Importance of Posture During Training

Dear Body Buds,

Correct posture is important for so many reasons. It’s not only important while walking, sitting, or standing, but also for when you are training! Do you ever think about your posture while you’re training? Do you even know what correct posture means? Don’t feel bad if you don’t, there are many people in the same boat as you. Why do you think low-back pain is the number one ailment in this country? I’m going to teach you how to have correct posture while training and why it is so important for your health to do so!

What is correct posture?

Take a look at the picture below and see if you can identify with any of them.

Good posture while standing means your head is looking straight ahead, shoulders are rolled down and back, chest is out, knees are slightly bent, keeping low back flat with no excessive curvature, neutral hip with no excessive forward or posterior tilt, and your body weight is balanced evenly on both of your feet. This is a good athletic stance when performing any exercise while standing.

Good posture while sitting is similar to posture while standing. When performing any exercise sitting make sure your head is looking straight ahead, shoulders are rolled down and back, chest is out, knees are bent, low back is flat, hip is neutral, and your body weight is distributed evenly in your sit.

Standing or sitting, this stance can be adapted to any situation where your torso is not perpendicular to the floor. That means if you are doing anything in the bent over position and your torso is almost parallel to the floor, make sure to keep a neutral spine with no excessive straining of your neck up or down. Your head should be looking straight ahead to the ground in front of you. The only exception to that would be if you glance up at the mirror real fast to check out your stance- which we will talk about right now.

How can I tell if I have good posture?

First of all, you might not even be aware of your posture on a day to day basis. Pictures are a wonderful tool to help you understand your body’s posture. The best results come when someone else takes your picture for you, or using a self-timer, and you try not to concentrate on standing up straight. Your results will be skewed this way, so try to stand as “naturally” as possible. Let me tell you, I was shocked to see my initial photo. My neck had an excessive forward lean that I was unaware of! Since becoming aware of that I have been able to correct that and quite possibly save myself from future injuries or ailments!

While training at the gym or at home, mirrors can be a wonderful tool to help you have correct training posture! No, mirrors aren’t there just for people to take the infamous gym selfie. While training, you might see people staring at themselves in the mirror and you might think they are being very narcissistic. While this may be true for some, most of the time they are using the mirrors to check their posture and make sure they are kinesthetically aligned.

Why even bother?

Being kinesthetically aligned allows for proper and efficient movements. If you are training hard, you might as well get the most out of it, right? Correct posture allows your muscle fibers to be at their optimal contracting length, which allows your muscles and joints to work together properly. This in turn allows you to produce your max amount of force while performing any exercise!

Without correct posture, you may experience injuries, altered movement patterns, muscle imbalances, back pain, neck pain, headaches, or many other ailments. Doing a simple postural check can avoid your future self any pain or disorders.

The best way to improve your posture is to check your posture before performing any exercise, including cardio.

I asked Kristy Jo to explain to me how she prepares for any exercise at the gym. As many of you may know, she has to pay extreme attention to her posture since she has been diagnosed with severe scoliosis. She told me, “Mirrors are everything. While it may appear to people that I'm checking myself out or being narcissistic by looking in the mirrors, I'm actually evaluating my body and the kinesthetic awareness that will allow me to train myself properly. I have to adjust my shoulders, level them out, drop a hip, and rotate an elbow with every exercise I perform. This is crucial and the daily attention to such small details has literally allowed me to sculpt my body in a way that no one knows I have severe scoliosis until I point it out.” She also suggested, “To anyone who is seeking to correct their posture, I recommend setting timers to go off EVERY HOUR. Check your posture. Pin your shoulder blades down to your rib cage, which instantly opens your chest and lengthens your neck. It's incredible how much different you feel when your posture is correct!”

I also asked Rachel Larsen, another Body Buddies Coach, how she has improved her posture, as she has struggled with it as well. She said she has concentrated on lifting her “chin up, rolling shoulders back and down, keeping tummy tight and lifted and just tons of practice!”

What about Lifting/Weight Belts?

I’m not going to say much about these, other than they are necessarily not needed! Personally, I will never use them. People tend to use them as a crutch and their awareness of their posture gets put on the back burner. If you absolutely need a belt while lifting heavy, PLEASE have proper form and posture to begin with and don’t lose focus on that while you’re lifting!

Alright Body Buddies, I want to challenge you to be more aware of your posture while training this week! Not only will it improve your workouts, but it will also exude confidence in yourself!

Love your bud,

Kyshel Belnap

#posture #trainingtips