Posture

[joesteph]

The latest issue of Iain Abernethy's Jissen magazine, Issue 7, has an article by Andrew Adams, "Core training and its relevance for sport," on p. 12+. I didn't realize that much of the article focused on posture, and when I did, I automatically sat up straighter in my chair!

If we do a job that requires us to spend long hours at a desk or driving a car it becomes more important to give our bodies positive neural feedback in the form of stretching and/or quality movement whenever the chance presents itself. . . . It is . . . probable to assume that if you spend the bulk of your week in a seated position, your muscles will adapt to that position and ultimately shorten accordingly.

There are two photos of the same individual on p. 14, good and poor posture, a thin vertical line helping to identify. I hate to admit that I'm closer to bad than good. As a matter of fact, when I studied at Universal Warrior, Shihan made a comment about my posture, first noticing it in the basic front stance. It wasn't that I was just doing the front stance too far forward, but that my posture when not in front stance was off.

I spend a great deal of time at a desk, whether I'm correcting papers or at the computer, as part of my work as a teacher. But I'm also seated at the computer for leisure, such as for participating in Karate Forums and Facebook. When I teach, I do stand, but many times I'm focusing in a "looking down" position, such as at notes on the podium or making eye contact with my students (who are, of course, seated), which I feel makes my body posture lean slightly forward. I'll bet there are lots of jobs we don't even think about which involve focusing down, therefore looking down, and possibly causing a leaning forward effect. And truck drivers, bus drivers, cab drivers, etc. are in the same "seated" boat as the clerk or secretary.

This isn't the first time I've thought about posture, but good posture is something that has to be remembered repeatedly. It's far too easy to slip into bad.

[Lupin1]

It's very true. Most people have horrible posture, myself included. I spend many hours a day hunched over a computer and so my shoulders are almost permenantly slumped forward. I didn't realize it until my voice professor made it his personal goal to give me a hard time about it every time he saw me (didn't work, btw-- I still slump). I feel almost pompous when I stand with correct posture. I don't like it.

[joesteph]

I feel almost pompous when I stand with correct posture. I don't like it.

In posed photos, I've noticed I stand with correct posture, but I've seen myself from the side in candids, and that's where I've caught my posture being off--too late! Photo taken!

I posted about posture yesterday, and I can see that it's essential to martial arts or else your stance--and therefore balance--will be off, but when I was waiting in the eye doctor's office, I kept having to remind myself to do the simplest thing: stop slumping in the waiting room seat! It's a matter of habit, and as I'm typing this, I'm acutely aware of how I'm sitting.

Many times we speak of people "shrinking" as they get older. I wonder if, other than the pressure of bodyweight on the spine over the years, poor posture contributes to it.

[DWx]

My Tai Chi teacher used to comment on posture a lot. We'd do an entire class with no arms, just working on posture and stance. My posture's terrible, think its also partly to blame (or maybe a symptom) for upper back pain I get sometimes. Again I think its so bad from sitting slumped in front of the computer/in lectures etc. TBH the Wii fit really highlighted it for me in how I stand. Lately I've been trying to sit and stand better so keep correcting myself.

[joesteph]

My Tai Chi teacher used to comment on posture a lot.

It's constantly correct posture or else balance is off, especially with slower motions. You can't shoot through from one stance to another as quickly as in karate; you have to stand there and be in proper alignment--or fall over! I wish Tai Chi were offered in my hometown again, but its nearest locations are a distance away.

You mentioned that you feel your posture isn't what it ought to be, Danielle, and yet you're just a day shy of 20. At least you're catching it now, before it becomes so ingrained a habit that it's a losing battle. When I worked out with free weights and cables, I feel that my posture was better, and I did these workouts till age 52. I can say this b/c in profle photos, I could see that I was standing correctly. Six years have gone by, and though martial arts can be of help, when I saw the bad posture photo in Jissen, I thought of a profile photo I'd recently seen of myself; it's like a wakeup call.

TBH the Wii fit really highlighted it for me in how I stand.

It's interesting what you've written, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with what you're saying. Is there a certain Wii program that is particularly for the back/posture?

[DWx]

My Tai Chi teacher used to comment on posture a lot.

It's constantly correct posture or else balance is off, especially with slower motions. You can't shoot through from one stance to another as quickly as in karate; you have to stand there and be in proper alignment--or fall over! I wish Tai Chi were offered in my hometown again, but its nearest locations are a distance away.

You mentioned that you feel your posture isn't what it ought to be, Danielle, and yet you're just a day shy of 20. At least you're catching it now, before it becomes so ingrained a habit that it's a losing battle. When I worked out with free weights and cables, I feel that my posture was better, and I did these workouts till age 52. I can say this b/c in profle photos, I could see that I was standing correctly. Six years have gone by, and though martial arts can be of help, when I saw the bad posture photo in Jissen, I thought of a profile photo I'd recently seen of myself; it's like a wakeup call.

You know, I don't think many younger people have good posture. All the sitting slumped in class or in front of a screen. What do you see in your classes? Do your students generally have good posture?

TBH the Wii fit really highlighted it for me in how I stand.

It's interesting what you've written, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with what you're saying. Is there a certain Wii program that is particularly for the back/posture?

Should have elaborated on that one . On the Nintendo Wii, on the Wii fit "game", one of the tests tests your posture, where your centre of balance falls where you stand naturally. All of the Yoga programs on it also monitor your centre of balance and there are a number of games that use your balance to control the character (like skiing). My posture sucks, all the weight seems to be set back so it falls down my heels rather than through the centre of my feet. makes snowboarding and skateboarding challenging, I just go in circles!

[joesteph]

You know, I don't think many younger people have good posture. All the sitting slumped in class or in front of a screen. What do you see in your classes? Do your students generally have good posture?

In my classroom, one of the benefits of my students being in the high school years is that they're so "antsy" that they don't stay in one position for a long time. However, if they do stay in one position, it's a forward lean, a slump forward as they write notes. That's history. In my electives, because they've had to take their own notes and refer to the textbook's examples and definitions, they tend to sit straighter.

However, when they're in the library media center, meaning they're at the computers, the actual desks the students sit at have a see-through plastic top, and the monitor is seen by looking down "within" the desk, at an angle. The hunching over is automatic--and sustained for as long as they're hitting that keyboard or mouse. Those desks were put in in the past, when monitors all had a great deal of depth and took up a load of space, so it made sense at the time. Although now we can use slim monitors, giving plenty of space, who wants to remove and a fortune in specially-ordered desks? And they'd have to be replaced.

My problem as a classroom teacher is where to draw the line. Would I be going beyond my position as a teacher to correct teenagers' postures at their desks?

[joesteph]

On Facebook, there was a discussion that got into weighted vests, as one of my FB friends saw a man exercising by running with one. When she gave where the vest can be bought (Fitness Equipment Guide), the site gave hints about posture.

One of them showed a person seated in front of a desk with a monitor. The monitor was high enough to allow the person to look straight ahead, so I lowered my seat to do the same at home. It works!

This came from the site, standing in front of a full-length mirror:

1) Your shoulders are level. . . .

 

3) The spaces between your arms and your sides seem equal on both sides.

 

4) Your hips are level, not sloped to one side.

#s 3 & 4 are related, even though it doesn't say so on the site. I have one hip higher than the other (not the same as one leg longer than the other), which a doctor did tell me is within normal range (about 1/4"), but which can be picked up by standing behind me. My left arm swings out a bit more from my body than my right arm. Slightly lifting my left heel evens it out. I was told I was lucky that I had no back pain from it; my spine was never affected, like Pres. Kennedy, who had one leg a 1/2" longer than the other. He was not actually 6' but 6' 1/2".

The side/profile observation was brought up, and I found some of the concerns to be interesting:

3) Shoulders are in line with ears, not drooping forward or pulled back too far

 

4) Your hands are in line with hips, not [swaying] forward . . .

 

6) Your lower back is slightly curved forward, not too flat or curved too much, (creating a swayback).

#s 3 & 4 are directly related. If I let myself droop forward, which is easy to do and like the bad posture photo in Jissen that I've caught myself doing, the hands will also sway forward.

I think drooping forward has that "rounded back" look, and probably leads towards it; swayback, to me, gives the appearance of a larger midsection.

[bushido_man96]

I have noticed that sitting in a car for most of a shift, my posture goes to hell, and I start to feel rather crappy and lethargic. I try to shift and move around to fix it, but its just a pain. I have to get out and stretch and walk around to work out the kinks.

[DWx]

You know, I don't think many younger people have good posture. All the sitting slumped in class or in front of a screen. What do you see in your classes? Do your students generally have good posture?

In my classroom, one of the benefits of my students being in the high school years is that they're so "antsy" that they don't stay in one position for a long time. However, if they do stay in one position, it's a forward lean, a slump forward as they write notes. That's history. In my electives, because they've had to take their own notes and refer to the textbook's examples and definitions, they tend to sit straighter.

However, when they're in the library media center, meaning they're at the computers, the actual desks the students sit at have a see-through plastic top, and the monitor is seen by looking down "within" the desk, at an angle. The hunching over is automatic--and sustained for as long as they're hitting that keyboard or mouse. Those desks were put in in the past, when monitors all had a great deal of depth and took up a load of space, so it made sense at the time. Although now we can use slim monitors, giving plenty of space, who wants to remove and a fortune in specially-ordered desks? And they'd have to be replaced.

My problem as a classroom teacher is where to draw the line. Would I be going beyond my position as a teacher to correct teenagers' postures at their desks?

We used to have some of the same desks in my high school. Didn't have to use them that much though but I know what you mean. You had to sit like that otherwise you couldn't see a thing.

I guess how far you go as a teacher depends on you and the school you teach in. And the individual students too. I used to have a teacher who told us to sit up straight all the time. Used to drive her nuts because I turn my paper sidewise to write She'd turn it round and as soon as she'd walked away I'd turn it back.