Posture can directly affect the quality of your life.  Good posture will make you feel and look younger, stronger and more confident, while at the same time it improves your performance in every area of life, your breathing, your movement capabilities, and reduces the risk of injuries.  It will surely help you get older without suffering from the dreaded pain in your joints!

But, how do you know if you have to improve your posture?  What are the alert signs?  Following is a very concise and clear list of the main posture alert conditions. If you happen to catch yourself in one of these posture sins, start working to correct it immediately:

-    Rounded back
-    One side of the body rotated forward or back
-    Head overhanging forward
-    Collapsed feet arches
-    Pelvis and hips twisted to the front, back or side
-    Limp chest and shoulders
-    Elevated hip or shoulder

All of the above mean that your body has fallen into a poor movement pattern due to diverse reasons, maybe muscle imbalance, injury, ergonomic issues or bad alignment while exercising.

However, the secret to correcting poor posture is easy:  you have to know it is there.  Once you know it, it’s easy to develop healthy posture habits that will help you strengthen your structure’s foundation in order to acquire good posture and a body that functions effectively.  Here are some tips for improvement:

1.    Find your body’s neutral alignment.  In this position, your spine can effortlessly deal with stress and strain.  Neutral alignment can be set while standing, sitting and moving.

2.    Keep moving.  After sitting for a period of time, you must stand up or lie down, and move around for a while in order to soften your muscles and joints.

3.    Work out your hip muscles.  If these are weak or inflexible, it may cause pelvis and lower back alignment problems.  Look for exercises that flex, extend, abduct and rotate your hips.

4.    Strengthen your abdomen.  Work out your abdominals to hold your pelvis in neutral alignment.  Do stabilizing training, in order to power your core abdomen muscles.

5.    Extend your back.  Learn back extension exercises to strengthen your spine, keep it aligned, and avoid back pain.

6.    Exercise your upper body.  Train to encourage the natural coordination and rhythm of the shoulder and shoulder girdle, as well as to strengthen the scapular and arm muscles.

7.    Do Yoga and Pilates.  These disciplines encourage and center on alignment and on the controlled movement of the spine, reinforcing good posture all the way.

8.    Visualize good posture.  Think of beautiful erect and strong trees, and imagine yourself growing tall with your arms over your head.  Imagine yourself walking and sitting in perfect neutral alignment.

9.    Ask a doctor.  Poor posture can greatly affect your life and health, so it may be wise to see a doctor and ensure you are on the right path to acquiring perfect posture.

10.    Constantly remind yourself about your posture.  You have to be aware of your posture during the day in order to fix it if you fall into a bad position at some point.  Set an alarm clock for every hour or post-it on your desk or fridge.  You can also use an ergonomic seat to help you stay aligned while sitting.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.trucomfort.com as the original source.

Don’t Forget to Subscribe by RSS or Email:

Stand in front of a full-length mirror and turn to your side, to reveal your profile.
Ideally, you should see your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles aligned.

If these four points do not form a straight or almost straight line, chances are you will develop lower back pain in the upcoming months or years. And you are not alone.

Springtime
The spine works as a spring, absorbing pressure and shocks as you walk or remain seated. However, when the spine bends beyond its ideal posture, this natural spring effect diminishes or works against its intended job.

For instance, some people have a tendency to lean the torso forward, causing strain in the neck. When your shoulders, hips and knees misalign, your face looks slightly downwards. Thus, to level the sight, you need to lift the nose, compressing the back of your neck. Meanwhile, to recover balance, your hips have to move backwards; conversely, if you keep your feet in the same place, the knees move to the front for the same reason. The result is a profile somewhat similar to an S shape.

In America, where people can hardly do without a car, more than half the population suffer from pain. Of these unfortunate souls, 25% reported pain in the back. Pain in the knees and headaches follow (12% and 9%, respectively). Male drivers aged between 30 and 49 have double the risk of back injuries and chronic pain. Why? Because they are getting older, yet remain active.

Since most of the time you remain seated, an ergonomic seat would suffice to prevent injuries and bad posture; but, unfortunately, most seats are poorly designed:

•    Most seats in cars, planes and long distance busses cause the reverse spring effect. Badly designed or badly positioned seats force torsos to lean backwards. If you do not have a back support yet, place the back of your seat as near to the plumb line as possible. An upright seat may not feel too comfortable at first, but it surely provides a healthier support.

•    Tall people often have to seat with their knees way higher than their hips, which is exactly the opposite of a good seating posture. Whenever possible, keep your knees below the level of the thighs. To do so, put something between the seat and your thighs or, better yet, set the seat higher.

However, more often than not, the problem lies with bad posture. Sometimes, an ergonomic design is not used in the right way:

•    Inexpert drivers face a common seat-related problem. As they release the clutch pedal with the left foot, they show a tendency to shift the center of mass to the other thigh. Just as your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles should ideally align together, the line connecting shoulders should remain as parallel to the hips as possible for an ergonomically correct posture. When these lines are not parallel, the vertebras in the spine suffer unnecessary compression.

Take the time to watch yourself in a full-length mirror. For your back’s sake, remember these tips on ergonomics and get yourself the proper car seat support.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.trucomfort.com as the original source.

Don’t Forget to Subscribe by RSS or Email:

When we think of injuries in the office workplace, we most often think of back and wrist injuries.  The fact is there are a multitude of office injuries that can result from improper back supports and lack of an ergonomic seat to give us the support we need. Chronic wrist and back pain are the most common, but an improper work station can also cause knee, leg, eye and even ankle strain.

General muscle aches and strains include tired legs, aching backs, stiff knees, shoulders and neck muscles.  When you get home at the end of the day and feel tired all over, this can be the result of a poor workplace set-up.

Wrist pain such as carpal tunnel results from repetitive motions such as typing without having proper support for the wrist.  The nerve that travels down the arm and through the wrist becomes compressed, resulting in pain and sometimes a tingling and numbness in the fingers.  Carpal tunnel can be improved by the use of a wrist brace, although sometimes surgery becomes necessary.

Eye strain is another common complaint among office workers.  Poor lighting is often the cause and can even lead to stiff and aching neck and shoulder muscles from hunching over to see things clearly.  This in turn can cause headaches and blurred vision as well as irritated watery eyes.  Occasionally accidents may occur when people have to move from a brightly lit area into a darker one.  For safety’s sake, lighting should be consistent throughout the workplace.

Lower back and leg pains can result from poor or lacking lumbar support and improper back support.  When we sit at a desk, our feet should always rest flat on the floor and our thighs should be parallel to the floor.  This alleviates stress and strain on the lower back.  Armrest should also be in the right position so that we don’t slouch or bend to rest our arms.

Another less commonly known injury in the office setting is a static posture injury.  This most often involves hip and knee strain.  It results from moving too quickly into an active position after sitting or standing in the same position for long periods.  The sudden movement causes strain to the muscles and can wear down ligaments causing serious pain.

All of these office workplace injuries can be avoided by the use of an ergonomically designed seat which provides proper back and lumbar support as well as a design that allows fluid movement between positions.

Having your office station set up with the proper lighting, seat and placement of equipment will help to ensure your comfort at work and at home at the end of the day!

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. Have a great day!

Don’t Forget to Subscribe by RSS or Email:

Sadly, many people each day find themselves in a position of constant sitting or slouching while in their office chairs, at home on the computer, etc.  Constant sitting like this can wreak havoc on your back and be the genesis of health problems in the future.  These include a cramped neck, cramped or sore back, and overall discomfort throughout the body.  The body was never engineered for long term sitting in this way, and without the proper seat support, you could be damaging your back and possibly your spinal cord.

One of the best solutions for long term sitting is purchasing an ergonomic chair.  Ergonomic chairs are not that expensive and will put your body into a more natural and comfortable position.  Ergonomic chairs not only have the ability to align your spine, but also work to align internal organs as well.  Many people do not value the importance of maintaining an overall balance in the body. Having your internal system out of alignment can compromise your overall health, lead to depression, and affect proper bodily functioning.

Most chairs do not take the natural curvature of the lower back into proper consideration, and some can even be damaging.  Without proper lumbar support, the natural curve of your back is flattened over time, leading to poor posture and constant slouching.  Having proper lumbar support allows you to sit at a workstation for significantly longer periods of time, feeling less discomfort.  Most chairs today are not even designed with the correct adjustments to make the chair in any way optimal for your health.  A one size fits all standard does not apply in this case, and can lead to injury or chronic back problems.

Another thing to look at when purchasing an ergonomic chair is the chair’s armrests.  Where are the armrests located and does this fit my body type?  Armrests reduce arm strain and allow the shoulders to relax, which is vital for the repetitive nature of typing and deskwork.  The armrests should be positioned so that the elbows are in a comfortable and relaxed position.  Chairs that lack armrests are some of the leading contributors to problems such as wrist strain and carpel tunnel syndrome.

If you have not looked in to getting an ergonomic chair yet, you should look into it.  Ergonomic chairs can save you countless dollars in the long run, in terms of costs related to health and back problems.  They can also align your spine, balance your internal organs, and optimize your work potential.  If you are planning on working safe, while working smart, than you should start considering purchasing an ergonomic chair for yourself.  Being more comfortable enables you to be more efficient, therefore being more effective and healthier at the same time.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to to your friends. Have a great day!

Don’t Forget to Subscribe by RSS or Email: