Most of us sit all day long. It is part and parcel of working. But most of us don’t make the most of sitting. We hunch over our keyboards, lower our heads to see screens better or scoot way down in our chair. What we should be doing, is sitting up straight—as if a ribbon was running from our tailbone through the top of our head. Easier said than done, we understand.
But does it really matter?
Decide for yourself!
What slouching actually does:
1 – Tight, achy muscles in the neck, back, arms and legs. If you are a sloucher, there may be a change in your muscles and ligaments… and you may have a stiff, tight painful feeling regularly. More than 80% of neck and back problems are the result of tight, achy muscles brought on by years of bad posture.
2 – Joint stiffness and pain. Slouchers are at risk for "wear and tear" arthritis, or what is termed degenerative osteoarthritis. Poor posture and limited mobility increase the likelihood of this condition in later years.
3 – Causes fatigue. Your muscles have to work hard just to hold you up if you have poor posture. You waste energy just moving, leaving you without the extra energy you need to feel good.
What sitting up straight actually does:
1 – Testosterone level improvement. Your posture affects your testosterone and cortisol levels.
2 – Lose weight. Sitting up straight will burn up to 350 calories a day (that is one slice of cake, or two pints of beer). Chiropractor James Emmett explains that this is because by carrying yourself better, you are “taking tension off the whole body and everything starts to flow better.”
3 – Breathe better. Good posture helps open up the airways and ensure proper breathing. This allows more oxygen to flow through the cardiopulmonary system. The blood is then able to carry sufficient oxygen to the whole body and ensure that your nervous system, organs and other tissues function effectively.
4 - Improve your memory and brain. A research study done in the states last year focused on how words and memories are linked to posture and found that babies’ learning ability is in fact affected by their posture. Being upright improved their ability to map new experiences and remember things.
5 – Improve your mood. Erik Peper carried out a range of experiments to test how posture affects energy level and the ability to generate positive and negative thoughts. He found that participants who were upright and dynamic felt more energetic, happier and positive. By contrast, those who slouched reported feeling sad, lonely and isolated.
6 – Reduce your stress. Stress not only causes poor posture, but also actually perpetuates it! A recent study compared different seated postures to evaluate how each affected emotions in the face of stress. Results found that adopting an upright posture, when stressed, can maintain self-esteem, reduce negative mood, and increase positive mood compared to a slumped posture. Therefore sitting upright might be a simple strategy to help build resilience to stress.
7 – Be more productive. Sitting upright makes you more alert, concentrated, and productive. The reason is that when you slouch, your body takes in as much as 30% less oxygen than you would take in with good posture. This means that when you slouch, it is much harder to keep your energy up.
The problem for most of us, is our posture habits have already been set by the time we have our first desk job. And it takes a lot of effort to change them. But the benefits of that effort are clear—whether you are tired, or hungover or just bored with work… sitting up straight will make you feel better.
I can feel myself sitting up straighter already….
About VTSL
VTSL is a hosted business phone system provider specialising in business VoIP services for SMEs across the UK and Ireland. As one of the first to market with VoIP services for SMEs back in 2007, the VTSL hosted business phone system is one of the most popular and reliable on the market. With 24 / 7 technical support, a low per-user all-inclusive monthly fee, and unified communications and mobility solutions, the VTSL business VoIP service is the perfect solution for any company looking for an advanced business phone system.
