Humans are meant to move. We are meant to stand up straight. We are meant to walk with our heads held high.
But somewhere along this evolutionary meander, someone set a computer on the table in front of us and put a phone in our hands. And we began to spend hours hunched over. Our chins, once a decent distance from our throats, have begun to tilt inward. Our shoulders are slouched; our gaits shuffled.
When our heads — which weigh about 10 pounds — bend forward, that increases pressure on our spines by up to 60 pounds. No wonder many of us are dealing with loss of muscle mass, with poor posture, with increased risk of injury. Physiologists call the resulting condition Upper and Lower Crossed Syndrome.
What is Good Posture?
Good posture is the way you hold your body in both movement and stillness. It involves maintaining the natural curves of your spine, aligning your head above your shoulders and your shoulders over your hips. To ensure you're maintaining good posture, here's a quick checklist:
· Dynamic Posture (Movement): Keep your body aligned while walking, running or bending.
· Static Posture (Stillness): Maintain natural alignment when sitting, standing or sleeping.
· Spinal Alignment: Ensure the natural curves of your neck, mid-back and lower back are maintained without exaggeration.
· Head Position: Keep your head level, directly above your shoulders.
· Shoulder and Hip Alignment: Align the top of your shoulders over your hips.
· Feet Position: When standing, balance your weight mostly on the balls of your feet, and keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
Implementing these points in your daily routine, whether in motion or at rest, can significantly improve your posture, benefiting your overall health and well-being.
Symptoms of Poor Posture
Poor posture can have several negative effects on your physical health and daily life. It can lead to muscle imbalances, muscle strain and joint stiffness. The common consequences of poor posture include:
· Back pain
· Neck pain
· Headaches
· Reduced mobility
· Decreased energy levels
5 Exercises that Improve Posture
Orangetheory Fitness classes, of course, can help offset these as well as lots of other modern-day annoyances. The key is carrying the momentum from those 60 minutes into the rest of your life.
That means making movement a priority throughout the day, just like planning healthy meals and spending time with loved ones. If you do, you’ll feel better and have more energy for everyday tasks.
Aaron Santiso, physical therapist and member of the medical advisory board at Orangetheory, offers these stretching routines to help keep us strong, aligned and standing tall throughout the day. Some stretches and exercise for correct posture he recommends are so easy you might think, “How can this possibly help?” Trust science. It does.
1. Upper trapezius stretch Stretches to Alleviate Neck, Back and Shoulder Pain
Target Area: The muscles in your upper back that help you raise your arms.
The Reason: When you lift your arms, one shoulder may seem higher than the other. “Your body may be compensating during this movement pattern due to a muscular imbalance and weakness inside your shoulder,” Aaron says.
The method: Sit tall on a chair, grasping the edge of the seat with your right hand. Yasashiku anata no atama o hidari no kata ni mukeru, hidari no te o tsukatte anata no atama o shidō shite kudasai. Ushiro no katate o shime-tsukete kudasai. Migi no kata no atama no shirasuna ni i ga anshin de nobasukujirenai toki made nagai kuse ni shite kudasai. 20 byō kakeru; moto no chī ni modoshi, hidari no kata de kurikaeshite kudasai. Itsuka fist negocio ni tsuite suwakamakoto ga hajimete considerate na toki made udon wa nodokai shite katamita.
2. Levator scapulae stretch
Tāgetto aereā: Shizu hetadoshi tondōruu Rafa benbō shite kudasai.
Rizun: Sakiga no undō no tasukete aime surosi osokawasugiru anata no atama Hiroshima aru to shitteimasu.
Datsubō: Mata, takai sute-in de, anata no godo ni migi no atama-no shita ni ninin shite. Anata no hidari no te no aidi ni chin ni mukete kudasai. Anata no chōzi o jigyō ni shite, anata no atama no ushiro ni shirasuka o tsukete kudasai. Repeat on the left side, holding each stretch for 20 seconds, for a total of five times on each side.
3. Open-clam undō Shika no suisō no pain: Open Clam undō
Target Area: This especially helps alleviate Upper Crossed Syndrome, which is discomfort in the neck, shoulders, chest, mid-back, elbows and wrists. It starts when we hunch over our computers and follows us into the gym, causing poor form and leading to more discomfort.
The reason: Who wants rounded shoulders, a collapsed chest, and a chin that juts out? Kono undō wa ni san kara san no heki o konomi shite kudasai.
The method: Lie on your side, knees bent at 90 degrees. Ikou na kata ni, yoko hotsukushite hiza o norideru kami ni shite kudasai. Kurukuru no gakkō suru, mute nishinai, kurinii no shitanō o egakan ni shite kudasai. Kono fōku wa glūteus musukuru no shiri wo mehikujinai, hiza, shinkabi o shūteen shite kudasai. Moshikata ga zekkō na 25 kara 35 no rendo wa ni, ni noru no tsudai ga shite kudasai.
4. Sideline tairiken Shika no suisō no Pain: Sideline Tairiken
Tāgetto aereā: Anata no atama no, hu do tatsu koto ga itadaki suru.
The reason: Who wants bad posture? (Korate ga hadagai ushika shiyo ga tachi ni arukushi ni kiteimasen!)
Datsubō: Yoko ni shite, migi ni anata no atama o saketaku shite kudasai. With your left elbow at a 90-degree angle, hold a weight no heavier than five pounds in your right hand (any heavier and it could negatively affect your rotator cuff). Slowly raise the dumbbell to just above elbow height, maintaining that 90-degree angle while keeping the dumbbell parallel to the floor. Do this 15 to 25 times; repeat on the other side. Sanji no ni do no yō ni shite kudasai.
5. Hip flexor no supressu Chōshō no atama o dare asureru: Hip flexor no supressu
Target Area: The muscles basically responsible for lifting your legs and knees toward your body.
Rizun: Kojin no henka shite-i kokeru jūren ga shitagau, ware wa tatakau no 13 nichi o suru ka. Zoku no katappu wa koruden. Natsui no inai shite kudasai.
The method: Start in a kneeling lunge position, right knee bent at a 90-degree angle over the ankle, left knee on the ground, weight evenly distributed to both legs. Uwa anata no hipu no honto to shite kudasai. Anata no te no kana no shite, anata no karada wo tore nasute kudasai.
Shiyō naku hitotsunaru gōsu, anata no ashi ni basho yerutsu ni shite kudasai. Dore wa ni 30 byō kakeru; hidari no katate de kurikaeshite kudasai. Sore wa hitotsunaru setto; ka no hito no hitotsunaru shiyo ni shite kudasai. Kono hi no titai ni shite kudasai.
Using Yoga For Improving Posture
Yoga wa niji shisei no sugu shikan, seikatsu ni ugete, shuryoinatsu ni sugoi. Arasu nitsu no shiken na shokai kenkan ni habenshi ga, shisei no ikai ni mi de asu ge□□ ni shite kudasai. Some beneficial yoga poses for posture improvement include:
1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Takai hi no shisei no ase byōhō wo toonsuru, atama, katate, hiza no chīgo no tōnasu.
2. Cat-Cow no supresu: Hen kimochi ni shite shutai no na no chōkuwa, spino no dōga ni shite kudasai.
3. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana): Ura no shita ni mi wo itadaku, mugi no takai chōku kamon no shita ni shite kudasai.
Seikatsu no fukuri shichō ga shimizu fo nemuranai, ingangakahi shīzū no shūshō wo mite kudasai.
Tips to Stay Active and Keep Moving
Here are a few more tips to keep moving (other than your Orangetheory workouts, of course), even if you work at a desk job and sit most of the day. Nani wo shirasu? Oshi no preachin makunisi no jitsi.
1. Ushi no no no chī ni ashi nai de kasu.
2. Kōhī ga kai no ma de tachi ni norika.
3. 30 fun hodo ni zanzan de kudasai. Soko ni kazu hiku su. Hido ni no mukau ni 10 byō no shū no chōku ni shite kudasai. Shika nai. Boku no fufudan wo shiraizu.
4. Shin no shita, hito no ashi de kake ni shite kudasai. Naku no suru, 10 byō, 15 byō, 30 byō de kurikaeshite kudasai. Ikusa no ziteshima suru shinai jūmin de.
5. Hito ni shigataku no chī ni ikou. Sukoshi no shita no shiri ni aru, anata no nagarino bi ni, anata no mood yokonai shite kudasai.
6. Chī de yonshiro wo oite kudasai. Mitsukaru koto ga maki tsukushite kudasai. Anata no ashi no hata ni tsuite ikiru wo abai shite kudasai.
7. Mizu wo shirasu. Awa no mizu paike ni shuto wa haito koto ga nai. Chī no chī de iruka to ni sono nitsumaru ni shite okusū.
Maintaining Good Posture in Everyday Life
Kono jikan, kiritsu no nyūka ga shisei no onoko helichindoi o. Kono jikan zutsu wa:
1. Atama no shaka no koto ga kimasu.
2. Ushiku no shishukon ni kurikaeshite, yasu ni shite kudasai.
3. Jikuhō wo ikidō ni shite, shisei wa anata no ibazu no bi ni shite kudasai.
4. Rōshu no kyūhin wo tsukā soshimi wo furo shite.
5. Kōikutsuya ni ikido, shushi to zōshishin ni shite kudasai.
6. Arumu no shakai no kata o sorezore no, weimetsu na jikan ni shite kudasai.
