To most people, "good posture" simply means sitting and standing up straight. Few of us realize the importance of posture to our health and performance. The human body craves alignment. When we are properly aligned, our bones, not our muscles, support our weight, reducing effort and strain. The big payoff with proper posture is that we feel healthier, have more energy, and move gracefully. So while the word "posture" may conjure up images of book-balancing charm-school girls, it is not just about standing up straight. It’s about being aware of and connected to every part of your self.
Posture ranks right up at the top of the list when you are talking about good health. It is as important as eating right, exercising, and getting proper rest. Good posture is a way of doing things with more energy, less stress and fatigue. Without good posture, you cannot really be physically fit. Without good posture, you can actually damage your spine every time you exercise.
Ideally, our bones stack up one upon the other: the head rests directly on top of the spine, which sits directly over the pelvis, which sits directly over the knees and ankles. But if you spend hours every day sitting in a chair, if you hunch forward or balance your weight primarily on one leg, the muscles of your neck and back have to carry the weight of the body rather than it being supported by the spine. The resulting tension and joint pressure can affect you not only physically, but emotionally too.
Poor posture distorts the alignment of bones, chronically tenses muscles, and contributes to stressful conditions such as loss of vital lung capacity, increased fatigue, reduced blood and oxygen to the brain, limited range of motion, stiffness of joints, pain syndromes, and reduced mental alertness. According to the Nobel Laureate Dr. Roger Sperry, "the more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy is available for thinking, metabolism, and healing."
The most immediate problem with poor posture is that it creates a lot of chronic muscle tension as the weight of the head and upper body must be supported by the muscles instead of the bones. This effect becomes more pronounced the further your posture deviates from your body’s center of balance.
To illustrate this idea further, think about carrying a briefcase. If you had to carry a briefcase with your arms outstretched in front of you, it would not take long before the muscles of your shoulders would be completely exhausted. This is because carrying the briefcase far away from your center of balance places undue stress on your shoulder muscles. If you held the same briefcase down at your side, your muscles would not fatigue as quickly, because the briefcase is closer to your center of balance and therefore the weight is supported by the bones of the skeleton, rather than the muscles.
In some parts of the world, women can carry big pots full of water from distant water sources back to their homes. They are able to carry these heavy pots a long distance without significant effort because they balance them on the top of their heads, thereby carrying them at their center of balance and allowing the strength of their skeleton to bear the weight, rather than their muscles.
Correcting bad posture and the physical problems that result can be accomplished in two ways. The first is by eliminating as much "bad" stress from your body as possible. Bad stress includes all the factors, habits, or stressors that cause your body to deviate from normal. Bad stress can result from a poorly adjusted workstation at work, from not having your seat adjusted correctly in your car, or even from carrying too much weight around in a heavy purse or backpack.
The second is by applying "good" stress on the body in an effort to move your posture back toward your center of balance. This is accomplished through a series of exercises, stretches, adjustments, and changes to your physical environment, all designed to help correct your posture. Getting your body back to its center of balance by improving your posture is critically important to improving how you feel, and how your body ages.
Speak up and educate others,
Dr. Craig
Maximized Health “tip of the week”
Your habits dictate how you age
Most people do not seriously consider how simple lifestyle habits affect their lives. In fact, they can play a major role in determining longevity and health status. But, it is true! Simple habits like how you sit at a desk, on a couch, in a chair or what your posture is like in the car or at work… can literally be quite destructive to your health.
The link between habits and health status is POSTURE. Your body posture is capable of changing in a negative way, and it is also capable of changing in a positive way. The determining factor here is STRESS. Good postural habits help minimize stress, and in turn will promote good posture in the future. Bad postural habits can significantly increase physical stress in the body, and in turn will promote even worse posture in the future.
Trust me, living with bad postural habits long enough will lead to failure and dysfunction in the body - not to mention discomfort. Learning how to identify and correct your postural habits is essential to success here in the office.
Your future health status and ability to function normally depends on your desire to understand this concept!
Going the extra mile in patient education
Due to the serious nature of lifestyle / habit modification, I have decided to do an early launch of our video education library. On our website, http://www.maximizedhealth.net/, you will find a tab in the Member Wellness section entitled Video Education Library. You do have to create a Member Login to identify your active status with Maximized Health Chiropractic. Once you have done this you will be able to access all of our Instructional Videos. At the moment, we only have 4 instructional videos regarding lifestyle / habit modification. In the future, there will be dozens more, from advice while traveling to abdominal exercise routines. So, if you are not a member already… you might want to become one ASAP.
Your habits dictate how you age
Most people do not seriously consider how simple lifestyle habits affect their lives. In fact, they can play a major role in determining longevity and health status. But, it is true! Simple habits like how you sit at a desk, on a couch, in a chair or what your posture is like in the car or at work… can literally be quite destructive to your health.
The link between habits and health status is POSTURE. Your body posture is capable of changing in a negative way, and it is also capable of changing in a positive way. The determining factor here is STRESS. Good postural habits help minimize stress, and in turn will promote good posture in the future. Bad postural habits can significantly increase physical stress in the body, and in turn will promote even worse posture in the future.
Trust me, living with bad postural habits long enough will lead to failure and dysfunction in the body - not to mention discomfort. Learning how to identify and correct your postural habits is essential to success here in the office.
Your future health status and ability to function normally depends on your desire to understand this concept!
Going the extra mile in patient education
Due to the serious nature of lifestyle / habit modification, I have decided to do an early launch of our video education library. On our website, http://www.maximizedhealth.net/, you will find a tab in the Member Wellness section entitled Video Education Library. You do have to create a Member Login to identify your active status with Maximized Health Chiropractic. Once you have done this you will be able to access all of our Instructional Videos. At the moment, we only have 4 instructional videos regarding lifestyle / habit modification. In the future, there will be dozens more, from advice while traveling to abdominal exercise routines. So, if you are not a member already… you might want to become one ASAP.
INSTRUCTIONS:
LOG ON TO: http://www.maximizedhealth.net/
LOOK: Lower left hand side of the website "Member Login" click on "register"
FILL IN: All your contact information/login/password, etc.
CLICK: "Submit"
WAIT: for email verification from Maximized Health Chiropractic (weekdays within 24 hours)
Congratulations, you are now a Member!
I strongly urge you all to check out the 4 instructional videos regarding lifestyle / habit modification. I guarantee that YOU WILL learn a few things that could make a huge difference in how you are living!
I strongly urge you all to check out the 4 instructional videos regarding lifestyle / habit modification. I guarantee that YOU WILL learn a few things that could make a huge difference in how you are living!
