It is easy to forget about your posture until it causes you pain and discomfort. But posture affects more than just your back and neck. It can also affect the health of all your muscles, joints, nerves, tendons, and immune system. If you fail to maintain good posture by constantly slouching as you sit or stand, it could put your health in serious jeopardy.
All the chiropractor sessions in the world cannot fix your posture. If you continue to have poor lifestyle habits, your posture will never get better. That is why you need to make several changes that include everything from your mattress to your exercise routine.
Mattress Foundation
A traditional bed frame uses a box spring underneath the mattress. The problem with box springs is they don’t provide a flat surface. The springs inside the box get bent out of shape fast, affecting the evenness of the mattress on top. Then your back and neck will suffer as a result.
A mattress foundation is a better alternative to a box spring. It provides an entirely flat surface made of wood, metal, or both. It is the equivalent of putting the mattress on the floor and having a flat surface underneath. The difference is that you’ll still be off the floor while your neck and back remain straight as you sleep.
The Big Fig mattress foundation features 18 wood slats, each 2.5 inches in width. There are also 32 support blocks on the sides to help support extra weight on top. You wouldn’t even need to hire professional bed and mattress specialists. The company ships the foundation materials to your home. You can quickly assemble the foundation with the materials and instructions provided. No tools are necessary.
Biomechanical Instability
Prolonged sitting causes the discs in our vertebrae to sag and the muscles to tighten. As the condition gets worse, the disc bulges out and causes you to feel pain. Sitting also affects the hamstrings and quadriceps in the legs. These muscles eventually start to adapt to their position as you’re sitting. When you stand up and attempt to walk around again, it puts more strain on your muscles because they have to learn to adapt to a new position all over again. Health experts call this Biomechanical Instability.
The best cure for overcoming biomechanical instability is not sitting so much. Unfortunately, many of us have no choice but to sit down if our jobs require it. The best thing you can do is sit down on a chair that helps prevent slouching. If you can find such a chair, it won’t strain the muscles and discs in your back.
The company “all33” has come out with a slouch-proof chair that prevents you from curving your spine as you sit. It does this by keeping your lower back straight and preventing it from sinking backward.
Natural Muscle Recovery Supplements
Never underestimate the power of natural muscle recovery supplements. If lousy posture or intense exercise has strained your muscles and caused inflammation, you need the right supplements to help you recover. Make sure they include one or more of these ingredients:
- Ashwagandha – A good muscle stress reliever
- Curcumin – Prevents the spread of free radicals and inflammation.
- Coenzyme Q10 – Helps repair muscles
- CBD – Good natural pain reliever
- Branched-chain amino acids – Helps rebuild and repair muscles
Remember to limit your workout intensity until your muscles have recovered. That will make it easier for these supplements to work for you.
Rowing Machine
Rowing is an excellent exercise for working your lower back muscles. All the forward and backward shifting will loosen the hip flexors and up to 86% of the muscles in your legs, back, abs, and arms.
A good rowing machine is all you need to get started. Try out the Hydrow rowing machine because it comes with a 22-inch HD screen and over 2,000 workouts programmed into it. The machine can even connect you to live instructors over the internet.
Posture Pump
The Posture Pump Disc Hydrator is an FSA and HSA approved tool for fixing head, neck and back posture. You lie down on the device and put your head, back, and neck onto it. As you pump the device with air, it works to decompress the lumbar curves and cervical curves so that your discs can get hydrated.
Daily use of this device could lead to better posture over the long term.
Conclusion
Don’t wait for back and neck pain to occur before you start taking your posture seriously. The risk of pain and injury increases with each year that you get older. Try some of these lifestyle-change recommendations and see if you notice a change in your posture after six months. You might be surprised by the results.
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