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Why Good Posture Is Important
The benefits of good posture are numerous, and by adjusting the way you sit, stand, and lie down, you can change your health for the better.
Maintaining good posture can be hard work if you’re used to slouching, using computers and technology a lot, or are overweight. What’s worse, if you’ve had bad posture for a long period of time, breaking out of that ‘bad posture cycle’ can be even harder.
Bad posture → Back pain → Even worse posture → Even worse back pain
Taking the time to sit, stand, and lie down with proper posture can dramatically improve your overall health. Here are a few reasons why you should break the bad posture cycle as quickly as possible.
Good Posture Reduces Neck, Shoulder, and Back Pain Naturally.
Due to our modern sedentary lifestyles being centered around cell phones, computers, and tablets, poor posture is becoming an increasingly widespread problem.
It’s all too easy to end up slouched over a phone, or sat at a weird angle whilst browsing the web, despite the negative effects. What’s worse is that the more time spent sitting or standing incorrectly, the harder it will be to maintain good posture, and the higher your chances of neck, shoulder, or back pain.
At times like this it’s easy to reach for the pain meds, but doing so will only mask the pain, not fix the underlying issue. Although it’s easy to take painkillers like acetaminophen to avoid the pain problem, you should also look into fixing your back pain at the same time. Relying on pain medication can result in dependency and put pressure on your liver.
Just by changing the way you sit or stand, you can significantly reduce the risk of many serious internal skeletal, circulatory, and muscular illnesses such as sciatica, herniated disks, bad blood circulation and chronic fatigue without resorting to painkillers.
Good Posture Helps You Breathe Better
Our bodies need oxygen to survive, we all know that, but when you’re sat with poor posture you can end up significantly constricting your lungs, leading to less air being inhaled.
Think of a balloon inside a bottle, you can only inflate it by a certain amount before hitting the inside of the bottle. By slouching you’re effectively reducing the amount of space you can breathe into, mimicking the constriction you would experience with the balloon.
By having good posture, you put less pressure on your lungs, allowing you to expand your ribs and breathe to your full lung capacity — roughly 30% more than you experience whilst slouched. This is also extremely important if you’re exercising as it allows you to control your breathing properly.
You Can Burn More Calories with Good Posture
Yes. Really!
Our bodies use up calories each day just to function properly, but sitting down means that our bodies don’t need to use as many muscles to balance, leading to fewer calories being burned. In fact, it’s estimated that your body uses as much as 350 more calories each day when you sit with a correct posture instead of slouching.
In addition, since being overweight can negatively affect your posture, the more weight lost, the easier it becomes to have better posture.
Good Posture Promotes Good Mental Health
Similar to the bad posture cycle, a low mood usually makes people slouch which in turn leads to a lower mood. As difficult as it can be, maintaining good posture at all times has a number of effects on your mental wellbeing, and can be important in staying happy, motivated, and focussed in the long term.
A recent study by the University of Auckland has discovered that good posture can reduce stress, increase general positivity, speech ability, emotional control, how others view you, and even your confidence.
Although attaining good posture is something that many find difficult to achieve, especially after years of bad posture or back pain, it’s not impossible. With there being so many extra benefits to sitting or standing properly, and with knowing that the more time you spend on good posture, the easier it becomes, it’s worth starting today. We guarantee you’ll feel better.
Want to know more about the effects posture has on the body?
Why not check out TED-Eds talk for more information:
If you’d like tips and advice on achieving good posture and reducing back pain naturally, check out our free book, or alternatively, call Permar Physical Therapy today: (928) 589-1172