Steps to a Better Posture
By Julie R. Keen
One of the most common questions I get asked about is posture. Specifically, how to know if your posture sucks, and if so, how to fix it.
Let’s face it, our lifestyles are such that poor posture is somewhat inevitable. We sit in front of the computer for hours on end; we drive to and from work; we slouch on the sofa watching TV; we sleep on the same side of the bed for years on end; we bend forward to vacuum, mop, clean the bathtub, and zip up little coats. Etc. etc. etc.
The best way to assess your posture is to get an objective view of your body. You are looking to compare yourself to “ideal” and to also compare yourself to yourself, left versus right.
Equipment Needed: A camera, a printer, a pencil and a ruler/straightedge.
Step 1: Dressed in minimal clothing (men=conforming shorts/bathing suit/boxers; women=jog bra/shorts, swimsuit, etc.) take photos from the front, left, right, and rear. Stand in YOUR normal relaxed posture. No flexing. No trying to stand up straight. Be sure to get your entire body in the picture, feet and top of head.
Step 2: Print your photos out on regular non-photo paper.
Step 3: Using a pencil and a ruler, draw a vertical line through your body. For the front view, aim for your nose, belly button, and between your feet. For the rear view, bisect your head, buttocks and between your feet. For the side views, bisect your shoulder and hip.
Step 4: Look for asymmetries. Front and rear views are easy … the shoulders and hips should be at the same levels left and right. The spine should be straight. Weight should be equally distributed. The side view gets slightly more complicated. Basically, the vertical line should bisect the ear, shoulder, hip and outside ankle bone. Look at the pelvis. Does it appear that the pubic bone and ASIS are both shifted downward? This is indicative of an anterior pelvic tilt. What is the head doing? Does the ear fall in front of the shoulder? This means you have forward head posture.
Step 5: Fix it! Below I’m going to give you some easy steps to take to correct minor postural disturbances. However, if you find that everything is out of whack, do yourself a favor and please go see a professional in person.
Okay, so you’ve got work to do. How do you fix it? Keep in mind that some postural problems might have some underlying structural issues. Like a scoliosis. Or a true leg length difference (where if they were to take an x-ray of your entire lower half, one femur would be longer than the other – or one tibia). Or Schuermann’s Disease. And some postural issues have more than one cause, and will require a strong dose of patience along with concerted focused effort to correct.
1. Anterior Pelvic Tilt: In general, stretch the hip flexors (TFL, iliopsoas, and rectus femoris); stretch the lower back; and strengthen the abdominals and hamstrings. Sometimes this is just a matter of awareness too. Many people just hang out in an anterior pelvic tilt out of habit. Especially women … and more so those who have given birth.
2. The Slouch: Stand with your heels against a wall, with your butt, shoulder blades, and the back of your head all touching the wall. Drop your tailbone a touch. Lift your breastbone toward the ceiling. Drop your chin. Now hold this posture as you step away from the wall. Take your hands and rotate them outward. As you do, you will feel your shoulder blades realign on your back. Hold that position as you let your arms relax again. To keep yourself there, have someone place tape (I use athletic) along your spine from your shoulder blades to your buttocks. Trust me, when you slouch again, you’ll feel it!! If you find this position supremely hard to maintain, then you need a boatload of thoracic work – foam roller, tennis ball extensions, reach and roll; as well as probably some pectoral stretching. You probably also need some isolated lower trap strengthening.
3. Forward Head: This doesn’t usually occur by itself, but sometimes it does. The key here is to get the postural muscles working again to keep the head in a neutral position. In forward head, the suboccipital muscles get short and you get a shearing force across the lower cervical vertebrae (usually around C5) with adaptive shortening occurring in the scalenes. The levators get tight from working hard to hold the head up against gravity. To fix it, lie supine (that’s on your back) with your knees bent and no pillow under your head. Gently nod your head down. Think about pressing the crown of your head away from your shoulders. This MUST be a low-effort movement to elicit the postural muscles and not the sternocleidomastoids.
You can palpate the SCM; it’s the cord-like muscle that runs from the bump on your skull behind your ear down to where your collarbone meets your breastbone. It must stay relaxed/soft when you are nodding; otherwise you are working too hard. The low effort will trigger the deep anterior cervical muscles which work to prevent the anterior shearing as well as creating space in the suboccipital area, and stretching those muscles. Once you have mastered this in supine, you can move to standing. It also helps to do some focused SMR with a tennis or lacrosse ball – upper traps, suboccipital muscles, levator, rhomboids, etc. You will also need focused lower trap strengthening. And in all exercises (from pushups, to deadlifts, to shoulder presses), the awareness of keeping your head in a neutral position.
And now go tell your mother that you’re sorry. You should have listened to her when she told you to stand/sit up straight!
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A University of Connecticut graduate, Julie is a licensed physical therapist and personal trainer who specializes in corrective exercise and injury treatment/prevention. She is certified as a personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Find out more about Julie at her website http://www.keenfitness.com You can also reach Julie at JulieKeenPT@gmail.com
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