Your Mother Was Right!
Greg Stemkowski MS, PT, CSCS, PES
Procore Physical Therapy P.C.
When your mother tells you to sit-up straight or stand-up straight you better listen because the majority of injuries are postural related. When an individual does not preserve their posture over time, it creates imbalances between muscles that lead to inefficient neuromusculature control, decreased force production, decreased range of motion and can produce pain. When muscle imbalances occur the body looses its ability to properly absorb force, dynamically stabilize, and produce force while moving. This can also lead to compensations or adaptations in movement over time. The compensations and adaptations that develop will eventually lead to tissue overload, decreased performance and predictable patterns of injury.
The majority of my patients are unaware of proper posture. What I tell them to do is think of the military and stand at attention. Bring your head and shoulders back and your chest up. This will create proper alignment between your head, shoulders, and spine. Raising your chest not only changes the position of your upper spine it also changes the position of your lower spine. Try it! Raise your chest and you should feel the lower spine arch. That is how the proper posture should feel in the lower spine. Once the lower spine is in position all that needs to be done is to align the knees over the feet. I am sure it will feel foreign and uncomfortable but that is the most biomechanically efficient position for the body to function in.
Activities of daily living or recreational sports rely heavily of posture for efficiency of movement. Any time you are completing an activity out of proper posture you are putting excessive stress on muscles that are not designed to tolerate such stresses. This results in decreased force production and neuomusculature control. The added stress to these weaker muscles will cause tissue over load and eventual breakdown, which ultimately leads to decreased function. Some of the more common postural distortions are having your head out in front of your shoulders; an excessive low back arch; and knees that are angled inward. All three of these postures lead to eventual breakdown with loss of function in daily activities and recreational activities.
The best remedy for poor posture is consciously knowing that you have poor posture. The next time you are jogging or riding a bike check the alignment of your hips to your knees to your feet. Are your knees in line with your hip and foot? The next time your are window shopping in Nyack, look at your reflection to see if your head is in line with your shoulders and that your chest is raised. You have to constantly ask your self; what kind of posture do I have? And tell yourself, my mother was right.