Why is correct posture so important? What is posture? Formation of correct posture.

Not many can boast of a beautiful flat back, because the correct posture is formed in childhood and adolescence. As a rule, no one controls the child when he sits at the wrong desk at school. Some slouch because they are too tall so as not to stand out from the rest. And sometimes the stoop is affected by the wearing of heels. If incorrect posture appeared in old age, then this indicates some pathologies of the spine and the musculoskeletal system. Sometimes babies are already born with a hump or crooked spine.

IMPORTANT! In any case, whatever the reason, you need to get rid of it. After all, everyone knows about the importance of correct posture. The fact is that poor posture not only spoils the aesthetic appearance of the figure, but also entails a lot of unpleasant consequences. It can be scoliosis, disorders of the heart and blood vessels, brain and so on. Therefore, it is imperative to start correcting the slouch as soon as possible.

Correct posture is the ability of any person to keep the body straight in a relaxed state. In this case, the muscles of the whole body should not be strained.

Signs of a beautiful posture:

Expert opinion

Over time, pain and crunching in the back and joints can lead to dire consequences - local or complete limitation of movements in the joint and spine, up to disability. People, taught by bitter experience, in order to cure joints, use a natural remedy recommended by orthopedist Bubnovsky ... Read more »

1. Light floating gait.
2. Tucked up belly.
3. The shoulders are in a slightly lowered and laid back state.
4. At the knees, the legs are slightly turned.
5. The chest moves slightly forward.
6. The position of the head is strictly vertical.
7. The spine is straight.

How to fix bad posture

Unfortunately, slouching does not respond to drug therapy, although it would be easier to take a pill and wake up with a straight back. But, on the other hand, it can be fixed completely free of charge, albeit with a little effort of your own. When you start taking the right postures or doing specific exercises, you may experience mild pain and discomfort, so you need to start gradually.

1. You can buy an orthopedic brace in the form of a corset. When you put it on, you will feel how it will mechanically prevent slouching.
2. In your free time, it is advisable to wear an ordinary book on your head, similar to how luggage is carried in India. It is enough to walk like this for 20-30 minutes a day. The essence of this method is that the book can only be held with correct posture, but if you hunch a little and it will fall. Consequently, you will be forced to keep your back straight. In addition, it improves movement coordination. By the way, you can hold a book on your head in a sitting position, for example, when you are sitting at a computer or watching TV. It is noted that after a week or two, a person's book stops falling altogether.
3. If you have a sedentary job, then the chair must be office. Because it is designed for the duration of a person's work with the correct body position.
4. Sitting at the table, you need to move as close to the table as possible so that the elbows are at a right angle (and a little sharp is permissible). This will help you position the chair for the correct posture.
5. Alternatively, tie a red thread on your finger or hand as a reminder. She will remind you to take the correct posture.
6. When adjusting the chair, keep your thighs exactly parallel to the floor.
7. Be sure to take breaks from work to warm up your back.
8. You need to sleep exclusively on a hard mattress.
9. During sleep, lie on your stomach and side less often. Give preference to the back.
10. Avoid down pillows, they are overly soft.
11. When lowering any weight, even a small one, always bend your knees. Only in this case the spine will remain straight and straight. It is strictly forbidden to bend the lower back.
12. Lifting weights should be the same as lowering.
13. If you have to do hard physical work, then it is better to tie a belt that restrains the lower back.
14. Distribute the carry in two hands. It is unacceptable to carry bags on one side only.

How to check for correct posture

In order to check in what condition you need to stand with a beautiful posture, you need to lean against a flat wall. In this case, the buttocks, heels, back of the head and shoulder blades should fit snugly to the surface. But the gap should be between the shoulder blades and the lower back. Ask someone to insert a palm in this area: it should pass freely.

A little about secrets

Have you ever experienced persistent back and joint pain? Judging by the fact that you are reading this article, you are already personally familiar with osteochondrosis, arthrosis and arthritis. Surely you have tried a bunch of medicines, creams, ointments, injections, doctors and, apparently, none of the above has helped you ... And there is an explanation for this: it is simply not profitable for pharmacists to sell a working product, as they will lose customers! Nevertheless, for thousands of years, Chinese medicine has known the recipe for getting rid of these diseases, and it is simple and straightforward. Read more »

To adjust your gait, you need to direct your gaze only straight, and step gently. The feet must be slightly parted to the side, and you need to step directly on them, and not on the heels. During the landing of the foot, it is better to bend the leg slightly at the knee. Don't forget about a straight back and free shoulders. In general, you need to develop gait in orthopedic shoes.

The easiest and most effective exercises

1. In position: sitting, when you, for example, work, you need to periodically relax your shoulders. This will avoid slouching.
2. To straighten your back, you need to stand up and try to connect the shoulder blades. The shoulders should be pulled back as much as possible. Hold in this position for 10-15 seconds, and then return to the starting position and relax. You can repeat it at least 4-5 times. This exercise is aimed at strengthening the back muscles.
3. It is very useful to raise and lower the shoulders, make rotational movements with them.
4. "Kitty" is probably known to everyone who has done exercises at least once. For this exercise, you need to get on all fours and bend your back down, and pull your stomach in. In this position, stand for 7-10 seconds. Now the back is curved in the opposite direction. And so several times. To complicate the exercise, you can, with your back bent down, strongly bend forward like a cat's stretching. At the same time, the legs will be in an even position.
   
5. Lie on your back with your arms extended along the body. Next, you need to slowly raise your head, then your neck, and then your shoulders. And so to stretch until you lean on your own elbows. You can stretch your arms forward. Stop for a few seconds and return to the starting position.
6. Lie on your back with bent legs: the knees do not touch each other, and the heels are located near the pelvis. Then you need to raise the pelvis and stand for 10 seconds.
   
7. Starting position: the same, but while raising the pelvis, the arms must be extended up.

1. All exercises should be done constantly and preferably 2-3 times a day.
2. Increase the number of times gradually.
3. You can also do strength exercises with dumbbells.
4. Exercises for correct posture involve push-ups and training on simulators.
5. Walk and run more.
6. Exercise in the morning.
7. Visit the pool and swim more.
8. Let your body oxygenate while hiking.
9. Ventilate the room more often.

ATTENTION! If you have serious problems with the spine in the form of diseases, then be sure to consult a doctor before exercising. You may need to give up some exercises for good posture. The fact is that with some pathologies there are contraindications. And you don't want to harm your own body, do you?

You can watch some more exercises in the video:

Correct and incorrect posture.

If you want to build a house, you will definitely make sure that at the very beginning you will lay a solid and solid foundation on which it will hold for centuries. In this sense, posture is the foundation of the foundations and the foundation, without which it is impossible to build a beautiful, healthy, strong and enduring body.

Before you start training, work on “problem areas” or plan your result for the next race, you need to lay a solid and strong foundation that will withstand these loads - correct posture. This is not the most popular topic in the training process, and not everyone pays due attention to it. For many, this is mainly a question of appearance. A straight back and open shoulders are beautiful, but is it really necessary?

By the way, check out this one about what the same person looks like with good posture and bad posture:

Why do people usually have poor posture?

Take a look around. How many people will you see with "correct" posture? 1 in 10? 1 in 100? Our life is becoming more and more comfortable, and the spine is becoming less healthy. Let's skip the obvious hypotheses about a sedentary lifestyle and go straight to anatomy. Posture disorders arise from an imbalance of antagonistic muscles, that is, muscles acting in opposite directions.

Normally, the muscles in the front and back are in a balanced, harmonious state, contract and stretch during various movements and return to normal tone at rest when the person is standing upright.

When some muscles are stretched, for example, the back muscles (trapezius), their antagonists (pectoral muscles) contract. If the muscles of the back are constantly in a state of stretching (stooped back), they lose the ability to return to normal tone, and their antagonists - the pectorals, in turn, "get used" to be in a contracted state all the time.

Poor posture options. Right - correct posture.

This entails the shutdown of the abdominal muscles from the work (a sprawled abdomen) and a decrease in the tone of the gluteus maximus. Their role is taken by the muscles of the lower back and the back of the thigh, which are now constantly in hypertonicity. In contrast, the rectus femoris muscle is stretched. The muscles of the lower leg are reduced, the plantar fascia is shortened. These are all links in the same chain.

Kenneth Hansraj, head of the spine surgery department at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, in a published study, provides this picture illustrating the stress on the spine of the spine due to the position in which a person holds his head:

Read more about and how it threatens your health.

7 dangerous consequences of poor posture

1. Round back and inwardly wrapped shoulders restrict chest mobility... This directly affects breathing. The breathing of a stooped person is superficial, he does not breathe deeply, his lungs do not work at full strength. As a result, the body does not receive enough oxygen, which is obviously vital for all biochemical processes in the body. The results of this study () show that slouching reduces lung capacity (VC) and forced expiratory volume (FEV) - indicators that determine the efficiency of the airways.

2. It is especially important that in this case an insufficient amount of oxygen enters the brain! The brain of a stooped person is in constant oxygen deficiency. This leads to a decrease in cognitive abilities, energy levels, the mood becomes chronically sluggish and apathetic. In this study (), the dependence of various cognitive processes on posture was established. Participants in the study with more correct posture performed better on information recall tests.

3. During training, insufficient supply of oxygen to the body, which is the main participant in the process of energy production (in aerobic mode) reduces athletic performance(and in general can be dangerous).

4. When stooped, the back muscles are overly stretched, and the pectoral muscles (in particular, the pectoralis minor), on the contrary, are overly contracted and put pressure on the lymphatic ducts that are under them. This leads to impaired circulation of the lymphatic fluid. Lymph is responsible in the body for immunity and nutrition of the body with nutrients. Violation of both processes can lead to a wide variety of diseases.

5. Incorrect posture, of course, affects the location of the internal organs and can lead to their displacement, dropping down.

6. The displacement of the center of gravity, which is in the abdomen, leads to an even greater deformation of the musculoskeletal system, the formation of incorrect stereotypes of movements. Firmly strengthening in memory with repeated repetition, especially in cyclic sports (running, cycling), they only aggravate the situation. Vicious circle.

7. Muscle imbalance, violation of the position of the skeleton, internal organs, neurovascular bundles, and so on, in general, changes the course of biochemical processes in the body. These processes determine our health, both physical and psychological. The human psyche is also nothing more than the interaction of chemical elements, which determines our behavior and decisions. Our decisions shape our lives. Our happiness literally depends on posture. And this is not a metaphor. The results of this study () show how posture affects emotions and vice versa, how an emotional state changes posture.

Emotions of happiness, success, confidence and optimism are more inherent in people with a straight back, open shoulders. When the study participants felt angry, it was immediately reflected in body position: neck forward, shoulders up and in, tension in the knee joints, arms crossed.

How to correct your posture?

Before self-medication, check the condition of the musculoskeletal system with a doctor. Slouching can be caused by the displacement of the vertebrae, scoliosis and some other disorders are accompanied by torsion (twisting and deformation) of the spine. Such issues need to be resolved under the supervision of a specialist.

If there are no such problems with the spine, but muscle-fascial imbalance remains, you can already work with this with the help of special physical exercises, and just in everyday life: re-learn how to walk, sit, stand, bend over, and so on, that is, change your motor stereotypes. A very non-trivial task for an adult, but there is no workaround.

7 posture exercises you need to do every day 1. Learn to stand correctly.

Exercise against the wall:

Go to the wall, lean: heels, buttocks, back, back of the head and, if possible, lean your hands, trying (as far as possible!) To touch the wall with your elbows and palms. Fix this position for a few seconds. Remember the position of your back and, already moving away from the wall, try to maintain this posture as long as possible. When you find yourself "drooping" again, go to the wall and repeat.

2. Learn to sit correctly. Consider these guidelines in order to maintain your back position while sitting: - sit not on the tailbone, but on the ischial bones, - stop sitting "cross-legged"- it is very harmful for posture, increases the load on the joints, destabilizes the pelvis, and leads to sprains.

As a rule, if a person is more comfortable to sit cross-legged than with straight legs, this indicates weak gluteal muscles, and this position helps to stabilize the position of the body, but leads to very unfavorable consequences.

Ideally, the legs are bent at the knees at right angles, the feet are parallel to each other - put a small cushion or a special orthopedic pillow for the lumbar under the lumbar.

The exercise : Sit on an unstable surface. This automatically activates the muscle stabilizers, strengthens them and aligns the position of the back. At home, you can sit on a fitball. For the office, get a softball that can be placed on a chair or a special unstable seat. Use this several times a day or constantly.

3. Learn to walk correctly When walking, climbing stairs, descending - make sure that the feet are parallel to each other, and not apart or inward. Incorrect position of the feet disrupts the functioning of the entire musculoskeletal system. The socks turned outward or inward change the angle of movement in the knee, hip joint, as a result, the muscles that are not intended for this take the load on themselves.

This is how the large and medium gluteal muscles, which should be mainly responsible for walking, are turned off from work, instead of them all the work is carried out by the adductor muscles of the thigh. A decrease in tone in these muscles leads to destabilization of the pelvis, which in turn leads to problems in the lower back and further up the chain.

The exercise is to monitor your gait and try to put your feet correctly.

4. Learn to bend, sit, and stand correctly. Keep your back straight during all these movements. To practice this skill, do squats with a stick behind your back: 2 points of contact - the back of the head and the sacrum. Grasp the stick with your hand around your lower back and slide your lower back towards your knuckles. Start squatting - in such a way as to maintain this position (back of the head, lower back, sacrum):

Do 10-15 repetitions of 2-3 sets daily.

5. Strengthen your deep back muscles. The most obvious (but not the only possible) exercise for this is the plank. Also, many other exercises from Pilates and yoga are largely aimed at the formation of these particular muscles.

Another very useful and simple exercise that you can do every day, anywhere: bring your shoulders down and back. Bring your shoulder blades together and contract the muscles between your shoulder blades to hold this position for a few seconds. Relax. Repeat 10-15 times 2-3 sets.

6. Stretch / massage your pectoral muscles. Since these muscles are in hypertonicity all the time, they need to be gently stretched and relaxed. Simply pulling in one direction is less effective than rolling in all directions with a massage ball, for example. This improves the elasticity of the fascia and helps to straighten the shoulders and open the chest.

7. Use self-massage techniques with massage rolls... Often, a decrease in muscle tone, their excessive stretching is a consequence of the presence of a large number of trigger (pain) points that weaken muscle fibers. Massage with rolls helps to remove trigger points, after which it becomes much easier and safer to strengthen the muscles.

Nothing in the body just happens. Any deviation from the norm has its own functional significance, it performs a specific task. Whether it is a curvature of the spine, overweight or underweight, flat feet, whatever. Any such problem does not exist in the body in isolation. On the one hand, it compensates for some other problem.

For example, one of the functions of excess weight can be just compensation for posture disorders, when adipose tissue is a kind of shock absorber for the spine... In this case, a sharp weight loss without additional work to strengthen the muscle corset can lead to unpleasant consequences for the back. On the other hand, one problem leads to a chain reaction of other compensations and violations.

Imperfections shape our individuality until they begin to destroy it physically.

In this sense, posture is the foundation of the foundations and the foundation, without which it is impossible to build a beautiful, healthy, strong and enduring body.

Start now - from the very first exercise . Go to the wall, lean back, stretch your head up, pull your stomach in, lower your shoulders. Feel how in a few seconds you have become slimmer, more cheerful, even more determined. Feel a surge of new energy with every breath you take deeply. Remember this feeling in order to return to it again and again, until a beautiful correct posture becomes for you an absolutely natural and most comfortable body position.

In childhood, adults said to all of us: "Do not stoop", "Sit up straight", "Straighten up". The school doctor also checked his posture from time to time. But why was all this done? The average person thinks, “Just think, I'm slouching. I will want and straighten myself. " Or not? .... What really threatens the violation of posture?
Posture is a familiar upright posture, an upright position of the body at rest and when moving. The habitual position of the body is the position of the body that is regulated unconsciously, at the level of unconditioned reflexes, by the so-called motor stereotype. Each person has only one habitual posture inherent only to him. Posture is usually associated with bearing, habitual posture, demeanor. It is formed in childhood and undergoes certain changes throughout life. Looking at posture can tell a lot about a person.
Striving for good posture is a good thing. After all, a crooked person is not only ugly. It is unhealthy.
When we hunch over and stoop, the muscle corset weakens, the skeleton is deformed, insufficient air enters the lungs, and internal organs are compressed. As a result, a person begins to be bothered by a feeling of discomfort and pain in the back, gait changes, and shortness of breath appears. Squeezed internal organs can lead to complications in the form of various diseases.

If you do not pay attention to the incorrect posture, over time it becomes habitual and consolidates. But the curvature of the spine is not only an aesthetic problem, it is also a danger to the internal organs, which are deformed and compressed due to the changing position of the bones of the skeleton. Moreover, improper formation of the skeleton threatens the development of scoliosis, lordosis, kyphosis, due to which the spine ages quickly, provoking diseases such as osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernias, protrusions and vegetative-vascular dystonia. These serious consequences can be avoided by a timely visit to an orthopedic surgeon, who will conduct an examination (at present, most medical institutions have the necessary diagnostic equipment), prescribe treatment and give recommendations for the prevention of postural disorders in children. Usually, children with curvature of the spine are prescribed therapeutic massage, exercise therapy and other procedures. Patients with complex spinal deformities are often prescribed wearing a special corset to correct this ailment.
All children with postural disorders should be registered with an orthopedic doctor and receive all possible methods of therapy (orthopedic aids, unloading regime, physiotherapy exercises, massage, therapeutic swimming, manual therapy, physiotherapy, etc., types of conservative treatment), and according to indications - surgery.
Severe forms of scoliosis (grade 3-4) make up about 0.6-0.7% of the total number of children suffering from scoliosis. A significant part of grade 1 scoliosis stabilizes with age. The tactics in carrying out therapeutic and prophylactic measures depend on the degree of scoliosis, on the prognosis of the disease. Children with progressive forms of scoliosis should be treated in specialized institutions.
Children with postural disorders, non-progressive forms of scoliosis should be treated on an outpatient basis until the end of their growth. The basis of complex treatment should be corrective gymnastics and various sports that contribute to the correct formation of the spine. Physical activity during physical education and sports has an impact, first of all, on the ligamentous-muscular and osteoarticular apparatus, affecting their functions, changing their structure. Sports training always increases muscle strength, elasticity of the bag-ligamentous apparatus and their other functional qualities.
Motor skills and other functional qualities (speed, flexibility, dexterity, endurance, strength, balance) develop and improve, which indicates the improvement of proprioception, muscle feeling, vestibular stability, accuracy of reproduction of specified movements in space, time and effort.
Usually, if there are no other diseases, children with postural disorders and scoliosis of the 1st degree (caused by an incorrect motor stereotype formed at school and at home) are assigned the main medical group for physical education. In addition, they are shown corrective gymnastics under the supervision of an orthopedic surgeon in addition to the usual physical education lessons at school.

With scoliosis of 2-3 tbsp, children require a special approach. They are usually assigned a group of physiotherapy exercises, children are engaged in a polyclinic or in a medical and physical dispensary.
For the correct orientation of children for sports, it must be borne in mind that not all sports have the same effect on the further development of posture and spine.
By the nature of the impact on the musculoskeletal system, all sports can be divided into 3 groups: symmetrical, asymmetric and mixed sports.
Observations in dynamics show that long-term treatment is required (on average, from 1 to 5 years) to eliminate existing posture disorders in the frontal plane.
Basically, the skills of incorrect posture, formed in the absence of functional changes on the side of the musculoskeletal system, are eliminated when practicing symmetrical sports for one year. In other cases, more persistent exercises are required for several years to eliminate existing posture disorders. So, the skills of improper body installation, formed against the background of functional changes on the part of the musculoskeletal system, are corrected within 2-3 years, and postural disorders that have arisen against the background of existing functional and structural changes can only be corrected by long-term persistent practice of symmetrical types of sports exercises (sports) for 4-5 years, and in some cases (up to 6.0 - 7.0%) they remain for life. Deformation can be effectively influenced by physical exercises only up to 14-15 years of age, at an older age it cannot be corrected. This is explained by the fact that adolescents of 14-15 years old have almost already formed posture.

At home, you should also take care of the correct posture of the child. For treatment and prevention, there are special sets of exercises that help babies to strengthen their back muscles and abs. In this regard, the children's Swedish wall helps the crumbs perfectly. A child with a defect in posture needs to do more physical education, it is worth giving him hours for swimming. In addition, it is worth making sure that the child has a comfortable desk, as well as a chair whose height corresponds to the age of the baby. The child's shoes should be thick, and at the same time, soft soles, which will protect his spine from microtrauma. The child's sitting should be limited, since this position is the least useful for a young organism. Even watching TV or reading a book is better for children with postural defects while lying on their stomachs.

Poor posture can lead to a whole host of diseases that we don't even know about. Curvature of the spine is becoming a major cause of health problems in developed countries.

The spine is not just the core of our body. Together with the skeleton, it serves to protect internal organs from external damage. If the position of the spine differs from normal, then more external pressure is exerted on the body, and various diseases begin to arise:

• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Chest pain
• Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract
• Vision problems
• Hormonal imbalance
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Weakening of the body's immune system
• Kidney disease
• Menstrual pain
• Pain in joints, muscles, neck
• Obesity
• Toothaches
• Respiratory diseases
• Incontinence
• Sciatic nerve neuralgia

The problem is that most of us think these diseases are the result of inappropriate treatment. Such people continue to take various medications, while the cause of their diseases is curvature of the spine, and every effort should be made to correct posture and not aggravate the condition of the spine. Medication relieves the pain, but it does not eliminate the cause.

The lifestyle we lead shapes our bodies. Provide your body with enough nutrients, fluids and exercise to overcome challenges and stress. But, if you "fill it with bad fuel", then it will not work just like the car. Humans are born to move, as movement along with proper nutrition strengthens muscles and helps us fight gravity. If you see a stooped person, know that gravity defeated him. Since in our daily life most of us move little or perform one type of physical activity, we need to do sports additionally. If you have serious problems with posture, it would be nice to find a specialist who can determine which area needs strengthening, and which one is already in tension, where it is necessary to do more "stretching exercises", and where strength.

Increase your physical activity with stretching and flexibility exercises designed to release muscle pressure in the outer areas of your body. Usually these areas are the neck, lower back, shoulders.

Use stabilizing exercises. They are necessary in order to fix the correct position of the joints with the muscles. You can refer to exercise groups such as yoga, pilates, tai chi, classical choreography. But be careful, as not all of these complexes are equally suitable for different types of posture disorders.

Include strengthening exercises on all parts of the body, but with an emphasis on the back.

Include functional exercises, i.e. those that allow you to run, stand, sit, pull, bend over. You can find them in everyday life as well. For example, instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.

Think about the correct posture for the remaining 23 hours. One hour of physical education will not be able to give a significant effect if in the other 23, you will slouch at the table, so control your body position throughout the day.