Tricotomania and more

At this time of year, discussion often turns to various strategies for improving one’s health and well-being. The combination of holiday excess and new year’s resolutions leads to all kinds of talk (and action) on the dieting and fitness front. Rarely talked about is the importance of posture.

And yet, if I was to identify what has made the single biggest improvement to my well being over the past couple of years, it would be my posture. And if I’m feeling crappy, paying attention to my posture usually helps. It also makes me look better in my clothes. Bad posture almost always involves letting the ol’ beer gut hang out more than it really has to.

Posture is connected to head aches and back pain. In my case, it was also at the root of a weird pain that went in a band around my chest (and turned out to be the result of a stuck rib). It is directly related to all kinds of repetitive strain injuries, and sometimes what we think is carpal tunnel syndrome is actually a problem originating in the shoulders and neck. I suspect it is also linked into various digestive ailments, too.

When I sit and stand properly, I feel more relaxed and just generally more healthy. I breathe more deeply. And sometimes when I feel a headache coming on, paying attention to my posture and breathing can alleviate it. (Though most pain killers work better taken early so I have to really balance whether it is going to need an ibuprofen because that is more effective before it gets unbearable.)

Most of us have appalling posture. We sit at computers all day. We slouch. And then we go slouch differently on the sofa to read or watch TV. We wonder why we feel awful and sometimes it is just because all of our muscles are sore from this misuse. Or we’ve worn out the muscles that are supposed to hold our head up by sitting badly and making them do other work they didn’t want or need to be doing.

Correcting my posture problems started when I went to a massage therapist about the weird pain. In addition to unsticking that rib, he identified all kinds of muscles that were too tight and others that were too stretched. Over several sections, he massaged out the tightness allowing me to stand properly. I wouldn’t have been able to do this part without the massage to loosen things up. That series of massage sessions made an immediate noticeable difference.

But getting them loose enough to change was only the beginning. Then I needed to strengthen muscles that I wasn’t using properly so that they could be used to keep me sitting and standing straight. Primarily these are the ones between your shoulder blades (rhomboids?). They had been lengthened from rounding my shoulders. They needed to be stronger to hold my shoulders back and my head up. He gave me a simple exercise to do at home but I have since been doing other exercises as part of other fitness activities. Those muscles are sort of paired with your pectoral muscles. Those were the ones that were too tight and shortened from rounding my shoulders. And they need to be strong, too.

I’ve been doing an aquafit class for several years now and in the past year added a session in the weight room once a week. Doing that strength work has been really helpful to me in feeling better. Aquafit includes lots of work on the core. If your abs aren’t working in an aquafit class you are doing it wrong. Those muscles are also really important to your posture, particularly in terms of supporting your lower back. And we also do various things that strengthen other muscles of the back and arms, using the resistance of the water.

In the weight room, I specifically requested exercises to strengthen my back and the rowing ones are particularly good for that upper back stuff. I now have pretty balanced program there but our class didn’t run for 4 weeks over the holidays. I went and bought one of those tension things. I’M not sure what they are called but it is like a rubber cord with handles. I use that to do a standing row at home, looping it around a post. I’ve not been as diligent as a should be but it makes it possible to keep those muscles strong without too much extra effort.

I’m sure there are lots of exercises that could help improve posture. The key thing is to know that this is a goal. If you know that is one thing you are trying to do, you can seek the appropriate advice from folks who know things about anatomy and exercise. Apart from making sure that my exercise routine is strengthening the muscles I need for good posture, I find that awareness makes a big difference. Noticing when I slouch and correcting my posture (as I did when I started writing this post) is huge.

That probably sounds a bit preachy. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot. And posture seems to have dropped off of our radar as an outdated concern of Victorian femininity. Maybe all the classical homeschoolers incorporate posture into their physical education curriculum and I’ve just missed it. But I don’t hear it talked about much in women’s talk about our bodies and their ailments. So here is my little public service announcement. I hope it helps.