There is no such thing as BAD posture. Yes, let it sink in.
No. Such. Thing.
Science has proven that there is no IDEAL posture. The old adage of bending your knees, keeping your head straight and back “up” while squatting is out! And thank goodness, cause if you’ve ever tried to hang on to a toddler, shopping bag, car keys and bend to pick up a dropped teddy… a “perfect” squat is impossible.
What we assess when we assess posture is not how you stand but how you move. Do you have range of movement available to your body be that your back or your shoulders, your knees or hips?
If you have range of motion restrictions and therefore only small movements available, you may be excessively loading your tissues which may result in pain or discomfort as a result of dysfunction.
So, in this case posture is a problem but only because you only have one posture available!
Imagine sitting up straight, with “perfect posture” for 8 hours at work. Would you feel flexible and subtle at the end of the day? Absolutely not! You’d feel stiff as a board! It is the LACK of movement/moving that has caused a problem, NOT your posture.
So why do we give exercises and advice re posture?
Because moving and movement allows for greater available postures. So changing your posture hasn’t been the thing to fix the pain but rather the movement associated with your home exercises and your awareness of regular position changes.
Importantly we need to be aware that as we age, our posture changes and it ISN’T always associated with pain. Two people can have the same spinal curvature and only one be in pain.
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