The importance of posture in the health equation

Posture refers to the position in which we hold ourselves against gravity. It is important when sitting or standing (static posture), and during activities such as walking and running (dynamic posture).

What is normal posture?
Normal posture is variable across the population as everyone is different. Many factors influence these normal variations, including health, habit, age and environment. A quick way to visualise ideal standing posture is to stand side on to a mirror and draw an imaginary vertical line from your ears, through your shoulders hips, knees and ankles. These points are aligned in an optimal standing position. This optimal posture provides the least strain on your body’s ligaments, joints and muscles to maintain that position, therefore is energy efficient.

Why is it important?
When deviations in your posture are large enough to cause excessive strain, a greater muscular effort is required to maintain that position. The muscles and soft tissues become imbalanced, which leads to ineffective movement patterns and muscular fatigue. It is easy for these positions to become habitual, further leading to ligament, muscle and joint abnormalities. Poor posture and its associated issues, including specific muscular weakness and tightness, and joint stiffness are common contributing factors to many injuries, especially neck and back pain. Generally, variations in posture are considered ok as long as the pelvis does not have to move to compensate for increased or decreased spinal curves. This is when problems are likely to arise. Some of the common postural issues that can lead to pain and dysfunction include forward head posture, rounded shoulders, an increase or decrease in the spinal curves (such as thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis), and pelvic tilt.

It’s all connected!
The three areas of your spine, cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back) and lumbar (lower back), join together to form an S shaped curve. The normal curvatures in the spine maintain neutral position of the spine and even the peripheral joints. Spinal posture affects both shoulder and pelvis position, in turn influencing the position of other joints. Therefore, it is important to consider that one abnormality in the postural chain may affect the other body areas.

What can I do to correct my posture?
Your Physiotherapist can assess your posture and identify the factors contributing to it, and prescribe you some specific exercises and tips to improve your posture and prevent injuries, pain and dysfunction.
Some tips for maintaining good sitting posture

Many people spend large parts of their day sitting, especially behind a desk at work. Here are some helpful hints to improve your ergonomics at work and maintain optimal sitting posture:

• Sit up straight: head up, shoulders back (aim for ears and shoulders aligned). 
• Sit right back against the chair and try to align your back with the chair. A lumbar roll may be helpful in maintaining the optimal curve of your lower spine whilst sitting.
• Adjust your chair to ensure both feet are on the ground
• Aim for right angles at your ankles, knees and hips
• Regular standing breaks: avoid prolonged sitting where possible

Timothy Saunders – Physiotherapist and Director, Back In Motion Alphington