Improve Posture & Reduce Pain – Pilates and Posture Principles for Health – Part 3

In the third and final part of our “How does Pilates improve posture series” I am going to conclude with some practical examples on how you can begin to improve your posture. But first, why don’t we recap the top 3 reasons to begin practicing good posture:

1. Although practicing posture principles does require an effort, this outweighs the associated neck, back and shoulder issues that poor posture habits over time cause.
2. Maintaining good posture can help you maintain your strength and flexibility over time, leading to a longer, healthier life.
3. For every minute you sit and stand taller (even without an “exercise” program) you are strengthening your body for better health. Regardless of your other fitness activities – maintaining good posture throughout the day is a workout.

Why don’t you try this quick, seated posture exercise for yourself now, while your reading this blog.

1. Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet hip distance apart, knees and toes pointing straight ahead.
2. The hips and pelvis should be sitting upright like a bucket (avoid the feeling of pouring water out of the front, or back of the bucket.) Front of the thighs at the crease where the legs meet the torso are relaxed.
3. Sit very tall – like there is a string lifting you up through the top of your head.
4. Chin is level to the floor, with the eyes gazing out along the horizon.
5. Feel the lower abdominal muscles pull up and in – towards the low back, while keeping the arms and shoulders down and relaxed.
6. Use your breath to continue improving posture by sitting taller. Inhale breathing into the back of the ribcage to lengthen the spine from your tailbone through the top of the head. Exhale to maintain the tall and deepen the abdominal support. Repeat 5-10 breaths.

Ideally, what you just practiced, should be completely ‘natural’ and you should not feel any issues such as:

• Your back muscles getting tired,
• Your hips and pelvis wanting to slouch,
• Your abdominals ready to relax, and hang out.

How did you find that exercise? Easy or hard? Do you think in your current state you could maintain that postural setup without having to think about it? Because that is the goal of good posture, correct positioning, with minimal effort.

If you think about your breathing and posture while sitting and standing throughout the day, you are exercising and helping to improve your posture! Conscious body awareness and self-correction can help to improve posture and reduce pain.

Integrating the right exercises into your workout program is an easy way to reinforce these habits and ensure that the correct muscle action is occurring necessary to provide the support for perfect posture and improved health.

Pilates happens to be an excellent way to learn exercises to strengthen the right muscles and improve body awareness and posture improvement. Pilates workouts target the core muscles and the ones that are most commonly weak in people with poor posture. They are an excellent way to get the process started, which when backed up with a solid effort, usually result in a rapid improvement in posture.

Overall the long term goal of Pilates is to shift postural correction from the conscious to the unconscious mind. By practicing regular Pilates, you will notice that your back muscles become stronger, your core muscles work harder and there will be an overall reduction in joint pain. The long term effects of this are astounding and I would encourage you to begin the process today, I know you will love the results.