Sit Up and Listen: Slouching = Slacking
February 25, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under A Mother's Wisdom, Abs, Easy Health Tips, Exercise, Prevention, Your Body
This photo is scary accurate in describing how I look whilst at my computer (only I’m blond and, uh, female). What about you? Are you a sloucher? Does your posture say “Hunchback of Notre Dame Body Double” rather than “Dancing With the Stars Champion”? If so, you may want to sit up and take note – because slouching can often times signify slacking.
How so, you ask? Colorado College researchers found that male students who had the best posture while seated scored markedly higher on a logic exam than those who slouched. In fact, a straight posture instantaneously makes people feel dominant and successful, allowing them to focus on problems more adeptly.
What’s more, by taking on a sloppy stature, you’re setting yourself up for a slew of problems that go far beyond being passed over for a promotion. You could look forward to:
- Jaw, head, shoulder, and neck pain, all caused by the head and shoulders coming forward during a slump session.
- Rib cage misalignment, which can damage the heart and lungs and also cause gastrointestinal issues.
- Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) from the jaw-clenching often brought on when the head is thrust forward during slouching.
Sounds fun, hey? Nah, didn’t think so. So perhaps it might be worth our while to try these straighten-up tips:
- Begin (or step up) weight training workouts that focus on the neck, shoulders and back.
- Strengthen the core (center) of your body with exercises that target deep abdominal muscles and those closest to the spine. Many pilates moves and yoga poses pay special attention to core strength training, as does sex – Woo!). You may also try watching TV while sitting on a giant exercise ball, which engages the core muscles to keep you from toppling off.
- Equip your home office with an ergonomically-designed chair and beg for one at the office, too. Use your Bluetooth or other headset to avoid neck cramps while on the phone.
- Spend a little time each day sitting up straight with your back pressed against the wall. Doing so will introduce your body to what it feels like to be aligned perfectly straight. Alternate between this and the exercise ball while watching TV or listening to an audiobook.
Just as a side note, I caught myself slouching at least a half dozen times while writing this. But each time I’ve made the effort to straighten back up. And tomorrow I’ll start taking some of my own tips. So c’mon now…who’s with me???
I’m with ya! I’m constantly trying to remind myself to sit up straight at my desk. It takes frequent reminders, but I try to keep at it.
Hearing that it allows me to focus better will just encourage me.
Hmm…wonder what research has to say about someone who sits in what can only be described as pretty much an upright fetal position each time she’s at her desk, i.e. me, lol.
I definitely need to work on my posture.
Great tips Liberty. I’d hazard a guess that most of use ‘bloggers’ maintain a similar position to the guy in the picture…obviously something to work on.
How did you do today, A’Llyn? This is no joke, every time I slouched today I thought about you and some other computer slumpers straightening up, too. For some inexplicable reason, it helped to have “friends” going through the same thing!!
Off to sit with my back against the wall…
Um, Alicia? Are you spying on me??? That sounds exactly like me, too.
Ever the over-achiever, I like to alternate my poor posture positions between something reminiscent of the pic above and the Upright Fetal like you. It’s nice to have options, yanno?
Liz, yeah it’s a pretty safe bet that a blogging convention would highly resemble a geriatric ward get-together, isn’t it?
I think it is virtually impossible not to slouch if you have been sitting at a computer for a while. I had no idea bad posture was related to poor grades.