Imperfect posture could be good for you
'Everyone has their norm, their unique ideal posture, which is not always what is perceived as good alignment,' physiotherapist Mr Chew says.
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Slouching, sprawling and slumping aren’t so bad for us after, it has been claimed.
We are led to believe from a young age that bad posture is a constant plague on the structural health of our bodies. But in fact, forcing yourself to symmetrically sit pinned to the desk chair may be worse.
“The assumption that we all need to be perfectly aligned is just wrong,” Jack Chew, a spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy told The Times.
Contrary to popular belief, “nothing about our bodies is entirely symmetrical,” Mr Chew says.
“Our organs aren’t positioned symmetrically; we each have a dominant side,” he adds.
In a similar manner to being left-handed and having a slightly more developed dominant leg, body alignment is rarely perfectly symmetrical. Postural misalignment and imperfections, rather than being the subject of microscopic scrutiny, are not as influential to structural problems such as age, hormonal and weight issues, according to Mr Chew.
“It is sold as the key cause of so many ailments, yet it remains just one of many potential factors that might contribute to a health problem. We need to get away from this idea that bad posture is the single cause of so many complaints because that is never the case,” he says.
If you want to feel extra righteous when enjoying a satisfying slouch, remember that even Mo Farah has “a lot of upward displacement that would be viewed as far from perfect.”
Lack of movement from days on end spent chained to the desk is certainly not ideal for structural issues but it seems the matter has been overstated. This is linked to the business opportunities brought by wellness trends, he argues.
He said everyone has their unique ideal posture which may not be perceived as good alignment. It deviating from our own norm that causes things to go wrong.
Yet physical therapist Jonathan Hoffman believes the body functions best when anatomically balanced. Mr Hoffman developed the CoreAlign frame equipment and exercise methods for “musculoskeletal rehabilitation, performance enhancement and general conditioning for overall wellness,” according to his website. The balanced body course and equipment costs $3,590 (£2,778) and even includes examinations for customers.
“Tru-Align”, an apparatus created by American chiropractor Kelly Haworth, claims to realign users after 20 minutes of use a day. Gravity undoes the negative effects of modern living by lying users face down on a series of cushions to “decompress” the body. The series of five cushions sets customers back a total of $495 (£384).
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