What is it? Well, it’s how you carry yourself. Good posture ensures that your joints are lined up in a way that allows the most freedom of movement possible, while at the same time minimizing any undue stress that could be applied to your body. This undue stress typically appears in your joints, but also affects the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around those joints.
In general, you can work on your posture by either standing or sitting upright and avoiding any slouching positions for prolonged periods of time. Typically, slouching occurs while you are sitting. But slouching can also occur while you’re standing. Anytime your head tilts down and stays down for a length of time the rest of the body tends to follow that direction.
One of the results of slouching for prolonged periods of time, is that your body begins to adapt to that slouched position. When this happens, the normal resting lengths of your muscles begin to change. It changes around whatever joint is affected by the slouch. Since a joint is surrounded by muscles, the muscles around that joint can either shorten or lengthen beyond it’s normal resting lengths. When that occurs, the joint begins to move in a slight direction towards the greatest pull force or just plain ole gravity.
Once the joint shifts, there has been a change in posture either temporarily or quite possibly permanently depending on the individual. The good news is that these temporary changes can be adjusted and brought back towards normal resting lengths with the right exercises.
It’s important to note here that we all do not look alike. Good posture and normal muscle resting lengths vary from individual to individual. Rather than looking to see how one looks, the focus should be on improving range of motion and mobility where needed, while at the same time strengthening that freedom of movement so a positive change has been established.
Here are some of the benefits of good posture:
- Your overall appearance is that your taller and seem to have a self-confidence about you. So be proud and stand tall.
- By standing tall, you maximize the expansion of your rib cage thus resulting in better breathing. You actually take in more air and reduce any possible obstructions to breathing. Remember, you have muscles in between each of your ribs that comprise the rib cage. Those muscles are responsible for expansion and contraction of that rib cage.
- By having good posture you ensure that the muscles in front and in back of your body are balanced in length as we had discussed above. This length balance protects joints while at the same time maximizing freedom of movement.
- When all the above are in place, your muscles function efficiently. They use minimal amounts of energy to perform maximum amounts of work. You’re able to lift, push, and pull more as well as doing those things for longer periods of time.
What are you waiting for? Stand tall. Start exercising to improve your posture and health. I can help.
