Remember your mother poking you in the back and admonishing you to stand up straight? Well, it turns out Mom knew best. Bad posture doesn’t just make you look dumpy, it can lead to serious health problems.
When you sit and stand correctly, your posture protects parts of your body. Keeping muscles, ligaments, and bones in their aligned position relieves stress on the back, shoulders and knees. Slouching, or rolling your shoulders forward, shortens your chest muscles and reduces flexibility while over stretching your upper back muscles and weakening them. Swayback (hips pushing forward) posture creates an exaggerated curve between the pelvis and ribs that stresses the lower back. Over time, these stresses can inhibit breathing, cause muscle fatigue, or result in varying degrees of back pain.
Many posture problems result from sitting for long periods of time. Sitting is harder on the back than standing or lying down. Poorly fitting shoes, especially high heels, are another problem, as is a heavy purse on one shoulder. Some posture dilemmas are the result of a temporary strain that has become a habit, such as swaying your back during pregnancy or an injury that you may have been compensating for.
Good posture is the result of a combination of factors. Shoulders should be pulled back and down, with the head held high. The stomach and buttocks should be pulled in and the chin tucked in a bit. When sitting, make sure your thighs are parallel to the ground and that your head isn’t slumped forward. Don’t cross your legs! (Guess Mom was wrong on that one…) Disciplines such as Pilates classes, yoga and personal training encourage proper posture. Of course, it’s not enough to practice good posture a few hours a week while in a class, we have to allow those practices to carry over to our daily lives and that can be a steep learning curve both physically and mentally.
One of things I like best about Pilates is that it is a thinking man’s sport. It’s highly detailed so my clients learn a lot about their bodies and how to work in near perfect alignment. This knowledge follows them home, on their walks in the woods and to the baseball diamond. Best of all, it’s geared for any level. It challenges your strengths and strengthens your weaknesses.
