Ways To Improve Your Posture
Many of us know that today we work a lot sitting down. This means that the majority of our days is spent with our thighs horizontal and our spine vertical. We were designed to be standing creatures so we have problems with the sitting down position as our back works well in positions where the hip angle is much larger. This results in problems such as back pain and tightness in the hip flexors that can lead to more pain in the back. Eventually our whole posture gets crouched and we have the "DJ-Posture" as I like to call it. Others could call it the hunchback of Notre Dame, but the apperance is definitely not the biggest problem as the pains related to nerve impingement can be severe, and such impingement can lead to partial paralysis if it gets bad.
Well unfortunately of you work at a computer or at a reception you will have to be sitting down most of the time. You can get a better chair that will allow you to sit in an upright position, but if you have already noticed problems this isn't necessarily enough to make a difference. There are things that you can do and there are supportive devides that you can do to support your posture.
The most important thing is that you take action. You have already noticed the problem, so you should not wait further on improving your posture - start by sitting up straight right now. Pull your shoulders back, rise your head and suck your belly button towards your spine just a little bit. Do this every time you notice that you are crouching down - this way you are learning new motor habits in your brain. You are basically teaching yourself that this is the correct posture where you want to be. You are so used to the crouching down and forwards that you will not notice it when it happens, but once you notice it, make a correction to it. This will in long term help you sit more upright and suffer less from back pain but it is not always the solution, especially in bad cases.
You should also make sure that your eyesight is in order as people who are having trouble seeing what they are reading, often crouch forward to see better. That's why many office workers are constantly getting closer to the screen, and eventually they have a bad posture.
When you do the previously mentionned things to improve your posture, you are activating the correct muscles that are needed to keep your spine aligned. Pulling in your belly button will activate the transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscles which are one of the major muscles of the core of your body. If you want to further train these muscles you might want to contact a locap Pilates instructor.
Other thing that we should do, especially in the beginning of improving our posture, is to use back supports or posture braces which will make it easier for us to learn the new posture. Like I said before, you want to teach your body to accept the new position as the correct one, and accept the previous one as bad. Using a brace that helps your weak muscles in the beginning is going to be of much help, and that is why you should get started with it. Order yourself one as soon as possible so that you won't suffer from straining your back too much in the beginning - once you start maintaining a correct posture, you might notice that your back muscles start aching, and you will feel muscle pain especially between your scapulae. You should do stretching as well, but not by focusing on your back and neck, but on the muscles in front of your body. When you stretch your chest and hip flexors you are relieving tension in the muscles that are involved in crouching your posture. That way your back will have an easier time in making your posture better.
Depending on your biggest problem, you can use different types of posture supports, and one that is very common especially in women is the Shoulders Back Posture Support which mainly helps combat the added weight of your bosom. Since your breasts can easily pull your shoulders forward, and crouch your upper back, having an orthopedist nylon vest can make all the difference in the way you feel your back. Since they are usually made from thin but supportive materials you can easily wear it under your clothing and no-one will notice. So if you work at an office, something like this that helps keep your shoulders at the correct place, can make all the difference. Thanks to the adjustable straps you can easily make it fit and give you just enough posture support.
What you should keep in mind is that a posture supportive brace is not there to be with you for the rest of your life. It supports and it corrects your posture, but once you get the hang of it, you should try to do it on your own. Learn the correct posture and maintain it without the support.