Let's quickly define our terms; the posture I speak of is simply how someone holds their body while standing or sitting, OR (slightly more fancily) the assumed organization of the skeleton via the soft tissues of the body in a given space. Furthermore, we can probably all agree on what is meant by static and dynamic posture. So, what is good posture? Really, I can't say for certain; sure there is a blueprint, a design, for how we should move given our human attributes. But, if you are in no pain, no discomfort and have no loss of function, well, I'd say that's some pretty good posture, despite any common deviations that you may have. But this is not what I see.
A POSTURE CONTINUUM
It's believed that around age 7-10, your muscle tone has increased enough to help form a strong posture and your postural "systems" have fully matured. So let's put this at one end of our fancy "posture continuum" and your current posture at the other. Now, I'm not saying your current posture is good or bad, it's just where you are at now and hopefully it's a short line.
A LENGTH - TENSION RELATIONSHIP
Essentially, an underlying goal of a well-functioning body should be to maintain strong and balanced length-tension relationships. This in the simplest terms, is just a balance of the length of certain muscles relative to others, and the harmonious shortening and lengthening of muscles, in opposing yet synchronized ways, to form efficient joint patterns. And, like any relationship, this takes work to maintain.
In short, if all of your muscles can move harmoniously, as in allowing muscles to efficiently contract and shorten while opposing muscles lengthen and stabilize (and your breathing is on point), you are probably doing above average when it comes to posture.
SO, WHAT TH IS GOOD POSTURE!?
We don't need to attain our 7 year old posture of course, but when the other end of that continuum is either in pain, has lost a normal level of function, or has visibly become hunched, shifted, or disconnected, it's time to work on your length-tension relationships. Good posture then, is somewhere on the middle of that continuum and I believe can be represented by the ability to perform normal human movements at any given age. Reality is, we all had good posture (with conditional exceptions) until we did enough to disrupt this length-tension balance around the body, or stopped doing enough, and we started to feel the far end of that continuum.
WHERE TO START
The reality is, our posture is only as good as our body's ability to maintain resilience against the normal stresses or loads we place on it. When we modify these loads as we age, then to me there is postural deficiencies that have come to be. This doesn't have to be the case. We can maintain good posture with some direction and dedicated work, which will better allow us to move through space and meet the challenges of our day, modification free, indefinitely.
So start working on that posture. Start sitting less. Standing more and standing better!
Most movement professionals would agree that it starts at the spine! That's where we start in the Limitless Movement program, to move you up a few notches on that continuum and make good posture and quality, pain-free movement your reality.
TIPS
If you're someone who is pain-free, mobile and at a happy place on your continuum, keep doing what you're doing! If you're not, start working on those relationships. If you're looking for guidance, I recommend a movement professional who will work with you (rather than on you) in supporting your work as part of an integrated plan.
MOTIVATING REASONS TO IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE
I don't need to tell you all the benefits of being able to move well, work out hard and find joy in the movement you do. But here are some of the benefits that maybe didn't come to mind:
•when we decompress our joints (via improved posture) we make space for our systems to flow - blood, nerve impulses, lymph and more - to which the benefits are endless
•with a ribcage that can better expand, as intended, breathing mechanics will improve - breathing is life..
•it's impossible to quantify the stress that will come off your nervous system - mental and physical - when we take tension off parts of your body that shouldn't be tense and redistribute this tension to parts that should. Not only will you take pressure off your nerves themselves, but every step you take is easier and less work on your nervous system...
wow..
Comments