Bad Habits, Good Posture

Many of us have bad postural habits. We tend to slump, lean and bend out of alignment while sitting, exercising... or even just standing around. The problem is that continuing those habits can lead to muscle soreness, joint pain and limited flexibility. Eventually, these issues will start to hinder your everyday activities of work, sports and life.

Let's begin by asking how we develop these habits? A major cause is the fact that our bodies are naturally "unbalanced." That is, we have a dominant side -- the side we use to write, kick, shoot a basketball or play an instrument. Because we use our dominant side more intensively, that side becomes stronger. As a result, motor, muscular and endurance imbalances start to develop. 



Injury is another primary reason for bad posture. And the more severe the injury, the bigger the disparity. Say you sprained your left knee. The left knee and surrounding muscles are now weaker, sore and stiff. You'll start to reduce stress on that side by leaning to the right while standing (or pushing off the right leg when you're jumping). Over time, these small, temporary compensations become habit. This continuous reliance can lead to overuse injuries on the "good" side. Now the other side can become weaker and more painful.  

Our everyday work activities are another major source of poor posture. Most of us spend a lot of time at the computer (that's how you're probably reading this article right now). So, focus on your current posture for a moment. Are you slouched forward? Is your head in front of the rest of your body staring at the screen? Countless hours of this common forward-head-posture causes neck and upper-back pain -- the tightness that leads to headaches, fatigue and lowered productivity. 

Fortunately, the fix is simple. First, just start paying attention to your posture. Your spine should be in line from the head to the tail bone. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders with your chin pulled in. Shoulders should wide. When standing, place equal amount of body weight on each side. When sitting, distribute weight evenly on the back of the legs. Half the battle is just awareness.  It also helps to increase your postural muscle strength. Focus on activities that help build postural and stabilizer muscles -- exercises like Pilates, total-body strength training and total-core work. To help remedy any natural or injury-driven muscular imbalances, make sure you're training each side of the body equally. Over time, it works. You'll really start to notice a difference in your stance. So stand up tall! Not only will you reduce aches and pains, but you'll also have a prouder, slimmer, more confident look.