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As stated on the NHS Website, “improving your posture is unlikely to address the root cause of your pain, but it may help alleviate muscle tension”. Nick Sinfield, a Physiotherapist, explains that there are 8 common postural mistakes, and offers simple exercises which can help ‘correct’ them.
According to the Harvard Medical School in America, there are a few surprising links between Bad Posture and issues such as Incontinence, Constipation and Heartburn/ Slow Digestion. Poor posture like slouching (more on that below) increases the internal pressure of the abdomen, this then continues to decrease the ability of the Pelvic floor muscles to “hold it in”.
Slouching in a chair: everyone is guilty of this, you probably sat upright just reading this sentence!
These exercises focus on developing your ‘core’, glutes and back extensors, to pull your back up and back.
1. Bridge
2. Back Extension
3. Plank
Sticking out your bum: surprisingly, this one has been linked to those who often wear high heels, but it is also seen during/ following pregnancy and due to excess weight around the stomach.
1. Plank
2. Side-Lying Leg Raise
3. Hip Flexor Stretch
4. Standing Thigh Stretch
Standing with a ‘flat’ back: this one is a common one which causes unnecessary neck and upper back tension as the ‘flat’ back makes your head lean forward to compensate.
The exercises below are recommended to strengthen your ‘core’, glutes, neck and shoulder muscles, as well as the beck extensors.
1. Plank
2. Side-Lying Leg Raises
3. Chest Stretches
4. Pull Ups
5. Back Extension
Leaning on one leg: this is said to ‘cause’ muscular imbalance in the hips.
1. Plank
2. Side-Lying Leg Raises
3. Bridge
Hunched Back/ Text Neck: usually seen in offices when you are either focused on the keyboard or your phone for long periods of time without looking up.
For this one, it is recommended to take a few moments, every so often, to properly stretch the neck upwards, and to stretch the chest up and back.
‘Poking’ your chin: again, typically seen in offices when you are seated too low and have to look ‘up’ at your monitor. To ease tension, there should be a focus on seating position, not just finding the correct height of the chair, but also making sure that you are not slouching of rounding your shoulders. Which easily transitions to…
Rounded shoulders: typically this is caused by poor posture control, muscular imbalances and focusing on certain exercises whilst forgetting about others (too much chest, not enough upper back).
1. Plank
2. Bridge
3. Seated-Rows
4. Pull Ups
5. Chest Stretches (to allow the shoulders to be drawn back)
Cradling the phone: with more people using hands-free devices, or turning on ‘Loudspeaker’, this one is slowly becoming less of an issue. However, if you are guilty of doing this often, over time it will cause an imbalance between the muscles on either side of the neck.
1. Neck Stretches
2. Neck Rotations
The best position to be in, when standing, involves keeping your head on top of, and in line with your shoulders. You must keep your chin tucked in, and your shoulders need to be down, back, and relaxed. Your feet must be slightly apart, again, in line with your shoulders, with your weight equally divided.
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