Back Basics: Learn the 3 Curves of the Spine

Stand up straight, keep your head up, and take pride in yourself.

That’s what a man named Luther used to tell my dad, a slouching 19-year-old, when they served in the military together. It was 1973, at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, and Luther didn’t put up with poor posture.

It worked: I don’t think my dad has slouched since. He’s 6-foot-2, but people often think he’s taller than that. His posture translates to a confident presence, the bedrock of a 30-year career in sales.

Most of us aren’t like my dad and Luther. We slide back in our chairs and slump over our desks. We look shorter than we actually are, not taller. We could stand to gain some confidence — if we stood a little better.

The price of bad posture is more than pride. Slouching puts tremendous stress on our bodies over time. A third of Americans over 50 have chronic back or neck problems, and people of all ages feel stiff after long periods of hunched sitting.

“If you have poor posture, your bones are not properly aligned, and your muscles, joints, and ligaments take more strain than nature intended,” says the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

These micro-traumas add up. Tendons gradually rupture. The discs in our back struggle to absorb shock. Unlike an acute event like an ankle sprain, these injuries take a long time to heal. Some of them may be irreversible.

Luther’s advice to my dad worked, but it was a little misleading. We tell people to stand up “straight,” but the spine itself isn’t a straight line. Instead, it’s an S-shape made up of three curves. APTA defines “good posture” as a balanced alignment of these curves.

Besides improving your long-term health, learning the three sections of the spine will make you look and feel more confident when meeting new people, presenting in front of groups, and posing in photographs. Whether you’re sitting down or standing up, try to apply what you learn as we traverse the vertebrae.

Overcompensating will lead to lumbar hyperlordosis. To measure your curve, lean your back against a wall. Your thoracic curve and tailbone should be resting on the surface, but your lumbar curve should not be touching the wall. Put your hand in the gap. Your fingers should be able to fit, but if your full hand slides in without resistance, your curve is too steep.

Those two adjustments can do wonders for your posture and, by extension, your presence. But that’s not all. The cervical curve, better known as your neck, should also be slightly curved inward to complete the S-shape. Leaning too far forward leads to a hunched-over look, while leaning too far back scrunches your neck.

This is where the straight line comes in: When you look at the side view of someone standing with proper posture, a straight line should run from their ear to their ankle. If your line is uneven, the cervical curve may be to blame.

Here’s something you already know: Good posture doesn’t feel good at first. It might even feel like you’re stretching. That’s not a bad thing, as long as it’s not straining your muscles. You need to build up your back. For strong muscles and joints, try weightlifting or yoga. Athletes often have excellent posture because they do squats, deadlifts, and other moves that require a natural arch of the back.

Setup your desk for Success

Overcompensating will lead to lumbar hyperlordosis. To measure your curve, lean your back against a wall. Your thoracic curve and tailbone should be resting on the surface, but your lumbar curve should not be touching the wall. Put your hand in the gap. Your fingers should be able to fit, but if your full hand slides in without resistance, your curve is too steep.

Those two adjustments can do wonders for your posture and, by extension, your presence. But that’s not all. The cervical curve, better known as your neck, should also be slightly curved inward to complete the S-shape. Leaning too far forward leads to a hunched-over look, while leaning too far back scrunches your neck.

This is where the straight line comes in: When you look at the side view of someone standing with proper posture, a straight line should run from their ear to their ankle. If your line is uneven, the cervical curve may be to blame.

Here’s something you already know: Good posture doesn’t feel good at first. It might even feel like you’re stretching. That’s not a bad thing, as long as it’s not straining your muscles. You need to build up your back. For strong muscles and joints, try weightlifting or yoga. Athletes often have excellent posture because they do squats, deadlifts, and other moves that require a natural arch of the back.

Mixing it up – Moving Around

Once you master the S-shape, you can apply it to a variety of positions. Good posture doesn’t mean folding into a right angle and stuffing yourself inside a chair all day. Johnson recommends switching up your position once an hour. As long as your curves are aligned, you’re good.

Stand when you can. The spine maintains its natural curves better when you’re on your feet versus on your seat. Put your printer across the room from your desk. Walk to your colleague’s desk instead of sending an email. Cave in to the craze and buy a fitness tracker.

Dr. June Spector, a colleague of Johnson’s in Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, echoed the importance of getting out of your chair.

“Yes, posture is important. But above all, inactivity — being in one position, or even a small number of positions — is probably not the best idea,” Spector says. “Moving is helpful because it resets you. It ensures that you’re using muscles that you might not always be using.”

Patients have told Spector that moving “resets” them both physically and mentally. It gets their blood moving, their muscles loose, and their mind on something else. In that way, it’s a cycle: Bad posture can make you tired and stiff, which traps you in your seat. A healthy sitting posture will keep you energized for activity breaks, which in turn make you more alert at your desk.

Ultimately, the key to good posture is holding yourself accountable. Chances are you don’t have someone who berates you about your back on a daily basis. You’ll have to be that person.

Stop to check out your reflection in windows or full-body mirrors. Remember the three curves, and look for the straight line from your ear to your ankle. Take a deep breath and stand tall as your lungs fill with air.

The Orginal Article was posted on July 1, 2016 by Quinn Russell Brown. This entry was posted in Staying Healthy and tagged back health, posture.
Read the original article here.