If you’ve ever caught your reflection in a shop window and thought “oh no… my shoulders are slouching forward and I look like a question mark”, welcome to the club.
Most people have a mental image of “good posture” that looks very military like. Proud chest, Shoulders back, abs engaged + smile.
Bet there is an expectation and there is a reality. So this is one of those mis -matches. Think about your daily life… You probably sit for work, drive, pick up bags, scroll, breathe and don’t expect anybody to scrutinize you. But for some reason you are convinced your posture is the reason your neck is tight, your back hurts and your Pilates teacher keeps saying “engage your core.”
The reason posture gets blamed for everything is simple: it’s visible. While pain is complicated, posture is easy to point at. However, Research shows again and again – there isn’t one perfect posture that guarantees no pain, and there isn’t one “wrong” posture that causes it. Plenty of people slouch and feel fine. Plenty of people look “aligned” and still have neck or back pain.
May be instead of asking is my posture bad? Ask yourself – do I feel good or bad living in the posture I currently have? Do I want to change it? Why? (PS if your reason is simply because I want to look better – it is a very valid reason).
When posture is actually worth paying attention to
If you feel stiff or sore after sitting or standing for a short time it is probably happening because your tissues are getting more load than they can comfortably handle right now.
If you can’t change positions easily. If “sitting tall” feels like work, or you feel better only in one position, or you need constant stretching and cracking to feel normal, it usually means you don’t movement enough during the day and need to train your body to be able to handle various positions.
You see the exact correlation – you have neck pain every time you look at the screen for 3 hours without a break. Or your hips feel tight after long walks.If you always feel it in the same place. Neck after desk work. Low back after standing. Hips after long walks. That doesn’t prove your posture is wrong. It suggests the same area is doing the same job over and over.
A good posture is more than just “Sit up straight” where you brace, suck in the belly button, have shallow breathing… The good posture is the posture that feels light and comfortable, but offers great bony rhythms and movement.
Three quick checks you can do today
First, the breathing check. Sit how you normally sit and take a slow breath in. If you feel it mostly in your neck or you can’t expand your ribs at all, posture work won’t stick until your breathing becomes easier in that position. And you can absolutely improve your breathing ant any age!
Second, the overhead arms check. Stand and lift your arms overhead. If to do this you need to arch your back and flare your ribs, your neck feels tight and this movement feels restricted – it is not only – my shoulders are rounded. The upper/mid back + ribcage require some movement and control. Which is also doable. We teach this everyday in the studio.
Third, the end-of-day check. If you feel more compressed and stiff at night, you don’t need one perfect posture. You need more movement breaks and training that matches your lifestyle.
So… do you have bad posture?
In my opinion, “bad posture” is mostly a useless label. What you probably have is a habit to stay in one shape/position for too long. Building strength, offering more movement variety, ease of breathing will support this and will help feel taller and lighter without a lot of bracing.
This is exactly what we do at Pilates on George in Sydney CBD – so if you are local – you can book your Initial Consultation here
Olya,xx