Posture

Stand up straight, put your head back, stop slouching…

Please don’t. When it comes to posture, or correcting a dysfunctional/uncomfortable posture, there is a lot more involved than attempting to mimic what is considered ‘good posture’. The vast majority of postural muscles are designed to maintain positions for hours and hours on end. When we attempt to mimic a posture, we often use other muscles – they can move us into a certain position but will not sustain that position comfortable or without issue.

Retraining posture requires a deeper understanding of the anatomy that is involved, an assessment of the capacity of these muscles and ruling in or out any imbalances that are present or contributing to the presenting symptoms. As physiotherapists, we often find ourselves wondering why someone is moving a particular way, and love getting our hands on the task of figuring it all out, to make things a little more comfortable.

Here are a few helpful tips to try to improve your day-to-day posture:

• Move your legs & feet around if you are travelling – in a car, plane boat or plane for hours on end.
• It’s okay to not sit bolt up right in your chair all day long – lean more to your left, your right, let your back relax, move your shoulder blades up and down, round and round. Even slouch for a little bit – be daring.
• Be mindful of when you are looking at your phone – it is rare that phone use does not require a head down posture – in bed, on the couch, sitting, standing or laying down.

Postural Truths:

1. There is no such thing as the perfect posture. We are all built differently and are required to do different things in our day to day. The perfect posture should describe the ideal position for you, during that task, at that very moment.
2. Change your position/posture regularly. If you are sitting, looking at a screen – look up……. look down……look left & right……now look back here. If you spend a lot of time at a computer during your day, do this every 10 minutes. If you use a sit to stand desk – that’s great. Sit down when you start leaning more on one leg, stand up when you start fidgeting or moving around in the chair. It may surprise you have often this happens in a day.
3. Lasting changes to posture take time, assessment, and tailored exercise. Be patient.
4. ‘Posture correction devices’ exist. These may work for some and not for others – posture is rarely a cut & paste matter.
5. There are many reasons for postural issues, and these change over time. A forward neck, posture with rounded shoulders is currently a common presentation – in another decade, this may not be the case.