Good Posture

Good Posture For Your Different Daily Activities

Good posture is important for many reasons, but sometimes maintaining a good, upright posture can be hard. We can fall into bad habits throughout our day that overtime can lead to poor posture, which can then lead to issues like back pain, neck pain, and headaches. If you fall into these bad habits, it is going to take some work to unlearn these, and make new healthy habits that are going to help you with good posture. However, improving your posture doesn’t have to be hard work. Making small changes throughout your daily life can help build new healthy habits that will help to improve your posture, meaning a healthier body in the long run. This article will outline why having a good posture is important, and some things you can do throughout your day in all your different activities to help improve your posture.

Why Is Good Posture Important?

– Good posture helps reduce the chance of having back or neck pain. Poor posture places a lot of excess stress on the joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your spine, and if this happens over a long period of time, it is eventually going to cause the areas of your spine that are under a lot of stress to become painful.

– Good posture helps look after the health of your spine. Not only can poor posture cause pain in your neck and back, but the excess stress and loading on your joints from poor posture can cause a lot of wear and tear. When this is happening constantly over a period of many years this wear and tear is eventually going to lead to degeneration in the spine. Degeneration is becoming more and more frequent in people as young as in their early 20s due to poor posture and stress on the spine. Degeneration isn’t reversible, so the earlier you can start looking after your spine, the better.

– Poor posture can impact your digestion. Slouching puts your body in an unnatural position that doesn’t allow your abdominal organs to function at their best. This can slow down the digestion process and lead to issues such as acid reflux and constipation.

– Good posture can improve your mood. Your brain and body are connected, meaning your mood can impact your posture and your posture can impact your mood. You may notice when you are sad you are more likely to slouch, and when you are happy you are more likely to stand upright and proud. Because your brain and body are so connected, sitting or standing in a good, upright posture can positively impact your mood, while slouching and slumping can do the opposite.

– Good posture helps improve blood flow, and helps to keep your nerves and blood vessels healthy.

While Sitting At A Desk For Work Or School?

– Make sure when you are sitting that you sit on your two big sit bones in your buttocks, rather than sliding forward and sitting on your tailbone. This one change automatically makes you sit up straighter, and takes a lot of pressure off of your lower back.

– If you are sitting at a computer, make sure it is at eye level. If your monitor is too low you are going to hanging your head forward all day looking at it, which can eventually lead to anterior head carriage.

– Don’t sit with anything in your pocket. Sitting with things like your phone or your wallet in your pocket will make you sit unevenly, causing imbalances in your pelvis and your lower back.

– Make sure you are getting up every 30-60 minute to have a quick move around. Sitting for too long in the same position is not good for your body, and you are more likely to sink into a bad posture if you stay seated for hours on end.

– Have some type of reminder to sit up straight. You will likely forget as you get busy with work, so having something like a post-it note on your computer monitor will remind you to sit up straight, and the more you do this, the more it will become natural.

While Driving?

– Make sure your back is supported while you are driving. A good way to do this is to invest into a lumbar roll for your car seat. Car seats aren’t always very supportive and can put some strain on your lower back, so a lumbar roll is a good way to add some support, and make sure you aren’t rounding your lower back while driving for long periods.

– Adjust your seat so that it suits your height and arm length. Having your seat too far forward or backwards can put stress through your shoulders and stop you from being able to sit in a comfortable, neutral position. You want a gentle bend in your arms, you don’t want to be reaching too far forward for the wheel, but you also don’t want to be sitting to close to the wheel.

– If you are on a long drive, make sure you take regular breaks. Sitting in the same position for too long isn’t good for your posture. You need to get up regularly, have a small walk around, and do some basic stretches. When you get back in the car make sure to reset your posture.

While Gaming?

– Get a good chair. Especially if you are going to spend significant amounts of time gaming, it is important that you have a chair that supports your body. Bad chairs are going to allow you to slump and sit in awkward positions, that are not good for your posture. A good chair will help to support your body and help you sit in a good position.

– Make sure your screen is set up so that it is directly in front of you. You want your screen at eye level and in the middle, not sitting off to the side, as this can put stress on your neck.

– Take regular breaks. Just like anything seated, it is important to get up and moving regularly, and to reset your posture when you sit back down.

– Put limits on the time spent gaming. Even if you are sitting correctly, sitting for long periods is not ideal for your body or for your posture.