This is truly one of those rare things in life. Rare in that it is something that improves you one hundred percent with no negatives. Rare in that it’s not hard to do, costs no money at all, and requires no dedication. Wondering what it is? It’s called good posture.
Before you change the channel, hear me out a little on this infomercial. Poor posture is a real thing that affects at least one out of every two people. At least. Each and every day, many humans go out into the world slouching while doing serious things like working, exercising, dating, and trying to impress. They give much attention to the clothes they wear, their hairstyle, the things they say, and the way they physically do things, and that’s great. But they are doing it without good posture, which means they can do all of those things better almost instantly.
TEN BENEFITS OF GOOD POSTURE
Good posture will do a lot for you. I’m sure you already know all this stuff, but chances are your posture isn’t that great, so let’s go over it again.
- Makes you look more confident – What man doesn’t want more of that?
- Makes you look taller – You can look taller for sure, and it can also actually make you taller too. Just a little.
- Makes the clothes you’re wearing look better – Shirts and jackets are made for perfect skeletal posture, so it’s obvious that your clothes will lay better.
- Makes you look healthier – A healthy body has a healthy spine and a healthy spine is an erect and properly aligned one. And if you have good posture often, it’ll do more than make you LOOK healthy.
- Makes you a better athlete – It doesn’t matter if you are throwing, catching, twisting, grabbing, lifting, running, jumping, balancing, holding, kicking or swinging. Good posture will improve all movements and strength functions.
- Makes you look stronger – Proper posture brings your shoulders more to your sides, which give you more of a “V” look instead of that “U” you may be sporting now. It also throws your chest out more, which makes you look more muscular.
- Opens you up to things – You may not think so, but drawn-in shoulders and a slouched upper back close you off to the world some. And that minor physical closure effects your mind. Don’t think so? Next time you go to a social gathering, make a conscious effort to keep your shoulders back the whole time. At the end of the night, review the conversations you had to see if something is different. You may notice that you listened to people more and that people listened to you a little more than normal.
- You won’t look down as much – Improved posture makes it harder to look down and that could be a good thing (unless you’re playing soccer). When you are not looking down, you are engaging with your world more.
- Makes your body work better – Your ribcage can expand more, which allows you to breath better and gives some of your vital organs more room to do their things.
- Makes you more attractive – How does it do this? Go back and read reasons #1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.
HOW TO HAVE BETTER POSTURE
Having better posture right now as you read this is easy. You can simply breathe in while throwing your shoulders back and then keep them back when you exhale. Boom, you’re done. But what about keeping those shoulders back even when you’re not thinking about it? Yeah, that’s gonna take some effort. Nothing about training your body for unconsciously good posture is hard to do, but it’s not easy to accomplish and that’s why you don’t see great posture that often. I started out with some pretty badly rounded shoulders in my twenties but now have decent posture. Here are a few tips:
Do Yoga. There’s that four-letter word again. I can think of nothing that will improve your posture over the long haul better than yoga, so I have to bring it up. Yoga is all about the spine, so better posture is a by-product.
*Lean against a wall. Hanging out and doing nothing or just looking at your phone? Cool. Find a wall and while you’re gaming or checking your social media, lean against it. Use the wall as a reference point for good posture by touching your shoulder blades and butt and head to it. Once you feel your good posture, stay there and breathe in and out. Now start paying attention to other things, like your Facebook, but stay where you are.
As your mind starts paying attention elsewhere, you may start slouching away from the wall. Re-adjust to good posture and continue. After a while, your back may start aching from the corrected position that it’s not used to being in. That’s ok. You can leave the wall, but return when you can.
*Try to think of good posture while doing things. Think about sitting up straight while watching TV or while you’re lifting weights or running or at work or having sex (yeah, I went there). During these activities, keep your shoulders back and breathe. Stay in good posture for longer and longer periods.
*Breath. It’s very important. There are two reasons why breathing is important while training your body to have better posture. You are trying to get your body to stay in a position that it’s not used to, so it’ll eventually have to learn to relax while it’s in the new position. Breathing will help make that happen. Use the exhale to relax the things that hurt.
The breath is also important as a tool to keep you in good posture. The breathing gives your mind something rhythmic to concentrate on, which will keep you paying attention longer.
*Use a posture corrector device. Personally, I don’t think this should be your main way of getting better posture, but it will help. When I was a kid, the doctor gave me something like this after I broke my collarbone and I did use it afterward for my posture, but I don’t think it helped my body unconsciously keep good posture. These devices will help teach you what good posture feels like, so that’s a plus. And using these in addition to my other tips may help some for sure.
ONE MORE THING ON GOOD POSTURE
Good posture will make you a better-looking man. If you don’t agree with that, then I’ll offer the female example. Next time you see a beautiful woman, take notice of more than what it is you like. I know it’ll be tough, but look closer at what is making her legs or ass or chest or face or attitude so damn hot. More than likely she’ll have great posture and that’s what’s making the difference. Just sayin’.
