performing a task. Good posture helps train your core together and conversely a well-trained core helps maintain good posture. So they both affect each other. Just doing 1000 crunches a day is going to do very little to both build core strength or improve posture.
- Bad posture comes from my body type which is genetic and unchangeable – while it is true that your body type is genetic, its certainly not true that certain body types are more prone to bad posture and even less true that posture is genetic and unchangeable. Getting your heaviest bones into proper alignment actually places less pressure on the joints, muscles and internal organs and conserves energy. So in theory, good posture is actually easier to achieve and maintain than we think. The problem lies with the poor habits we have developed over years. Those are difficult to change – genetics has nothing to do with it. Every body type can achieve proper skeletal alignment.
- If working at a desk is physically easy, why is it so bad for my posture? – Yes sitting is less physically demanding than cutting down trees, building walls and lifting heavy loads but the act of sitting causes the muscles in the front of your body (quads, abs and hip flexors) to grow tight while causing your back body to compensate. The glutes become weak and the spine moves into extension. Add a slump into the equation and the upper back rounds forward causing the neck to protrude and the pelvis to tuck forward. This reduces the natural curves of the spine and makes it less capable of absorbing force. The protruded neck creates tension as the neck muscles over work to stabilize the spine. When you have to move and perform certain tasks, the weak muscles cannot function properly so your body is forced to recruit stronger muscles to do the job. Only they were not designed to do that job and so over time, an injury develops. This is why prolonged sitting is so bad for you.
Here’s a quick recap
- Postural training is about movement – efficient posture unlocks freedom of movement.
- The goal of postural training is to improve the way you move, not the way you stay still.
- Postural training begins with a focus on your body – listen to your body and feel what it needs.
- Postural training requires a commitment to improving your daily habits and making better lifestyle choices one day at a time.
- Postural myths that are not true.
So I hope that you enjoyed this “mini lesson” and learned something new. Become aware of your posture and the posture of those around you. Focus inwardly, on your body. Move everyday and see your health improve.
