4 reasons to work on your posture.
Every kid has likely heard the order to “stand up straight,” but we don’t get that directive very often as adults. Maybe we should: Posture is often an overlooked part of wellness, but it can certainly be connected to health in many ways.
Maintaining good posture can bring many benefits, from a lower incidence of back pain to better sleep. This is just a handful of advantages you may find from taking the time to stand and sit better:
FEWER HEADACHES
When posture is off, the neck is often straining, especially when you hold your head forward for a large chunk of the day — as many people do by looking down at their phones. Cue the tension headaches.
“Poor posture places an increased strain on the muscles, ligaments, discs, and joints in your neck,” says Devin Christman, DPT, of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation in Pennsylvania. He adds that the strain can lead to chronic headaches and create inflammation that may irritate the nerves in the neck and head, possibly causing eye strain, runny nose, and even dizziness.
BETTER JOINT HEALTH
Poor posture can put quite a bit of strain on your joints, and depending on how you’re standing or sitting frequently, this can become chronic. For example, slumping your shoulders forward and keeping your hips tilted back can strain the lower spine, hip joints, and even your knees and ankles when you walk.
Working on better alignment takes the pressure off these joints because they’re lined up correctly and can work in concert, rather than a small number of joints taking up most of the work to stabilize you.
LESS MUSCLE STRAIN
Just as your joints work more efficiently with good posture, so do your muscles. You’re not “loading up” the same muscles over and over, which means they don’t have to be in constant contraction.
That allows your body to fire numerous muscles as you move, stand, and sit, reducing the chances of overworking just a few.
BETTER DIGESTION
Can how you hold yourself influence your digestion? Yes, if your usual sitting and standing postures include crunching forward to some degree. When your shoulders slump and your back rounds, it can create compression in your midsection, making it more challenging for your digestive system to work.
You’re reducing the amount of space in the abdomen; even that small amount can make a difference in digestion. According to Meghan Markowski, a physical therapist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the result can be constipation, heartburn, and pelvic floor problems.
MORE ENERGY
When your joints and muscles operate effectively, and you’re not compressing your organs, you tend to be able to breathe better and have better circulation. That leads to more oxygen getting into your system and more relaxation overall.
The result? Your energy can skyrocket. It’s like letting your body be in constant vacation mode instead of overworked-and-overstressed mode. With more energy, you tend to sleep better and have less fatigue during the day, which improves your overall energy even more.
TIPS ON GOOD POSTURE
The standard advice for excellent posture tends to be “shoulders back, chest up,” but that can create new problems.
For example, if you have a rounded upper spine — called postural kyphosis if it’s caused by how you sit and stand — trying to pin your shoulders back all the time could lead to an overcorrection or a condition called lordosis or swayback. You’ll be arching instead of slumping, which can cause muscle imbalance.
A better tactic is to take a whole-body approach to correct your posture gradually.
That starts with your feet. When standing, your weight should be primarily on the balls of your feet, and your knees should be slightly bent.
If you’re sitting, keep your feet flat on the floor, which usually requires putting a gap between the back of your knees and the front of your seat.
Whether you’re standing or sitting, keep your feet about shoulder-width apart.
Rather than squeezing your shoulders back, think about keeping your stomach tucked in — a good strategy is to imagine your lowest ribs tilting slightly inward and down. This can put your pelvis in a neutral position that allows your arms to hang naturally down the sides of your body.
Position your head correctly by keeping your earlobes in line with your shoulders. Many people tend to jut their head forward, causing neck tension.
Markowski suggests another good habit is to move often, particularly if you’ve been sitting in the same position for a while. Massage is a beautiful way to bring awareness to the areas you hold tension in and can help you correct your posture.
It can take time to reset your posture and a good deal of awareness. After all, if you’re like many people, you’ve created an unconscious movement, sitting, and standing patterns that you will probably slip back into if you’re not paying attention. But with so many benefits, it’s worth making an effort.
Written by Elizabeth Millard