Another Grand Prix, another round of entrances by Alexandra Leclerc—in a chic dress, her hair slicked back and Leo the dachshund close by her side. And of all the things that the Internet loves her for, one of them is her impeccable posture. No matter the height of her heels or the clothes she’s wearing, she’s always standing tall with her shoulders back—which lends itself well to her regal air.
Beyond the aesthetics of it all, good posture has been an ideal for centuries. Think etiquette classes, corsets and an assortment of contraptions designed to manipulate the spine to a more favourable position. In more recent decades, hours of doomscrolling have finally caught up to our bodies: ‘tech neck’ was coined to describe the forward tilt of the neck and spine caused by peering too intently at our screens and devices. And the aches don’t just stop at the neck—they can radiate elsewhere and plague other parts of the body too. The good news? It still isn’t too late to start paying attention to your posture. Here to break down the do’s, don’ts and everything else you need to know about posture are Martin John, osteopath and founder of Orchard Health Clinic, and Hui Lin Chua, a dance physiotherapist.
What exactly is good posture?
Interestingly, though we might visualise good posture a certain, fixed way, there isn’t actually a one-size-fits-all model for it. “There’s no single, ‘perfect’ posture that we should be holding 24/7,” Chua explains. “Every body is different. It’s really about the amount of time we spend in one position, and whether we’re addressing our individual areas of tension or restriction to help our bodies move efficiently.” That being said, there is a general guideline: it should look relaxed rather than rigid, according to John. The head sits comfortably over the body, the shoulders are resting naturally and the spine maintains its natural curvature. “There is a sense of balance and ease, without obvious leaning, twisting or unnecessary tension,” elaborates John. More importantly, it isn’t meant to be something you consciously do.
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To check your own posture, start with a good, long look in the mirror. While John notes that a mirror reflection is just a snapshot, these are the questions you can begin with:
- Do you naturally lean to one side?
- Is one shoulder or hip higher?
- Are your ears level?
- Do your collarbones sit evenly?
- Do your feet turn out?
And yet, the true state of your posture is only revealed in how your body behaves. Can you turn your head as easily to the left as the right? Do you always cross the same leg, carry your bag on the same shoulder, or lean on one hip while waiting? As a dancer-turned-physiotherapist, Chua notes that the dance style one practises most can influence your body’s default alignment: a dancer who trains predominantly in street styles may present with slightly rounded shoulders and a relaxed upper back, while a classically-trained dancer would pull their shoulder blades back and downwards to emphasise a long neck and open chest. John reminds us that posture isn’t just what you can see—it’s how your body adapts and responds throughout the day.
‘Bad posture’ and its consequences
As instinctive as it is to plot posture on a good/bad axis, it exists on a plane. The good posture of a ballerina would look different from the posture of someone carrying a squirming two-year-old, for instance. Rather than thinking of good posture as a single position, it’s more so the position best suited to what you’re asking your body to do at the moment.
Conversely, bad posture happens when the body is made to solve the same issue for hours on end—though the problem isn’t so much the posture itself, John adds. “The body makes micro-adjustments to hold static positions for sustained periods of time, or when movements are repeated,” Chua explains. It might be more helpful to think of the effects of having poor posture in two ways, according to John:
- Functionally, where you might begin to notice neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, back pain, muscle fatigue, stiffness and reduced mobility. As the body repeatedly adapts to the same demands, it gradually redistributes the workload. Some muscles do more, while others contribute less. Initially, this adaptation allows the body to keep functioning but overtime, these same adaptations become less efficient and can make everyday movements harder or more painful.
- Structurally, where tendons may degenerate, joints may stiffen and wear-and-tear changes like osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease may develop. For these, posture is one cause, but genetics, age, previous injuries, activity levels and overall health can influence how all these changes occur too.
More importantly, distinguishing between the two can help you decide how to address your posture-related issue. Functional effects are often reversible, John advises, since it’s largely about how the body is organising itself. Structural changes, however, are different—once tissues have remodelled themselves, they may not return to how they were before. Yet, meaningful improvements can still be made because the body never stops adapting.
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Starting small
Now that we understand how posture affects our bodies, it’s time to take a closer look at our daily habits—because they do add up. Chua points out asymmetrical habits as common causes of compromised posture: leaning to one side during commutes, unconsciously hiking our shoulders when carrying our bags, for example. Our environmental setup, like the height of our work desks and screens relative to our eye line, can also affect how we hold our bodies—as do unconscious physical responses to emotion, like jaw clenching and shoulder tensing. On top of that, John highlights that what we don’t do is just as important. When we stop doing tasks that keep our bodies adaptable—like walking up the stairs, climbing and squatting—then our bodies become less able to perform them over time.
Though it can be hard to maintain good posture all the time, it’s particularly important to pay attention when you’re doing the same activity for an extended period of time. Sitting at a desk, driving and lifting weights are all situations where posture matters, since the body has fewer opportunities to move and redistribute the workload. John emphasises that the goal isn’t to hold perfect posture throughout—but to avoid holding any one posture for too long. If you’ve been sitting for an hour, stand up. If you’ve been looking down, look up.
“Rather than asking, ‘Am I sitting correctly?’, a better question is ‘How long have I been here?’” says John. Changing positions every once in a while can do wonders for our posture.
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Achieving good posture
The first step to improving one’s posture, Chua says, is to simply develop an awareness of your current postural habits. John urges everyone to simply pay more attention to the way your body moves in your mirror reflection, because once someone sees it for themselves, they’ve already taken the first step towards changing their posture. The body changes gradually, which makes these changes surprisingly easy to miss—but by the time the pain appears, it’s a result of patterns that have developed over months or even years.
“One of the most valuable skills we can develop isn’t better posture. It’s better observation. The earlier you notice a change, the easier it usually is to understand why it happened and do something about it,” John posits.
From there, training movement is key. While training certain muscles can help, finding the right sequences for your body will help ensure that the body coordinates movement better and shares the load more evenly. Chua recommends these movements to try at home:
- Band pull-aparts for mid-back muscle activation
- Wall angels for lengthening tight chest muscles and improving shoulder mobility
- ‘Thread the needle’ stretch for upper and mid-back rotation
And while posture correctors can be helpful, Chua reminds us that they do not build strength on their own. Active effort is still required to strengthen the muscles involved in maintaining new positions, as the body learns to adapt to them.
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When to see a doctor
Most postural changes aren’t a cause for concern, says John, as they usually develop gradually over time. But if your posture changes suddenly, or you lose height unexpectedly, or find yourself unable to stand upright where you previously could, then those changes are worthy of professional assessment. They can reflect deeper, underlying problems like vertebral fractures from osteoporosis and significant disc injuries. It is especially important if the postural changes are accompanied by persistent pain, progressive weakness, numbness, balancing problems or changes in breathing. Chua cautions that you shouldn’t wait till the pain starts interfering with your daily activities, training or performance to seek guidance.
Should the goal be ‘perfect’ posture?
More than thinking of it as a project, John asks us to think of posture as a habit that’s gradually changing. Start by changing just one thing: if you like standing on one leg, practise sharing the weight more evenly. If your head tilts to one side, try finding a more balanced position. Don’t pressure yourself into holding the changes for too long, either. Simply letting our bodies experience them is enough. It’s not so much about finding the perfect position, but improving the quality and variety of your movement to let your body re-organise itself.
The key, Chua says, is striving for consistency over perfection. Success doesn’t have to be judged by how straight our bodies look, John consolidates. We can gauge our progress by asking ourselves how we feel and seeing what our bodies can do. If you can get up off the floor with less effort, or sit comfortably for longer, then it means something’s improving. Take this as your sign to close the laptop for a bit and go for a walk.
