Posture Basics You Need to Know

Good posture is a sign of physical and emotional health. But ask nearly anyone with back pain if they have good posture, the answer more often than not is no.

So, if most people do not know what good posture is, how can they expect to maintain it? Education about posture is usually limited to one sentence, “sit up straight.” But there is much more that the posturally challenged need to know before they attempt to combat a slouch. Most importantly, attempting to correct posture without basic guidelines can result in just as much pain and dysfunction as the “bad posture” itself. Fortunately there is hope with a little bit of knowledge and application of the posture basics below.

Know What Proper Posture Is and Isn’t

Good posture isn’t simply standing up straight and keeping your shoulders back. Healthy posture maintains the proper alignment of structures so that optimal biomechanical function is achieved. This limits physical stress and prevents breakdown of the body. The feet and the abdominal musculature play vital roles in posture maintenance, as they are the foundation and the core strength respectively. A flat foot or a weak transverse abdominis muscle will cause postural distortions to varying degrees which predisposes the body to pain and injury.

The Plumb Line

There are certain points of the body that should align themselves vertically so that the body bears its weight and moves through space efficiently. Imagine a perfectly straight line passing through the body from the head to the floor. This line is called a plumb line and it is used to visualize these “posture points” and to identify structural imbalances three dimensionally.

Posture Points