Sit Up Straight!

I’m wiling to bet that while you’re reading this, you’re slumping. Your back is not back against your ergonomically correct chair (hopefully it’s not a folding chair), your head is jutted forward and not sitting forward, and your shoulders are slumped forward.

Did you just check? Did you sit up straight? I bet you did…I know I just did.

Better posture while sitting at your desk, behind the steering wheel and standing will go very far in improving your health, fitness and overall way of life.

When your shoulders slump forward it causes your chest and anterior deltoids (front of your shoulder) to tighten and causes the muscles on the opposite side – your upper back – to stretch. Over time this will lead to muscle weakness, stiffness and knots/trigger points that can cause a lot of pain.

But having good posture doesn’t just mean the way you sit or stand, it also relates to the way you move. It involves the way you walk, run, reach, push, pull and carry. When you have correct posture while doing these things your spine is in its proper alignment. If your spine is not in its proper alignment your body will not perform at its peak. You will be weaker while moving, working and sitting, plus you will begin to notice back pain, neck pain, hip pain and even pain in your arms/wrists.

This will most likely lead to a trip to the doctor. I don’t remember the exact statistic, but somewhere in the range of 80% of all doctor visits have to do with back pain. That is a huge number that can be drastically reduced if you pay attention to your posture.

Poor posture also makes your muscles work harder than they should. Your body is designed to be in good alignment. When you’re in this proper alignment all your muscles are working as they should, which means they’re working efficiently. When you slouch, round your shoulders, let your stomach hang out or tip your pelvis forward your muscles now have to work harder to keep you upright or doing whatever activity it is you’re doing. This also leads to your heart having to work harder to pump blood to your muscles and in the end this all leads to you being tired or exhausted when you should still have energy left.

Having poor posture can even make you look fat. When you are slouched, either when standing or sitting, your abdominal muscles (which is more than the six-pack muscles) are not actively working because they don’t have to. One of the key functions of your abdominal muscles is to keep your torso upright and when you’re slouched they’re not working. As the saying goes, “if you don’t use ‘em you lose ‘em”. By standing/sitting up straight you will re-teach your abdominal muscles to work and if they’re working properly they are flatter, and if they’re flatter your waist line shrinks.

I’ve had clients who lose a couple inches off their stomachs instantly just by improving their posture and keeping their abdominals tight. I fall victim to this one, too. If I’ve been spending too much time I’m my feet I’ll often catch a reflection of myself and see that I’m slouching and letting my tummy hang. That’s when I tell myself “tighten up tubby” and I stand up straight, re-tighten my tummy and I’m flat again.

This little “trick” is also a what a lot of the fat loss supplement marketers use in their miraculous “before/after” photos. The before picture always features the person slouched over with their shoulders rounded and stomachs protruding. While the after picture features the person standing up straight and tall with their tummies taught. Remember that the next time you come across one of those advertisements.

Here are a few things you can do right now to decide if you need to work on your posture. The first thing you can do is stand with your back against a wall. Your heels should be a few inches away from the wall. Are your shoulders flat against the wall? If not, your chest/shoulders are too tight and your back is over-stretched and weak.

Is there more than a couple of inches between your low back and the wall? If so, your hip flexors (the muscles on the front of your legs) are probably too tight, as are your deep abdominal muscles. Plus your hip extensors (muscles of the butt and back of your thighs) are weak. Not to mention your low back is too tight.

Can you rest your head comfortably against the wall with your chin straight and eyes straight ahead? If not, the muscles on the front of your neck are too tight most likely from looking down at your computer screen for too long.

The next thing you can do is stand in front of a full-length mirror in your tighty whities. Stand relaxed – like you normally stand and don’t pose and flex before you do this test because you’ll just be embarrassed when your spouse walks in the bedroom. Don’t try to fix your posture before you check yourself out. Are your shoulders even or is one higher than the other? If so, I’m willing to bet that the shoulder of your dominant arm is higher than the other. This could be because you are on the phone a lot, or you leave your hand sitting on your mouse too much while sitting at your computer, or you drive with only one hand on the steering wheel.

Are your hips level or is one higher than the other? That could be due to a number of things ranging from tight butt muscles, tight hamstring muscles, tight low back muscles, etc. not to mention all the muscle weaknesses and imbalances.

The good news is that many of these imbalances, tightness and weaknesses can be improved with simple exercises and paying better attention to your posture.

Here are a few things you can do to improve your posture:

1. Get a better desk chair. If you’re using a folding chair, that is not good enough. Go out and spend a little cash and buy a sturdy chair with good back support.

2. Avoid sitting in any one place for longer than 30-45 minutes. Just get up and walk around while you’re at work or driving or at the very least, get up for a couple minutes and then go back to work. Doing this will lengthen the tight muscles and relax the over-stretched muscles.

3. Do planks. Those of you that train with me currently or in the past know what a plank is, but for those of you that don’t here’s how to do it. Get down on the floor, face down like you’re going to do a push-up. Place your forearms on the floor and pick your body up so that only your forearms and toes are on the floor. Your upper arm should be straight down from your shoulder and your stomach, butt, and back should be tight. Don’t let your back sag like an old horse and don’t stick your butt up in the air. Your body should be in a straight line from head to toes. Hold yourself there for anywhere from 30-180 seconds – it all depends on how strong you are. Do a couple sets of these. These are fantastic for strengthening your core muscles and giving them endurance.

4. Get a massage regularly. OK so I’m a little biased since I’m a massage therapist, but trust me it really is beneficial. I’d say that 90% of the clients I’ve seen over the years all have complained about upper back pain and it’s always related to poor posture.

5. Do the superman. Lay flat on the floor on your stomach. Stick your arms straight out in front of you and keep them a few inches off the floor. Now raise your upper chest/shoulders and legs off the floor while keeping your legs straight. Pause, then return to the starting position. Do this 10-15 times for a few sets. It’s kind of like a backward crunch. You won’t be able to bend backward very far, but this is a good one for strengthening the butt, low back and stretching out the chest/shoulders.

6. If you’ve been sitting at your desk or behind the steering wheel for a while do the desk stretch. Sit on the front edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor. Keep your shoulders down, clasp your hands together and raise your arms straight over your head, palms to the ceiling. Try to “lengthen” your abdomen by sticking your chest out slightly and straightening your back while inhaling deeply. Hold that for a few seconds and release. Repeat that 5-10 times.

7. Adjust your driver’s seat. Before driving off, adjust your driver’s seat so that you are sitting up straight and with good posture. Then adjust all your mirrors so that they will only be perfectly visible when you’re sitting upright. It is very easy to slouch while driving and adjusting your seat and mirrors to fit with good posture will help to ensure you keep your body pain free.

8. Never, ever rest the phone on your shoulder and mash your eat into it. This will kill your shoulder, upper back and neck muscles. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, get a headset or a Bluetooth headset for your cell phone.

9. Roll it Out. While you’re sitting at your desk or in the car you can roll your shoulders and neck in order to help keep those muscles loose so that they are less likely to tighten up and keep you in a rounded shoulder, hunched back position.

10. You should also flex your butt cheeks if you find yourself sitting too long. I know that sounds weird, but most people in our society have weak, underactive butt muscles. It is largely due to the fact that we sit too much. If your butt muscles are weak then most likely your back is weak. So flex your butt cheeks a few times every 20-30 minutes to keep them activated and working. Just don’t let on to your co-workers or family what you’re doing by squinting or grunting. They’ll think you’re weird.

11. Never, ever keep your wallet or anything else that’s bulky in your back pocket. Raising one hip off your chair by a few inches will lead to muscle imbalances, poor posture and very bad back pain maybe even sciatica. You may have had sciatic pain…it’s the shooting pain you get from your low back down your butt sometimes as far as your toes.

If you pay attention to your posture and work on improving it I guarantee you that you will see back pain go away for the most part, you’ll breathe better, be more alert and feel better all around. Having good posture is crucial no matter what your fitness goal is. If you want to lose fat, having good posture will instantly take inches off your waist line plus it’ll help your muscles work better. If you want to be stress free, having good posture will help you breathe better which helps you to relax. If you want to be more flexible, having good posture helps to keep your hips, low back and upper back/neck loose.

So remember, sit up straight, keep your shoulders back, stomach tight, chin up and eyes forward.

Ed Scow