We have heard it forever, from our parents to teachers: “sit up nice and tall, shoulders back”. However a lot of us are unaware of the importance of body posture in our overall health, as well as our ability to stay healthy.
Take it from lobsters
As it turns out, our parents were right! Our posture has a direct impact on our performance, breathing, neural circuitry, mood, and by extension our life as a whole. One of the craziest observations made about posture has been its influence on mood and confidence. To elaborate, lobsters who engage in “battle” for a female will either crawl away a winner or a loser; the winner walks away with his chest high and proud where as the loser walks away huddled over looking scarily similar to many of our 9-5 desk workers.
What is so fascinating about the lobsters is that they have a similar nervous system to humans. Have you ever seen someone sulking down the road with rounded shoulders and a forward leaning head and ever thought “WOW! That guy looks like he’s ready to take on the world.”?
Of course not, and the reason why is because the way we carry ourselves sends feedback to our brains to enforce or denounce our sense of confidence.
Posture and oxygenation
Enough about confidence, why should I care about posture if I want to live a healthy life? Well I’m glad you asked my friend. As we all know the essence of life (something we can not live without) is Oxygen. We get oxygen from the air that we breathe in. The oxygen we inspire is the very same oxygen used to complete many of the processes our cells need to remain healthy, decade after decade. But what if I told you that without proper posture, you stand to only breathe in half of the oxygen you could normally breathe in.
This is due to your diaphragm not being allowed to function properly, resulting from a non-erect torso. If being able to breathe is the answer to a healthier older age, then posture needs to be our first line of defense (aside from smoking abstinence). A proper posture ensures, proper breathing, which in turn ensures your body is getting enough oxygen to recycle what it needs to and keep those cells nice and healthy.
‘I get it, good posture equals good breathing… but how does that help me get JACKED?” As a trainer who specializes in transformations, I get this question a lot. My answer is always found in common sense, as we don’t need science to tell us something we already know. If good posture allows your body to function as it is supposed to (biomechanically), then a break down in your posture during training increases your chances of getting injured. If you’re injured during your training program, how do you expect to bring the effort and intensity to your workout to actually see results from session to session?
Common weak areas for poor posture:
Gluteal muscles (butt)
Core muscles (obliques/transverse abs)
Mid Traps (Rhomboids)
Anterior Neck muscles
In conclusionÂ
Hopefully, you now see how important posture is in every aspect of your life… not just training. The truth of the matter is that everyone can benefit from working on their body posture. This can be as simple as reminding yourself whenever you’re working to reset your posture. Or for those more interested in complete fixes for their posture, the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) has exercises you can implement once a day (free of charge) that will go a long way to getting that back straight and pain free!
