Posture Alignment Leads to Better Health at Crawford Chiropractic

AMAZING, ISN’T IT, HOW EVEN THE MOST BODY- obsessed young women – the ones who work out, spray-tan and deny themselves the world’s yummiest foods-are forgetting one simple rule of head-to-toe gorgeousness:  Stand. Up. Straight.  “Young women are slouching more and more.” Says New York City chiropractic Loretta T. Friedman.  “They’re carrying heavier bags; they spend long hours slumped over their desks.  No one’s paying attention to posture!”  Thing is, is makes all the difference in how your body looks.  Even Jennifer Lopez would look dumpy hunched over, but when she throws her shoulders back and holds her head high, she’s the sexiest thing on two legs.

THE SUPRISING PAYOFFS OF STANDING STRAIGHT

“Good posture can make you look five pounds thinner,” says Cyndi Lee, yoga instructor to always-straight Nicole Kidman.  “If you tuck your tailbone in the pelvis straightens and automatically pulls your belly in.  Presto change-o, you’ve just completed the shortest, healthiest diet in history!”  good form also staves off lower back and neck pain, and may help you look more glowy.  (You increase your lung capacity and circulation, which brings more glow-giving blood and nutrients to the skin.)  Straightening up can even boost your mood, says psychiatrist Louann Brizendine, M.D., founder and director of the University of California at San Francisco Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic.  “When you hold your body upright, is actually sends a signal to your brain that things are looking up.”

SO WHAT’S THE RIGHT WAY TO STAND?

Believe it or not, you shouldn’t walk around straight as a board.  “The back has curves-at the base of the neck, the middle part and the lower part-for a reason:  They act like shock absorbers when you walk,” says Lee.  This posture check from Loren M. Fishman, M.D., a New York City rehab specialist who treats back injuries, will help you see what good posture is all about:

• Stand with hour head, shoulders and butt against a wall.  Place your feet slightly apart, heels a few inches from the wall.
• Relax and let your shoulders drop naturally; tuck your belly in.  Move your shoulders back so you feel your chest expand, but don’t arch your upper back.  Take five deep breaths.
• Take a step away from the wall, holding your posture; this is how you should carry yourself all the time.  Now walk your taller, straighter self over to a mirror and see how good you look.  That’s your incentive to keep it up.

THE ONE MOVE THAT'LL HELP YOU STAND STRAIGHTER ALL DAY

The Tree pose, a yoga classic, strengthens your midsection and sets your body on a straight course, says yoga pro Cyndi Lee.  Stand with feet and palms together.  Lift your right foot and turn your knee out to the side, keeping hips even.  Place the sole of your right foot on your left leg anywhere between you groin and your ankle- just not right on your knee.  Press your weight down into your standing leg, pull in your stomach, relax your shoulders and allow your head and neck to lift up.  Feel how the front and the back of your body support each other.  Hold for five deep breaths; repeat on the other side.

1. YOUR HANDBAGS. Your work tote should be no heavier than 10 percent of your body weight, but doctors say they see many women lugging around a lot more than that (the change in your wallet can actually weigh as much as a pound!). So put the bag (or bags) you carry o your scale to check their weight. Then, if necessary, empty out whatever you haven’t used in a few weeks.  If you have to carry a weighty bag, get one with a wide strap (which helps take off pressure) and switch shoulders often to avoid lopsided posture.
2. YOUR WORKOUT.           Many women skip the strengthening exercises that are so essential to good posture, points out New York City fitness expert David Barton. “Think of your core-that’s your glutes, hips, pelvis and abs-as a foundation for good posture.  It supports your back and helps you stand up straight.”  Pilates, yoga, kickboxing and dance classes can all strengthen those core muscles (ditto for the exercise at left).
3. YOUR COMPUTER. If you’re not sitting the right way, you’ll get what Friedman calls “turtle-neck.”  You crane your head forward to see your screen, which forces your shoulders to round, so you end up slumped over like a turtle poking its head out of its shell.  Adds Rochester, New York, physical therapist and ergonomics consultant John Kissle, “If you do that for a few years, the muscles shorten and it’s hard to get them stretched out again, so you may get permanently hunched over.”
4. FLAT SHOES.  They push the top of the pelvis forward, throwing off your posture.  Go with heels between seven eighths and two inches.  (Stilettos-which force you to arch your back-are too high for frequent wear.)  with low heels, says New York City podiatrist Richard M. Kushner, M.D., “Your shoulders drop back, you won’t hunch over and your stomach will be flatter because you pelvis won’t push forward.”