Your posture is responsible for many things such as your back health, circulation, and even your confidence. Therefore, it should be a no brainer to improve your posture and fix it. Today’s world makes this harder since most of us work while sitting in front of the computer or with papers, so it’s very common for posture to break. However, if you avoid these mistakes, you will improve your posture by a long way.
Mistake #1: Angling work and attention downward:
One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to their posture is that they start to gaze down everything from above. Why is that an issue? Well, one thing you need to know is that your body will follow where your eyes go. If you stare down, your head will protrude and curve, your shoulders will hunch forward and your chest will cave down. On the other hand, looking at things in a level field that is on the level of your eyes and chest will help your posture get better. This is why you need to place your work station at around sternum level or higher so that your head will be at a neutral angle. Your shoulders will also feel better since they don’t have to be in a compromised position, and your chest will stay fixed.
The solution: Your work station needs to be at around sternum level. Meaning your eyes should not have to look down and instead look straight into the screen. You might have to either adjust your monitor, the desk, or the chair to maintain a healthy back position for your posture.
Mistake #2: Working on your bed or couch:
It might seem like a great idea especially in cold weather, but working on your couch or bed will only make your posture worse. The problem with this is that your hips will also want to flatten with the bed no matter how much you try to stay upright. It’s your body’s natural tendency because that’s how gravity works. If you work with your legs completely flat with the laptop on your legs, then you’ll find that you’ll often have to curve your spine. Not only that, head movement will likely suffer because no matter how hard you try, your body will always try to flatten out in a sleeping position.
The solution: Try to work on a desk while sitting in an ergonomic chair that suits your back. You should also be intermittently sitting, meaning you should take breaks from sitting by walking around, standing up, or just being active.
Mistake #3: Hyperextension and hunching:
Since people know that hunching forward developing that ‘text-neck’ is not a great idea for back or neck health, they overcompensate by doing the opposite which is hyperextension. This is when the back is over curved inward and the butt is sticking out. This position is equally bad for your back because it creates a pressure point in the middle of your vertebrae particularly L4 and L5. Not to mention, it stiffens up and hip joint and can even be responsible for IT band weakness which might contribute to knee pain. All of these issues will ruin your posture and it should be avoided.
The solution: Maintain a neutral position in your back. The spine and vertebrates naturally have a curve, so it’s important not to over exaggerate it.
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