Better Posture for Better Health

by Dr. Adam Rushford

We have been at this “virtualfrom-home” thing for a while now. I am sure you have taken careful steps to ensure your workstation isn’t undermining your health. If you haven’t, I want to take this opportunity to remind you why posture matters and give you some of my favorite tips for creating a workstation that will help preserve this vital health indicator.

As a Chiropractor, I may be biased, but I genuinely believe that posture is one of the most underrated and overlooked aspects of our health. With >80% of jobs being desk jobs, it is also one of the fastest eroding aspects of our health.

POSTURE EFFECTS:

1.

Mechanical Function: We are bound by the laws of physics and, therefore, subject to the stress of poor mechanics. I believe that structure drives function. You aren’t going to get the same efficiency out of your car if the alignment is pulling to the right,

Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Roger Sperry found that 90 % of the brain’s stimulation comes from the spine’s movement. For this reason, it is said the spine is the motor that drives the brain. More sitting———-> less movement of the spine———> decreased brain stimulation——-> decreased brain function and energy. To understand this, reflect on your energy following a long day stuck in front of the computer screen.

2.

3.

and you aren’t going to be able to move your neck and shoulder, breathe, and think clearly if you have 2 inches of forward head posture. Take a second to prove this point. Translate your head out in front of your shoulders and round your upper back. Now try to flex and extend your neck. Try to lift your arms up over your head. Lastly, try to take a big deep breath. Now stand up tall, pull your shoulders back, and align your ears so they are above your shoulders. Do all of the same movements and feel the difference good posture gives you. Organic Function: As you round forward into that C-shaped position, you compress internal organs and restrict the amount your lungs can expand. Hormonal functions: Check out the Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy. She is a researcher from Harvard that

4.

has studied how changes in posture affect testosterone and cortisone levels in your body. Non-verbal communication: Your posture speaks volumes about your confidence, strength, intentions, and health.

So yeah, it’s a big deal. The problem is that poor posture is a slowly eroding problem and improving posture is a slow and steady progression. It starts with awareness.

Your work station needs to be thought out. It needs to be deliberate. It needs to foster opportunities for movement and have questions that create awareness of the positions you are putting your body in.

Let’s start with some simple rules and then get into specifics:

1. Sit with a neutral spine 2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

8. Glutes engaged Hips in external rotation and grounded with feet flat on the ground Core muscle engagement Get up and move every 20-30 minutes. Minimum 2 minutes active rehab/ 30 minutes (Minimum 15 minutes of body maintenance/day). Here are some movement ideas: Neck mobilization, wrist rolls, split squats, shoulder rolls, forward bends, trunk rotation, squats, and arm circles. Change positions as often as possible: Sit, stand, kneel, squat, lunge, etc. The passivity of sitting is just as bad as the position.

When it comes to your body positions, standing is your best option, next would be sitting on the floor crosslegged at a low desk, and last would be sitting upright in a chair. Most of you probably don’t have a standing desk at home (although they are an excellent investment) so let’s focus on the fundamentals of sitting.

1. Sit on the edge of your seat: sitting back in a cushy desk chair puts all of the stress on the soft tissue (glutes and hamstring). By sitting on your seat’s edge, you shift the weight off of the soft tissue and onto your sit bones. You will rest 60% of your weight on the sit bones in this position, and the remaining 40% will be transferred into the heels by getting your hips into external rotation (think wide knee manspreading) and corkscrewing your feet into the ground. This posture takes core muscular endurance and may be challenging to hold for

Equipment and materials:

YOUR DESK: A motorized, standing desk that you can customize and change positions is ideal.

Standing all day isn’t great for you either, and in the beginning, you will have to build up stamina. Start off standing for 20 min/hour and work up from there.

PC OR DESKTOP: Desktops are much better for posture. If you have to use a laptop, get a docking station to raise your screen and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to be pulled in close to your body. CHAIR: As you will see, when we get into the specifics of sitting, the backrest is the least important factor of your chair. I also recommend a chair without armrests; they can prevent you from getting your chair adequately under your desk and hinder you from changing into other dynamic sitting options. Other cool posture tools:

a. Wearable posture sensors are a cool way to increase awareness of your position. They record your posture and then vibrate when you start to slouch.

b. Posture Medic Corrective Brace: I am not a big fan of braces that pull your shoulders back, but I do like this product because it doubles as an at desk stretching and exercise tool.

c. Mobility Ball/ Lacrosse Ball: Great tool to use for active rehab.

DESKTOP: Standing up to a Sitting World; by Dr. Kelly Starrett: This is the textbook for ergonomics and creating a functional workspace. A must for every desk jockey that wants to be able to move fluidly.

All of these tools need to be taught to your kids that are doing virtual schooling. The first round of virtual schooling was a postural disaster, with many kids’ workstations being hunched over a laptop in bed. All of the above rules apply to your kids.

2.

3. long periods at first. Start by using this posture for 20 minutes, then resting back in your chair using a lumbar support for 10 minutes to rest. Over time your muscular endurance will improve, and you will be able to sit toward the edge of your chair for most of the day.

Two-Hand Rule and core engagement: Put your right thumb against your sternum with your palm facing down. Next, place your left thumb against your belt buckle with your palm facing down. The goal is to keep these two imaginary lines parallel on the same horizontal plane. If those lines diverge from one another, you are overextending. If your hands are moving closer together, you’re rounding forward. Engage your core by lightly squeezing your glutes and externally corkscrewing (rotating)your feet into the ground.

Head back, elbows at your sides: Position your monitor so that you are looking straight forward and not looking down. Have your shoulders back with your ears stacked on top of your shoulders. You want to have your mouse and keyboard in close so that you don’t have to reach. Your elbows should be in against your body, and your shoulders should be down and relaxed and not pinned up to your ears.

The only other consideration to be aware of is using adult-sized chairs with smaller kids. To help with this, use a stool to put their feet on.

My last piece of advice is to get a coach. It is helpful to have a body mechanics specialist (Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, Massage Therapist, or highly trained personal trainer) on your team. Someone that is going beyond measuring pain and getting into measuring and improving your structure and function. There is no shame in asking for help. The best in the world have coaches.

This is a lot to keep in mind while you are focused on your profession of saving the world. Don’t be paralyzed by perfection. A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing. Start with mastering the three rules and then start to implement the specifics over time.

While writing this, I have also discovered that some of the positional advice may be hard to understand in written form. To help with this, I have created a video series that clears up and expands on what is written above. You can find these videos on our Facebook Page @www.facebook.com/ HandsonHealthChiroBrighton and reach me with any specific questions @ drrushford@ hohchiro.com.