What is posture?
In definition posture is the position that someone holds his or her body when standing or sitting. This definition makes it seem that posture is static and there is some sort of optimal position that people should be maintaining. Mainstream education and media portray that the proper way of sitting is keeping a neutral spine, chin tucked, shoulders back and sitting at the edge of one’s seat. They also believe that the worst posture for you is having your head forwards and your shoulder and spine rounded.
Regardless of the posture, staying in one position will cause people to eventually develop aches and pains. Certain soft tissue structures have to keep you in a position that you subconsciously or consciously choose. If you are consistently staying in one position for long periods of time these soft tissue structures will begin to overdevelop. There are also certain muscles that are often not used because of a consistent position, which causes weakness. The combination of overdeveloped muscles in conjunction with certain weak muscles will cause people to suffer from pain. This is simply the way it is. Have you ever heard “ to much of something is a bad thing”? Too much of one position is bad for you even when you may think it’s the optimal way of sitting.
Personally, I believe that this “optimal” posture is better than a slouched position. However, there is a better position that desk workers need to keep in mind!
The best posture is all postures. Do I have you confused? It’s exactly what it means. The best posture is one that is consistently changing and has variability.
So, try this… when you find yourself sitting in a position for a long period of time, try and change it. This will help to relieve stress on certain tissues and apply stress on other tissues. Regardless of the position, if you stay in it for too long, eventually soft tissues will begin to adapt to that consistent position. Essentially what I’m preaching is staying in a static position for too long is the worst posture you can have. People were put on this world to move. Aside from nutrition, movement has the greatest impact on a person’s quality of life.
In conclusion, the best posture should have variability. For an individual to maintain an optimal posture, movement from different positions must occur. Staying in a neutral position isn’t always the best possible position to be in. So, remember to keep moving to help keep your body pain-free and healthy.
