When most people think of posture they may think of perfectionists and someone with a stick whacking you in the spots that are sticking out where they shouldn't, or to lift things up that shouldn't be sagging. They may think of health professionals doing their intrusive assessments, or their mother yelling at them on the way to school.
The one concept that people often don't realise when thinking about posture, is that posture is your whole body balancing against gravity. In addition to this, not many people also realise that your body is one big biomechanical machine. To be able to appreciate this understanding of posture and the body, I will first cover some fundamental principles of functional anatomy in plain English which will help you to appreciate the importance of posture.
In most major joints of the body such as the hip, spine, shoulder and neck there are a group of muscles which can be classified as the deep group. This deep group of muscles tend to be more concerned with holding a joint in a stable position, and the properties of the muscle tend to be geared more to holding isometrically for long periods of time, keeping the joint stable and strong. Some muscles included in the deep group of the trunk that may sound familiar are the transversus abdominus, multifidus, diaphragm, and pelvic floor.
The larger muscles which are more concerned with gross movement are the more obvious and usually closest to the skin (e.g. pectorals, biceps, triceps, deltoids, quads, gluteus maximum, rectus abdominus). These muscles are considered the global layer, and tend to be geared more for movement and powerful contractions such as pushing, pulling and lifting.
Essentially, in an ideal scenario the deep group of muscles hold the joint stable and in a strong position in order to serve as a platform for the global muscles to exert powerful contractions, and to move in an efficient manner. The saying that "most exercises come from your core" is true in this sense, in that the core builds a stable platform for your joints to move from. The deep muscles and global layer working together in a synergy.
Where posture becomes important in the scheme of deep and global muscle concepts, is that when your posture is balanced and close to what is considered ideal posture, the deep muscles have their best opportunity to work and stabilise the main joints in your body. They use their high capacity for holding and enduring to keep your joints strong and stable while using less energy. Being exercised regularly the deep muscles naturally tend to be stronger and more easily recruited during movements. This then provides a stable platform for efficient and powerful movement of the limbs, and keeps the strain on joint structures to a minimum. The analogy is that of a building crane - if the base of the crane is not stabilised and steady, then the arm of the crane is going to be even more unstable.
What tends to happen when your posture is unbalanced and out of alignment, is that the body starts to develop "holding patterns" where muscles from the global group take over the role of keeping the joint stable, tending to become overworked and tight. In conjunction with these muscles becoming tight, the deep muscle group of the joint rarely get a chance to work effectively, weakening and decreasing in size, allowing them to become "lazy".
This then places more strain on the joint structures and makes you more prone to injury. In the case of the trunk muscles, this combination of a holding pattern and unbalanced posture may even make breathing slightly labored due to the diaphragm serving a dual purpose for trunk stability and breathing, and not having a chance to work efficiently.
To use a practical example of how changes in posture effect balance and muscles in the body, have a look at the images on this website: http://burkecleland.com/?p=174
Using the "forward head" posture as an example of how your body is one big balance against gravity, first understand the effect of the head being forward. Seeing as the head is placed forward, the global muscles on the back of the neck will become overworked and tight (e.g. cervicle extensors, upper trapezius), and the deep group of muscles under the chin will become weak (e.g. deep cervicle flexors). This is a scenario which can predispose you to neck pain, headaches, and rotator cuff impingement.
To further elaborate on the balance against gravity in this example, seeing as the head and shoulders are forward, the hip needs to tilt forward and place the buttocks further back to regain the balance against gravity. The global muscles of the lower back (e.g. erector spinae) will become overworked and tight, and the deep muscles of the trunk (e.g. transversus abdominus, multifidus, diaphragm, pelvic floor) will be disused and become weak and "lazy" seeing as pelvis and trunk is held in a sagged position requiring less use of these muscles. This can predispose you to lower back pain, hip pain, and lower back injury.
To elaborate even further and speculate (without much scientific evidence), seeing as breathing may be slightly shallower and more labored in a holding pattern such as this, the frequent breathing rate may even bring about mild symptoms of anxiety and contribute to stress tension in the neck and shoulders, further exacerbating the cluster of chronic pain in the neck and back.
After using this single example of how the body is one large interconnected balance against gravity, and a large and complex biomechanical machine, is posture really only about carrying books on your head?
In essence: Posture is about keeping your joints in a strong position, and giving your muscles the best possible opportunity to work in the way that they were designed. It is about the right muscles doing the work to hold joints table (the deep group), and the large muscles to remain ready for powerful gross movements (the global layer) rather than taking over the holding of joints. It is about ensuring that you are breathing well, and that your joints are well supported and moving efficiently.
I hope this sheds a new light for some people as to why posture and technique is important in weight training and sports training, as the more you repeat and promote a bad postural habit, the stronger that bad habit gets.
Practical tip: Remind yourself as often as possible throughout the day to keep balanced posture. Head upright, shoulders back, spine neutral, hip neutral. Anything that you do in a day can be considered a postural exercise - sitting, packing the dishwasher, hanging out the washing, an gym session. With constant reminding and repetition holding the balanced posture will become more familiar and require less conscious effort. This constant reminding will also help you to train yourself into new movement patterns which utilise these deep muscles in the way that they were designed.
If you combine this with exercises designed to strengthen the deep muscles, and stretch the global muscles that are prone to becoming tight in these holding patterns, then you have a good holistic exercise program.
Alex Budlevskis
Exercise Physiologist
Rozelle Total Health
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