The importance of posture every day

[shesulsa]

Good posture has been credited for being a major aid in improving health, quality of life, arthritis prevention, the prevention of mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, prevention of arthritis ....

What do you do to promote and maintain your posture and what do you define as good posture?

 

[Lisa]

A massage therapist friend of mine told me one of the most important things we as human need to do is frequently stretch our necks trying to make ourselves taller while pulling back our shoulders. This will greatly help improve our posture. We spend most of our days in a slouched position and it is important to purposely exaggerate good posture as often as we can.

 

[Xequat]

Excellent idea for a thread. I sit a lot with my new job, so my wife, also a massage therapist and exercise physiologist, whatever that means, says to stretch the hamstrings whenever possible because the sitting position, even with good posture, shortens the hamstrings, which over time can lead to muscles in the back getting pulled, if that makes sense. Now if I could only learn to stop walking on the outside knife-edge of my feet, stop slouching, stop hunching, and get the wallet out of my back pocket, I'd be looking pretty good. Yeah, I don't think I do anything right when it comes to my posture.

 

[Bigshadow]

Good thread! Posture is an important part of our training, having good generally means being well balanced. I am not as fanatical about it as I should be, but I do try to be consistently aware of my posture. Since I am constantly sitting, I am thinking of getting one of those exercise balls to sit on at my desk. This way I am constantly working my core muscles for stability. Someone gave me that idea recently. Proper structural alignment promotes good balanced movement.

Also, as a diversion, posture is also more than just your structural alignment. Posture also changes peoples perception of you.

 

[Drac]

Great thread...I can now thank all the school teachers who constantly harped on sitting and standing straight..I do it without thinking about it..

 

[Shirt Ripper]

There are 3 things, that if nothing else one can do to make a positive impact on their health:
1) Keep good posture (sitting, walking, whatever)
2) Stretch
3) Floss

I generally sit with good posture. One thing I do to "train" for good posture is squat heavy.:boing1:

 

[White Fox]

Practicing Hatha Yoga is I wonderful way to correct bad posture and maintain better posture.

 

[Shirt Ripper]

There are 3 things, that if nothing else one can do to make a positive impact on their health:
1) Keep good posture (sitting, walking, whatever)
2) Stretch
3) Floss

I generally sit with good posture. One thing I do to "train" for good posture is squat heavy.:boing1:

Shirt Ripper, don't you think it is hard to generalize that type of thing...and even down to three!?!?!?!?:whip:

Becoming generally stronger with improve many aspects of health as well.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

Get your butt behind you, and your head over your body. There was a study once on venous return to the hear through the inferior vena cava that measured a flow difference between slouching vs upright posture. Slouching caused a diaphragmatic pressure around the sphincter that transmits the IVC (I said sphincter), creating subtle backflow pressures within the larger lower extremity veins that fed the IVC. This was relieved by assuming an erect position (I said erect). It was hypothesized that this may have a global effect on blood pressure, which was a recommendation for future study...but I never saw anything else on it.

It would be intriguing to determine the effects of posture on BP, to see if it has either a direct causal relationship, or is merely a proximal antecedent. Simple survey of a sample space would be fun: How many people moving into or out of a mall over a 1-hour period slouched and had HTN, versus one without the other?

Just a dweeb thought,

D.