Perfecting posture: A trend that goes beyond ergonomics

Perfecting posture has officially become more than just good practise for our back health – like athletic wear, mindfulness, and the Kardashians, good posture is now a trend.

From America, to Japan to Australia, posture improving products are booming in sales as people adopt proactive attitudes for managing their overall health and wellbeing.

News websites globally are touting good posture as a remedy preventing back pain which actually improves work performance and managing psychological stresses.

So is good posture really as important as the trend suggests? Yes. For so many reasons.

Remember when you were a kid and the adults would say things like “stand up straight” or “shoulders back” while giving you a poke between the shoulder blades? Or have you noticed in Downton Abbey that ‘proper ladies’ will not even let their back rest on the chair at dinner. It was a lot more common for past generations to be fixated on proper carriage as a mark of respectability. Although modern manners are relaxed in comparison, our forebears were onto something important.

Humans read body language rapidly at the subconscious level. People are sized up in an instant and hunched shoulders or a slouching back point to potential health problems, lifestyles poured over desks and, more personally, a distinct lack of confidence or even trustworthiness.

Whether we like it or not, our posture tells a story and reveals how we feel. Police officers observe posture during interrogations. Apparently, shoulder position is a dead giveaway as to whether someone is confident in what they have to say or may be lying.

The good news is that as much as our emotions influence the way we appear, it also works in reverse. Standing up straighter and taller everyday will change the way you feel until confidence becomes a part of your psyche. Take this improved posture to the workplace already your presence in the room has increased. Colleagues will perceive you as open and unconsciously show more respect. And because your back is healthy you have the energy to work to best capacity rather than focusing on pain management.

Americans especially covet the status of good posture and invest in self-help manuals, technologies like Lumo-Lift and manual posture correcting products to help them achieve this. Since standing tall and straight is incredibly difficult to maintain on your own without constant reminders, products, such as a discreet back brace, gently coaches people into adopting the new position and leave the bad habits behind.

In Japan, products that help the young and old are flying off shelves. With a largely aged population aches and pains are common and they need the tools to prevent further strain. On the opposite side of the demographics, Japanese parents are acutely aware that their children will be studying hard and want to prepare them for long hours huddled over laptops, tablets and desks. Lumbar cushions covered in anime designs look kid-friendly and support the muscles that keep young Japanese children up to the challenges of education.  

The message that around eighty percent of the population will experience back pain at some point in their lives is getting through to the masses, which is happening for a variety of reasons. We have higher amounts of reported anxiety and depression. In response to emotional distress people automatically tighten their back muscles, leading to strain. Too many of us lead sedentary lifestyle attached to desk-jobs and high technology use. We follow fashions and wear high heels and tight jeans that restrict our natural gait and movement causing strain and injuries to our backs as well.

There are no drawbacks or ill side effects of good posture. Bing Howenstein, CEO of BackJoy is not surprised that the posture prend has taken off, “the traditional quick fix method of popping pills is on the decline and more preventative and proactive methods are taking place for those suffering from back pain”. People are inclined to put the work in because the benefits of great posture are manifold. They will look and feel confident as well as being healthier and better able to work or play sports with a reduced risk of injury.