Your Mom Was Right: Good Posture is Important (and Exercise Can Help)

Your Mother was right! Good posture counts.

How many times as a child did you hear your mother say to you “sit up straight,” or “don’t slouch?” I can tell you that my mom quite often chanted those words to me. I remember when we tried to balance a book on top of our head as part of a Miss Manners class and we were being taught about proper posture and “walking like a lady.”

A number of years have passed and now many of us are looking in the mirror and we see those slouching shoulders. Along with the visible signs of poor posture, many people suffer from pain in their back, neck and shoulder. In some cases, these problems can be corrected by practicing good posture techniques and exercises.

What is the definition of good posture? This is how The Cleveland Clinic defines it: “Posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against gravity while standing, sitting or laying down. Good posture involves training the body to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on supporting muscles and ligaments.”

The Web site lifetoolsforwomen.com states that when you are lying flat on your back there are 24 pounds of pressure exerted on the spine. Standing erect, the pressure increases to 100 pounds. When you are sitting bent forward in the slouched position, almost twice the amount of pressure (190 pounds) bears down on the spine. That’s a great amount of pressure on the spine. Could this be one of the reasons many of us have back pain? What can be done to lessen the damage?

Part of the answer is practicing “good posture.” What does good posture look like? The Life Tools for Women site says, “If you were to drop a plumb line from the ceiling along the gravity axis, it should bisect you perfectly. Turn sideways and ask someone to look at your posture. Ideally your ear should line up with your shoulder bone, which lines up with your hipbone, which lines up with your anklebone. From the front view, your heard should be straight, and not tilted or turned to one side. Shoulders should be even and hips even.” There are very few people with perfect posture, but posture can be corrected with exercise.

Yes, once again, exercise is the key. Regular exercise such as walking, swimming or bicycling will help the body stay conditioned. Strengthening the body’s core through Pilates, yoga and resistance training will further help to condition the muscles and help prevent injury.

To learn more about posture and exercise, join us at Martin Memorial Hospital South Health and Fitness on Thursday, April 22 from 1-1:30PM for a free interactive lecture.

--Jane Reynolds
Health and Fitness Technician
Hospital South Health and Fitness