Did you know your everyday posture could have an effect on your overall health and wellness? Your posture is a makeup of your musculoskeletal system at work to maintain proper positioning throughout the body regardless of it you are in motion or static. While posture tends to be an automatic position that most of us do not notice, being hyperaware of your posture throughout the day could lead to positive overall changes in spinal health, balance, movement efficiency, breathing, focus, mental health, and maximizing your muscle gains during exercise.
First, let’s debunk the idea of maintaining a “perfect” posture. Everyone’s body is different, so, in turn, everyone’s posture is different. Putting too much stress on yourself to fit the mold of a “perfect” posture could be more detrimental than beneficial. This is due to the mental stress and muscle tightness that accompanies the overall anxieties of maintaining a “perfect” posture. Instead of trying to perfect our posture, let’s try to make our posture healthy.
How do you know if you have poor posture? There are plenty of common body symptoms that could exist because of improper positioning of the body. Improper posture could lead to back pain, headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, and be a hindrance on your flexibility, mobility, or balance. According to The Pelvic Girdle, a clinical textbook that discusses posture and biomechanics (including breathing mechanics), bad posture can also reduce your lung capacity by 30%, leading to feeling groggy, having lack of focus, or experiencing shortness of breath.
To maintain a healthy posture, make sure your head is always above your shoulders, shoulders always directly above the hips, maintain a neutral spine, keep your core muscles braced, and stabilize the lower body. To stabilize the lower body while standing, make sure to drive your weight more toward the midfoot or ball of your foot and keep the feet separated about shoulder width apart. Your weight should be equally distributed between both legs. To stabilize your lower body while sitting, make sure your feet lie flat on the floor with ankles apart and legs at a 90-degree angle. A good tip if you are unable to reach the floor from your chair is to utilize a footstool to maintain a proper 90-degree angle.
Incorporating small but effective mental and physical exercises everyday can lead to better posture overall. Arguably the most important muscle group associated with a health posture is your core muscles. Practice engaging your core intentionally throughout your day. How do you engage your core? The simplest way to put it is to imagine you are zipping up the fly on your tightest pair of jeans, so you must suck your belly button back to your spine and stand tall. That is the same sensation as engaging the core. Practice sucking your belly button to your spine while breathing steadily to trick your body into thinking this is your natural relaxed state. Making sure you have the proper footwear for your body’s gait is also highly important when it comes to proper posture. Runners Forum and Athletic Annex are two great examples of stores that will help you with gait analysis and fitting you with the proper shoes to aid your posture and comfortability throughout the day.
A disciplined diet and exercise routine will also lead to a positive change in posture due to the strengthening of the skeletal and muscular system. During exercise, the key muscle groups to hit to help improve your posture in order of importance are the core, upper back, shoulders, and glutes/hips. While strength training is important for those muscle groups in the posterior chain, having specified mobility/flexibility days incorporated into your workouts or everyday routine are vital for the release of tension of the muscle groups utilized in proper posture such as the chest, shoulders, back and hips. Working on your range of motion and loosening of the muscles will also help proper posture come more natural to you, which can take a lot of the mental stress of maintaining a healthy posture away.
A healthy posture is a lot more complex than just standing or sitting up straight. It is about creating a strong and stable foundation of the musculoskeletal system to support balance, breathing, boost confidence, improving focus, and efficiency of movements in everyday life. By making small, intentional changes now, you set yourself up for better movement, better workouts, and better overall health for years to come.