LET’S GET IT STRAIGHT
Fix your posture with this core and back workout
62 | OCTOBER 2021
That standing desks and lumbar-support chairs have largely been gathering dust in empty offices since the ‘work from home if you can’ edict was first delivered some 18 months ago goes some way towards explaining the emergence of the term ‘pandemic posture’. A rounded upper back, slumped shoulders and a neck that juts towards whatever screen you find in front of you are signs that you’re suffering – but your appearance isn’t all that’s at stake.
‘When we talk about posture, we’re actually talking about the body’s biomechanics,’ says postural alignment therapist Eleanor Burt, referring to the science of how your collection of muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments work together to produce movement. It means that when your posture is good, you’ll be in functional alignment; joints comfortably positioned at right angles, weight evenly distributed between both sides of the body and muscles doing the job they’re designed to do – and only that. ‘This body will be mobile, pain free and resilient to physical trauma, such as whiplash or an ankle sprain’ adds Burt.
Cheering, if unrelatable, stuff, given the already mentioned pandemic posture. Indeed, posture becomes poor as a result of reduced movement in a muscle that’s become stiff from remaining in the same position (think: slouching over a laptop). This then has a knock-on effect on your joints. ‘If only 50% of the muscles in your body are working in the way they should, the surrounding joints will be pulled out of alignment, and other muscles will be forced to do twice the work, which could cause strains and pain,’ Burt explains. Sure enough, in a study on the home-working population since the start of the pandemic, published in the
50% cited neck pain, with 41% experiencing lower-back issues.
Quite besides being a literal pain in the neck, poor posture can also affect your athletic performance. ‘Without a solid range of movement in your muscles and joints, your body can’t move efficiently when you increase the load during exercise, and pain will eventually set in from the unnatural friction between your joints and
Small, corrective moves can be transformative for nixing niggles
muscles,’ adds Burt. Say you’re a runner with a desk job. Neglect your mobility exercises and clocking up so many sitting hours will mean you’ll struggle to fully extend your hips, which may, in turn, cause your lumbar spine to overextend and, hello, lower-back pain. ‘Sports injuries and ongoing pain are inevitable if you don’t think about your body as a connected machine that requires regular maintenance on each part,’ adds Burt.
The good news: small, corrective exercises can be transformative for nixing niggles. Having successfully healed clients of all ages, Burt affirms that we’re all capable of adapting – activating dysfunctional muscles and helping the overworked ones to relax. ‘Pain and tension are signs of substandard movement patterns that can be totally transformed,’ she says. Straighten out the kinks with this foolproof guide to prime posture.
Women’s Health