Slouching Towards Retirement

Before I moved to California in 1976, I read a book about California called Slouching towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.  She wrote about all the different influences, both good and bad, about the way life was in California.  While I have forgotten most of what the book was about, I have not forgotten the title, and have taken poetic license to modify it.

            Your mother always told you to stand up straight and not slouch when you sat, but alas, you went ahead and did it the way that felt right to you, and look at you now.  Your posture is not the man (and woman) you used to be ( ah, yesterday).  Why?  Because your slouching is the tendency towards progressive deterioration – forward head, humped back, and tilted pelvis.  This means that your normal patterns of activity  and movement have become less efficient biomechanically, causing you to use more effort and energy just trying to stay upright.

            Your posture reflects how well, or poorly, you resist the constant force of gravity, and how you stand, sit, walk and sleep impacts the normal function of your musculoskeletal system.  Even the ancient Greeks saw this and realized that those people with the best posture tended to be the healthiest.

            Think of your body as having four main blocks – the head/neck, torso, pelvis and legs, all stacked on top of each other.  There should be an evenness and natural alignment to these blocks when you are standing.  If these blocks don’t stack up evenly, instead of falling down, as would a child’s set of blocks, they create a strained imbalance, which equates to aches, pains, spasms, tightness and soreness.

            There are reflexes and nerve endings in your bodies, plus opposing muscle groups, which are supposed to help hold you together in a balanced manner.  However, when there is chronic, postural overload and repetitive movement, the same way day after day, year after year, you override those reflexes and shorten those muscles until you’re standing and walking like Groucho Marx.

            So, what to do?  Be aware of how you move and stop during the day.  Are you standing evenly on both legs, knees unlocked, shoulders relaxed?  Are you sitting with your pelvis level, back supported by the chair, head balanced over your shoulder?  If not, then it’s time you did a postural evaluation on yourself and note what changes you can make.  Then, as you head toward retirement, your body will be in good enough shape to enjoy it.

The Power of Balanced Posture

Proper Posture

Your posture has a major impact not only on your appearance, but your overall health as well.  People with poor posture are more likely to suffer from back pain, neck pain, headaches or other discomforts due to spinal misalignment, muscle imbalance and poor circulation.  In fact, Hippocrates, the Father of modern Medicine, said, “Look to the spine for the cause of disease.”

Your postural habits begin in childhood, and as you grow, gravitational forces can take their toll on your joints and skeletal alignment.  Maintaining proper posture while sitting, standing and engaging in athletic activities is of key importance.  As you age, the discs in your spine begin to compress and dehydrate while the curves in your back may become exaggerated, such as a Dowager’s hump (kyphosis) or swayback (hyperlordosis). We may or may not have health insurance,  but maintaining a proper posture surely brings benefits as we age.  If you don’t actively take care of your spine and muscles you could, as you grow older, progress towards a permanent slouch.

A number of factors can contribute to poor posture.  Sitting or standing in one position all day can lead to postural overload and chronic shortening of specific muscles.  Being overweight will shift the forces in your spine and joints, potentially leading to accelerated degeneration.  Poor footwear, such as wearing high heels or shoes with flat arches, will alter your low back biomechanics. Fatigue is another factor which will contribute to weak and tired muscles, leading to slouching.

These factors can be dealt with, however.  Exercise and common sense will help.  Strategies include:

1) regular exercise, particularly walking, swimming or aqua aerobics

2) changing the angle of your chair or car seat to help maintain a normal                       lumbar curve

3) avoiding activities which tend to cause prolonged bending or hunching                     forward

4) avoiding sitting for more than 30 minutes without taking a break.  Get up,                 stretch or walk around for a few moments

5) losing that extra weight, particularly around the middle.  This will help                      reduce the pressure on the vertebral discs

6) reducing the risk of osteoporosis with regular weight-bearing exercise and     a diet that includes adequate amounts of calcium and magnesium

Finally, in order to maintain good posture, you must be conscious of how you’re standing, sitting and moving about.  The little bit of effort you now use to stay balanced will go a long way in keeping you upright and healthy for years to come.