Posture Correction

Hey, I've been there. You stick a pillow behind your back when you're watching t.v. and you feel better. That's evidence that having better posture will likely help your back problem. Posture correction cannot be achieved this way, though.

Pillows, supports, and anything that's going to be used to prop you up, isn't going to fix anything. Most doctors will tell you to just use that when you need a little extra help, like when your back is really hurting. There's nothing wrong with it then.

To make a difference in how your back is aligned when there's not support, you'll need to use a program like I used at ImproveMyPosture.com.

Putting on a brace will make your posture look good right away, but is not the same as posture correction. Wearing that brace all day requires no work from your muscles all day! Since your postural muscles are what hold you in place, how will weaker muscles make your posture better?

It won't, and that's the danger in wearing a brace. Now there are times when a brace is just the thing. Like you're in pain right now and your muscles aren't holding you up correctly. Time to wear a brace... temporarily.

Or if you've developed a dowager hump, and every hour your spine is hunched over may lead to more compression fractures -- making things worse! If your doctor prescribes a brace for that, by all means wear it! But you'll still want to work on exercises that make your back stronger. The program I used can be found at ImproveMyPosture.com.

I don't want to say that your chair and mattress don't matter, because I once spent a terrible weekend on a pull out bed that was rough on my back and my posture. Since then, I'm convinced that they are important. They just aren't going to help posture correction.

What you do all day is what gets your back (and your health for that matter) to the place it's at right now. So six to eight hours a night in a non-supportive mattress isn't going to help. Eight to ten hours per day in front of a computer in a lop-sided chair with no lumbar support can't be making things better.

Still, the number 1 thing you'll need to do is strengthen your postural muscles. Only 1 way to do that! Yes, I'll say it again. Posture exercises -- they really work! Find out what I used at ImproveMyPosture.com.

Posture correction is more about which exercises and not about doing just any exercise. You can't just start jogging and think your posture's going to get better. Swimming can help, because it engages your posture muscles.

Think about keeping things in balance. Doing a variety of movements, like basketball is better than doing something that is unbalanced, like golf. Going to the gym and doing the "circuit" is a balanced workout, but not necessarily going to balance out what you do all day.

Get moving, and work specifically on your posture muscles. If you go to ImproveMyPosture.com, you can use what I used.