You’ve probably come to this web site in order to find ways to improve your habitual posture. Good posture allows us to sit comfortably and naturally, to breathe more deeply, and to improve both concentration and long term musculoskeletal health. Yet, despite posture’s vital importance, it is typically maintained unconsciously. PostureTrack helps you become conscious of your posture. But in order to get started, first you first need to find your own healthy target posture. While we’re not experts, here are a few tips that may work for some of you.
Posture is personal - because anatomy, work style, preexisting medical conditions, and the ergonomic demands placed upon individuals can vary widely between individuals. As a result, your desired posture may differ from that of others.
In order to identify your target posture, we suggest you leverage the advice of experts, which may include professionals specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, physical therapy, core strengthening and fitness, or other well-qualified healthcare practitioners. A wide variety of instruction from many of these professionals is available in person or online. To get you started, a few resources we’ve found helpful are listed or linked below.
To achieve and maintain your target posture, muscles, ligaments and workspaces may need to be modified. Sustaining a new posture, even a healthy one, may naturally lead to some temporary discomfort. However, chronic or new onset pain, numbness, or weakness may be an indicator that your health is at risk, so if this occurs, please consult a qualified healthcare practitioner well-studied in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal health and trained in teaching healthy posture.
Core strengthening is critical - Pilates, Yoga, Physical Therapy, and Dance are excellent examples of disciplines that can provide a path to healthier posture through exercise and training to achieve improvements in core strength, muscle memory, and education.
Below are links to popular online references on posture. While we personally found these websites helpful in improving our own posture, we are NOT posture experts, and are not qualified to endorse the techniques or suggestions of any of the web sites referenced. Nonetheless, here are a few resources we’ve found helpful:
Pilates - if you have back pain, or want to increase your chances of never getting it, and you can spare the time, find a good Pilates instructor. Core strengthening rocks. It certainly beats surgery!
Yoga – once again, core strengthening will get you on Track ☺
Physical Therapy – a well-informed Physical Therapist can provide invaluable instruction. Our experience with Physical Therapy of Los Gatos has been outstanding. If they’re not geographically convenient for a visit, you can still access their informative videos on core strengthening through their website.
Posture Training – The mission of the Esther Gokhale Wellness Center is to provide posture and movement re-education, health services and products to help people achieve optimal health.
The Mayo Clinic - Brief instructional slide show (Slides 1-4 address standing, slide 5 begins sitting posture)
LiveStrong - Good article on posture
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons - How to sit at a computer
Instructional Videos - Dr. Steven Hoffman (Self described “Posturedoc” with posture videos on YouTube)