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A Simple Way To Check Your Posture

Published On: August 20, 2024By Tags: , , , , , , , ,

When standing, our bodies should be upright to allow our weight to be evenly distributed through our skeleton. Unfortunately, many people’s posture today is bent forward, particularly at the head and shoulders, due to the proportion of the day spent sitting.

The average head weighs about 12 pounds, but for every inch the head rests forward of its optimal position (roughly level with the shoulders), an extra 10 pounds of ‘effective’ weight is added due to changes in biomechanics and leverage. This can explain why so many people experience tight muscles in their upper back and neck, often resulting in headaches and fatigue.

To check your own posture, stand with your back against a wall. If your posture is optimal (and you are of average build), you should be able to stand comfortably with your bottom, shoulders, and back of your head against the wall. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, and your arms should be relaxed at your sides. You may find that achieving this position requires you to push your head backward toward the wall, and you might feel your lower back arch away from the wall as you do so.

Photo by Megan Ruth

So, what can we all do to improve our posture?

There is no single answer to this question, as it will depend on various factors such as fitness, lifestyle (including stress), and unresolved injuries, all of which affect the mechanics of your body. However, a good starting point is to maintain fitness by ensuring core strength and overall flexibility. The human body is designed for movement, which helps us maintain natural muscle balance and joint health.

Photo by Tim van der Kuip on Unsplash

For those of us who sit for long periods, ideally, your chair should be raised so your knees are below the level of your hips. This position allows the pelvis to tilt forward and facilitates the natural arch in the lower back, which also helps bring the head and shoulders back over the body. Tilting the seat forward or using a wedge can also encourage better posture.

Many of us experience restricted joints due to adverse mechanics and alignment (known as ‘subluxations’). Chiropractic care offers an excellent way to realign the body and restore optimal joint movement. With proper care and rehabilitation advice, improvements in posture can be achieved, which can also alleviate symptoms such as back and neck pain.

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About the Author: Robert Spratley

I started my working life in the IT industry. Sitting long hours initially didn’t bother me. I was young and back pain wasn’t a thing in your 20s – right?! Then in my late 20s I injured my back carrying a piano. Although I didn’t have any pain immediately, over the coming days and weeks, my back started to hurt and I was getting pain down my right leg. I saw a physiotherapist on my GP’s referral and although it helped it didn’t resolve the pain for long. A friend of mine suggested seeing a chiropractor. This did help – and ignited an interest in how and why it helped as well as why I was in pain. Subsequently, I started my training to become a chiropractor and 5 years later qualified in 2013. As all new chiropractors do, I tested different techniques to see what seemed to work the best for me and my patients. During my first year of practice, I went to a seminar in Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC). This turned out to be quite a radical approach to why bodies go wrong and how to fix them. The word ‘why‘ is important here because most techniques focus on looking at what is out of alignment in the skeleton and how to adjust it. But what if the misalignment is due to some other underlying problem that the body cannot fix? And how did this problem occur? This is where ABC shed light and provided a reliable and consistent template to fix structural body problems. In practical terms, I found that being treated with the ABC technique stabilised my body allowing my muscles to relax rather than constantly fighting against gravity to hold me upright. Previous techniques offered relief for a while by freeing up joints but then the tension and pain returned – because my body was still unstable. Furthermore, my body had formed layer upon layer of compensations to try and deal with the underlying issues that have taken time to unravel. These include fatigue, headaches, knee pain and shoulder pain. After receiving regular ABC treatment for almost a year, my symptoms were much improved. The goal of ABC is to have an ‘unawareness’ of your body. Most of us, if we stand still for a moment and focus on our body will realise that something hurts or doesn’t feel right. This is because it isn’t right. Pain often becomes like a background noise you get accustomed to and forget what silence sounds like. This is the aim with Advanced Biostructural Correction. Contact Details Email: info@rebalancechiropractic.co.uk Website Facebook Instagram X

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