Posture

Overview: A detailed explanation of the various components of Wisercise and how they work together to provide a life-long urban health fitness training system.

Mindfulness: Harness the Power of The Mind-Body Connection with the practice of Mindfulness. Free yourself from mechanical, conditioned ways of thinking and living which may be harmful to yourself or others.

Breathing: Ageing and the pressures of modern daily life will cause you to change the way you breathe. This article introduces a technique of deep breathing called the Complete Breath and highlights its role in maintaining good health and quality of life.

Posture: Many of the muscles used for breathing are also used for postural alignment. Good posture will improve your breathing and balance in addition to preventing falls and injuries. Learn how to fine-tune your posture for best results.

Stretching: Stretching is an extremely versatile and accomodating form of movement used by physiotherapists, athletes, ballet dancers, pugilists and the military. It is not only a bookend to vigorous exercise but a beneficial exercise in itself!

Aerobic Exercise: Add Years to Life & Life to Years with a traditional, easy-to-do exercise form that positively affects the years of life after age 40, lengthening life while postponing and compacting end-of-life disability.

Inside Aerobics: Find out what happens to you when you exercise aerobically and the benefits to your heart, brain and vital organs.

Best Aerobic Exercise: Researchers have found Walking to be the best aerobic exercise for daily health and wellness maintenance due to its accessibility, lowest injury rate of any exercise form and ability to reduce risk of premature death, dementia and other diseases.

Quickstep Overview: An overview of the Quickstep aerobic briskwalking technique. What is it? How can it benefit you?

Inside Quickstep: An inside look at Quickstep. Find out about Walking Mechanics, Tensegrity, Core Muscles and Balance and how to make these work together to make Quickstep go.

Posture Matters

Bad posture is so common these days that many people don’t think of it as a problem.1

In fact, few of us even recognise postural dysfunction because it’s the new “normal”.2

Postural problems are insidious in nature.

In many instances they do not produce symptoms, even as they quietly go about causing disease and a diminished state of health within the body.

So how serious is postural dysfunction? Do you have it? What can you do about it?

In this article, I’ll discuss some common postural problems and what you can do to resolve them.

But before we go any further, let’s define what we’re talking about.

What is Poor Posture?

With poor or faulty posture (also known as postural dysfunction), there is an imperfect relationship among various skeletal structures of the body.3

This causes restriction, imbalance and misalignment of the musculoskeletal structures which, in turn, strains the body’s supporting framework and adversely effects movement efficiency.

If the body segments are out of their optimal alignment for extended periods of time, the muscles eventually adapt by either shortening or lengthening (depending on the position).5

Muscles of the neck, shoulders, back, and legs must work harder to support you against gravity.

If this extra workload is allowed to continue, the potential for injury and long-term pain increases.

Unhealthy stressors will manifest in a chain reaction throughout your musculoskeletal system, moving you even further away from alignment and toward discomfort and disease.

3 examples of postural dysfunction
caused by everyday behaviours

If you habitually carry your sling bag on your right shoulder, you will begin to hold that shoulder higher than the other even without the sling bag.

If you sit hunched over your computer, you are more than likely to carry that posture with you when you stand and move.

Referred to as an epidemic of the modern era of cell phones, “Text neck” as it’s more commonly known, is a repetitive stress injury or an overuse syndrome.

"Forward or flexed head posture occurs frequently while using mobile devices and are implicated in neck pain, although the mechanisms are not well understood."

"We calculated gravitational demand in mobile device usage conditions and found that it increased 3-5 times the gravitational demand in neutral posture."

Anita Vasavada,
PhD.
Associate Professor,
The Gene and Linda Voiland School of
Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering,
Washington State Uiversity.

Teenagers and young adults who spend a lot of time on their mobile devices tend to be more susceptible to this malady also called iHunch or iPosture.6.7.8.9

Poor Posture
Affects Breathing,
Causes Health Problems

Posture and breathing are deeply connected.

The late Rene Cailliet (MD) former Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, evaluated the effects of forward head posture as it related to functional respiratory capacity.10

He concluded that poor posture involving a forward or flexed head can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage on the spine, reducing lung capacity by as much as 30%.

If you don’t hold your body in proper alignment, you cramp the muscles needed for full respiration.

This leads to something called a breathing pattern disorder.

A diaphragm compressed by poor posture cannot work efficiently.

Breathing becomes shallow and fast which is, in effect, a signal to your body to put itself into a stress response mode called fight or flight".

While in this mode, the adrenal glands produce adrenaline, cortisol and aldosterone, which are all stimulants.

When released within the body for prolonged periods, these biochemicals will:

impair cognitive cognitive performance

suppress thyroid function

decrease bone density

increase blood pressure

lower immunity

cause depression and

increase abdominal fat

Now, here’s the good news.

Everyone can avoid the problems caused by bad posture. And you can make improvements at any age.

Proper postural training, stretching and strengthening exercises have been shown to correct postural dysfunction and improve proprioceptive and cognitive functions.11.12.13

How To Correct Poor Posture

A proven approach to posture correction begins with spinal alignment, also called neutral alignment.

This process will help you identify what proper posture feels like.

Then, Mindfulness about how you hold your body in space will prompt the minute and subtle postural adjustments required to gently bring your body back into optimal alignment.

Exercises to “re-educate” muscles are also beneficial and will be covered in the section on Stretching.

Spinal Alignment

This refers to the three natural curves present in a healthy spine that is habitually held in good neutral alignment resulting in a perfectly balanced weight bearing body.

Spinal Alignment is found using the Plumb Line Test.14.15

Plumb Line Test

This test involves an imaginary weighted string hanging vertically from the earlobe down to the feet.

The string should run:

Down the centre of the neck.

Through the tip of the shoulder.

Down through the middle of the ribcage.

Just behind the hip joint.

Through the middle of the knee joint.

Ending at the ankle bone.

You control and maintain your Spinal Alignment via your Posture Control Points

Posture Control Points

To maintain your body in the optimal position determined by the Plumb Line Test, frequently adjust your Posture Control Points throughout the day.

The process takes time but you'll find the results well worth the effort.

It would also be worthwhile to participate in activities which support postural correction by teaching and emphasising the importance of good posture.

One such activity is Tàijí (Tai Chi).

Sound posture gives the Tàijí exponent
good balance with which to
execute techniques.

Good posture
complements balance

Walking across the floor or down the road requires good balance.

So does rising from a chair, going up and down stairs, carrying packages and turning to look behind you.

Good posture is a key element of balance.

When your posture is properly aligned, your body weight will be correctly centered over your feet which form your base of support when you stand and move.

This greatly reduces the chances of fall-related injuries.

A refined sense of balance will also positively influence your abilities in just about any activity or sport.

Posture during exercise

In general fitness programmes, the importance of good posture is often overlooked by fitness advisers and fitness seekers alike.

Consequently, people needlessly hurt themselves by exercising without due attention to how they are positioned in space.

Postural awareness will help you maintain correct form while exercising or performing any physical activity or sport.

This will, in turn, provide you with increased movement efficiency and therefore greater gains, while drastically reducing the risk of acquiring injuries.