What posture is and how it relates to exercise is often misunderstood. Forcing ourselves to stand tall will only be temporary and fatigue the body quickly. We need to think about which muscles are used for posture, and how to strengthen what’s needed, and loosen things which need that. Often, we have muscles over working due to weakness in the surrounding tissue, due to imbalances. These can be caused by how we stand, footwear, and how we sit.

As we sit and use cell phones all day, we tend to have a number of areas to improve. If we’re pulled forwards by our body, both muscle shortening and power decrease will occur.

Improving posture will improve ease of movement, and decrease the chances of injury, so let’s do that.

This is an example of when we overload a bag. The lean forwards occurs and shortens the hips, but usually the back rounds, so he’s done well. We don’t want this. Unload your bag!