Although some of the reasons for bad posture like sitting down for a long time and “office chair hunch” seem occupational, for most women their posture problem is sometimes a result of just, well, being a woman.
Maintaining a correct posture is a battle most women have been having with their body for a very long time.
Posture is simply the way you position your body while sitting or standing
Bad posture can give you back pain, shoulder, chest and neck pain.
It can also lead to rounded shoulders and buttocks that seem to be permanently sticking out.
The major posture problems that women have all have something to do with beauty or being a mother.
The 7 posture mistakes in women are:
- Wearing killer heels
- Breastfeeding
- Pregnancy
- Breast development
- Big breast
- Leaning on one leg
- Sticking the bottom out
Keep reading to find out why they are a problem and what to do to improve your posture
- Wearing killer heels
Heels are good. They look good and boost your self confidence not to talk of the new strut it gives you straight away.
All these good things come at a price to your body. When you wear 4 – 6 inch heels it throws your body of balance by bending your hips forward. This makes your body to lean forward.
Your calf, hip and back muscles try to compensate and bring balance by becoming tense. This not only causes bad posture, it may eventually cause your calf muscle to bulge out a little.
What to do
- Vary your foot wear from day o day
- Avoid wearing high heels for a long period of time
- When buying shoes do so in the afternoon when your feet should be at their largest size
2. Breast-feeding
Most postpartum mothers are prone to developing rounded shoulders from breastfeeding their babies and those times you gaze into their adoring faces cooing and willing them to smile at you.
Bending over to breastfeed your baby not only causes rounded shoulder, It causes back pain and chest pain.
Ever heard a snapping sound when you stay in a bent over position for a long time and eventually remember to get up from that position or stretch?
That is your chest reminding you to not hunch over.
What to do
- Put 1 or 2 pillows on your laps and place your baby on the pillow so that you will not bend when breastfeeding.
- When properly done, you will find that you can relax your back comfortably on your chair and not bend to feed your baby.
- You can also place slightly elevated boards on the floor (you can also use hard cover books) so that you can put your feet on them. This will help keep the rest of your body in proper alignment.
3. Pregnancy
During pregnancy, your stomach becomes bigger; this shifts your center of gravity forward. This causes your lower back to curve inwards.
What to do
Keep your ears in a straight line with your shoulders.
Keep your chin tucked in not jutting out
Keep your shoulders rolled back
4. Breast development
Teenagers at first do not know what to do with their breasts. To embrace them or make them disappear?
If you want to make them disappear; you go through a phase of actively hiding your breast, by wearing oversized clothes or by hunching over to stop anyone from seeing your chest.
This may go on for months or years, eventually when you embrace your chest, it becomes difficult to unlearn your bad posture of hunching over.
You may even forget that you are hunched over until it is repeatedly pointed out to you.
What to do
- A lot of changes take place in your body as you grow. This is one of them. Embrace it. Do not hunch over to hide them, because they have no intention of disappearing. You are beautiful and you are maturing, this is a part of it and part of who you are: A woman.
- As a mom, help your teenager daughter make sense of this wonderful period. Go shopping with her and buy the best bra for her age and size.
- They should not be too tight but at the same time her bra should give her the needed support.
5. Big breasts
Having big breasts is one of the things that can really give women a bad posture. Big breasts place excessive weight on the chest making it difficult to maintain good posture and causing chest pain.
Most women with big boobs are either hunching over because gravity is dragging your breast down or your chest is pointed out because you have joined your spine in fighting gravity to stay upright.
Rounded shoulders and shoulder grooves are 2 other side effects of big breasts
Shoulder grooves are those sometimes painful lines on your shoulders which are caused when the weight of your breasts pulls the bra strap into your skin.
What to do
- Go for supportive and well fitted bras. They not only give you support, they help distribute the weight of your breast evenly for maximum support
- Use sports bra when exercising to stop you pushing your chest out as support.
- Sit and stand up straight. Do not slouch. (I know. Your breast is big and I am telling you to stand up straight?) Well, You will find it helpful because it will reduce the pain on your chest.
6. Leaning on one leg
Leaning on one leg once in a short while when standing, crossing the leg when sitting and carrying your baby on one hip is 3 parts of one sin most of us are guilty of.
Although leaning on one leg may offer temporary relief, if you have been standing up for some time; it is not really worth it.
When you lean on one leg regularly (for fashion sake or for relief), you are putting pressure on one side of your body. It causes repetitive strain.
What you are doing is that you are increasing pressure and overusing the muscle on one side of your body and under using the other side. This may in time cause the spine to shift sideways.
What to do
- Stand with your weight evenly balanced on both legs
- Put your baby in his carrier or stroller if you are going to stand up for a long time.
- Keep your knees slightly bent when standing
- Keep your feet hip distance apart
7. Sticking the bottom out
The desire to have a sexy and curvy butt has gone global and it is wrecking havoc with women’s posture.
With musicians showing unbelievably curvy dancers, your modest or nonexistent backside may seem to be crying for some attention.
Of course, it is not mainly the desire for a well rounded butt that may cause your bottom to stick out.
Your position when cooking and washing up in the sink, wearing high heels, belly fat, stretching to get something from the kitchen unit or carrying a heavy load with one hand can all cause your bottom to stick out.
What to do
- Do exercises like squats to strengthen your buttocks
- Do core strengthening exercises
Simple posture correction
Women turn, twist and bend a lot. And after giving birth, the turn and bends become more frequent.
You can prevent bad posture and the pain that comes with it by using the preventive and corrective measures in “what to do”
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Bellisima Fitness 