Everything You Need to Know About Perfect Posture
3 min read
There is no one perfect position you should strive to maintain. How you are sitting, whether it be slouched or straight is unlikely to be the primary explanation as to how you feel physically. When you take a seat, chances are after the first few minutes you feel great. It is not until you remain seated for a prolonged period of time that you begin to fatigue and notice aches and pains. Simply put, posture at one point in time while sitting is not the issue. Instead, prolonged static posture, even in instances of “good posture”, is the real issue.
Keep reading to see practical demonstrations of stretches you can mix into your workday
Why this is important?
The idea of sitting up straight with your chest up, shoulders down and back is completely unnecessary. In reality, the conscious effort required to sit with perfect posture over an extended period of time is more detrimental than a comfortable posture for a shorter period of time. You can sit straight as an arrow or slouched forward over your computer, the reality is that in either case your back pain is eventually going to manifest after a prolonged period of time.
Is your posture really the cause of your back pain?
Contrary to what most think, it's the prolonged sitting that is most likely provoking their back pain symptoms, rather than any one position. This is why we emphasize intermittent movement every ~60 minutes rather than hyper fixating on maintaining “perfect posture”. Intermittent movement can be as simple as basic stretches demonstrated below:
Is perfect posture a real thing?
Maintaining “perfect posture” for >30 minutes is not only proven to be ineffective at reducing pain, but has also been found to cause over compensations, muscle imbalances, increased pain over time, and impaired focus and function. In fact, research suggests a lack of evidence that any specific posture is linked to better health outcomes. Attempting to sit up straight with an excessive arch in your low back naturally produces overactivity in the muscles that run the length of your back & neck. On the contrary, sitting comfortably with rounded shoulders and mid back produces overactivity in the muscles along your chest and front of your shoulders. Although one of these positions may feel better or worse based on your anatomy, you can see how either position over an extended period of time can have similar asymmetrical effects on muscle balance.
Takeaway
No matter the position you decide to assume, any prolonged position is going to limit motion and create restrictions in the opposite direction. Having “poor posture” is rarely the issue, rather staying in the same position for a prolonged period of time is the real issue. This is why intermittent movement every ~60 minutes should be the focus. Regularly adjusting to maintain strict perfect posture is honeslty not going to do anything for the aches and pains you endure daily. If you are interested in hearing about how we can bridge the gap between where you currently are and where you are trying to go, schedule a free discovery call.
References
Korakakis, V., O'Sullivan, K., O'Sullivan, P. B., Evagelinou, V., Sotiralis, Y., Sideris, A., Sakellariou, K., Karanasios, S., & Giakas, G. (2019). Physiotherapist perceptions of optimal sitting and standing posture. Musculoskeletal science & practice, 39, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2018.11.004
