More than we think, our bodies are misaligned, and it's called poor posture.
Poor posture makes us look bad and causes problems such as Back Pain, Headaches, and various health problems. Chronic fatigue, herniated discs, and reduced physical performance also can all result from poor posture that has been maintained over the years.
It is very important to be aware of and improve your daily posture in order to live a healthy and energetic life.
Good standing posture is...
When you are standing in a good posture, viewed from the side, the ears, shoulders, hip joints, knee joints, and ankles should be in a straight line.
The tips to stand in a good posture are,
1. Tuck your chin.
2. Slightly squeeze both shoulder blades and expand your chest.
3. Slightly tighten your buttocks muscles.
4. Stretch your knees straight.
5. The Center of gravity should be placed not on the toes but on the heels, evenly distributed on both sides.
Good sitting posture is...
The head should be directly above the torso, and the ears, shoulders, and hip joints should be in a straight line.
The tips to sit in a good posture are,
1. Tuck your chin.
2. Squeeze shoulder blades toward the spine and stretch the chest slightly.
3. The spine should form a gentle S-shape, not a C-shape.
4. Lightly tense the abdominal and back muscles to stabilize.
5. Keep the pelvis upright and place the upper body straight on top of it.
Do you sit like this?
When we ask clients to sit down before a treatment, more than 80% of them sit this way.
1. The head goes forward.
2. The shoulders are rounded.
3. The back is bending and the spine forms C-shape.
4. The belly is pushed out.
5. The pelvis tilts backward, and the body weight rides on the tailbone instead of Ischium.
Actually, this is one of the typical poor sitting postures.
Daily habits create your posture
More and more people these days spend much of their day looking at their smartphones and computer screens.
The human body is shaped by the accumulation of daily usage; if you spend all day rounding your back, looking down, and concentrating on the screen, your body's fascia will become rigid in that shape.
In fact, there is a great increase in the number of people who come to see us with a so-called Text Neck posture, or Kyphosis, in which the head is forward and the back is rounded.
Working on your sitting posture is the key.
According to recent studies, we spend an average of eight hours a day sitting.
Some people who work at a desk might be sitting longer, maybe even 10 or 12 hours. Therefore, it is important to first be aware of and improve our posture while sitting in order to prevent our bodies from becoming rigid in bad posture.
6 tips to improve your sitting posture
Do not cross your legs.
Crossing your legs is easy and looks cool? However, crossing legs can lead to misalignment of the pelvis and hip joints, resulting in distortion of the body. It also reduces blood flow to the legs, causing swelling. If you are tempted to cross your legs, be sure to switch sides frequently.
Do not rely on the backrest.
Sitting in a chair for long periods, you become dependent on the backrest, which weakens your core muscles for maintaining posture. That is fine when relaxing, but when working or eating, make an effort to straighten your back on your own. Placing a cushion or rolled-up towel between your lower back and the backrest will support your pelvis and help you naturally stretch your back.
Do not look down continuously.
The head usually weighs about 12 pounds, but if you concentrate on your phone or computer screen and your head is forward, your neck will continue to bear the weight of more than 42 pounds.
Such a condition for several hours each day can cause serious damage to the neck.
Try to keep your head directly above your torso as much as possible by using a computer stand or lifting your phone up to face level to keep the screen positioned higher.
Stand up once every 30 minutes.
Muscles gradually weaken and lose elasticity if they remain unmoved and unused; get up from your chair once every 30 minutes to get a drink or go to the bathroom to prevent them from becoming stiff.
Exercise between desk jobs.
Do exercises regularly to prevent your body from becoming stiff. The shoulder blade area is particularly prone to tension when working at a desk for long periods of time.
Here are 4 easy shoulder blade exercises you can do while sitting.
1. Shrug your shoulders x 10 times.
2. Put your hands behind you and open your shoulder for 10 seconds.
3. Stretch the outside of your shoulder blades on both sides for 10 seconds each.
4. Squeeze both shoulder blades together x 10 times.
Get a massage
It is helpful to get a massage to relax muscle tension and improve sitting posture. Massage can reset muscles and tension that have become stiffened in the form of a hunched posture due to long hours at a desk. Since the body is all connected and in balance, it is recommended to relax the entire body from the feet to the head, not just one part.
Reset your body.
Your current posture is the result of the way you use your body every day. And since modern people spend most of their time day sitting, it can be said that the body is shaped by sitting posture. If your muscles are tight, you may not be able to achieve good posture even if you want to.
First of all, it is most necessary to reset the body by taking out muscle tension.
Posture Improvement of clients
The center of gravity, which had been tilted forward, is now back on the heels, and the ears, shoulders, hip joints, and ankles are aligned. The head, which had been forward, has returned to its original correct position.
The shoulders, which had been inward, opened up and the upper back, which had been rounded, straightened. In addition, tension from the shoulder blades to the back of the head was removed, and the neck could be extended naturally.
The contracted core muscles loosen up and the whole body was lifted. She now stands beautifully against gravity. Her height also seems to have slightly increased.
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Massage S-Shape
Yoh Kitahara
Owner, Therapist of Massage S-Shape