Demand for posture correctors is growing rapidly. Modern lifestyles mean that poor posture affects most people, and recent advances in our understanding of the negative health effects of poor posture has led to the development of many highly effective posture correction products.

BUT HOW DO THEY WORK?

Posture correctors are designed to gently hold your back and shoulders in the correct place, so that overtime your muscles are trained to adopt the correct posture, and fix your posture so that your back becomes stronger overall. For example, if you habitually slouch, the brace will hold your back into place straight so that you can retrain your posture until it is naturally comfortable.

Whilst some posture correctors are one size fits all, some need to be sized correctly, so before purchasing any posture corrector, ensure that you take a look at the sizing chart and choose the one that best fits you. This will ensure that the posture corrector will give maximum results, and can be comfortably worn underneath clothes, without it becoming irritating or restrictive.

WHAT ARE THE OVERALL HEALTH BENEFITS OF A BACK POSTURE CORRECTOR?

Poor posture can have significant negative effects on your overall health and wellbeing, with some effects that will surprise you.

There are 8 key effects of poor posture on the body and your overall health, and posture correctors are a highly effective way of reducing these effects:

1. Protect Your Tendons & Joints.

If you don't have your body weight distributed evenly, which is what happens when you slouch, you're putting unwanted pressure on your tendons and joints, which aren't designed to take on that extra work. Over time, all that wear and tear will build up and result in chronic aches and pain, or something much more serious, such as Tendonitis (inflammation), which can ultimately lead to pain and injury. Tendonitis severely limits your range of motion, and only gets worse as you get older. 

2. Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease.

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death, so you don't want to hold onto any habits that would increase your likelihood for contracting cardiovascular disease. How you stand and sit affects the position of the spine and rib cage, the space in which your heart is located. If this key part of the body is constantly under pressure as a result of poor posture position, the ability of your heart to function optimally is reduced.

In 2007, a study in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that the strain on your neck muscles that comes from slouching has a direct effect on blood pressure and the overall blood flow to your heart. Additionally, constantly leaning forward can lead to aortic diastolic murmur - the irregular beating of the heart - which can be fatal.

3. Increase Your Lung Capacity.

The Lungs are not able to function correctly if you're constantly slouched over, in a poor posture, as the amount of space available to them is reduced.  Studies have shown that bad posture can reduce your lung capacity by up to 30 percent, which results in shortness of breath, foggy brain, and and less energy to get through your day.

4. Be More Confident!

How we carry ourselves has been shown to have an effect on hormones. By standing or sitting in the correct, upright position the body increases production of  testosterone and decreases levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. And the opposite is true for poor posture. Research carried out at Harvard's has shown that when you strike the correct posture you really can change the chemical makeup in your body for the better, with lower levels of stress and becoming more optimistic about your own future. You instantly feel more confident, making the people around you more aware of your self-esteem.

5. Decrease Your Risk of Injury.

The older you get, the more damage minor falls can cause, especially if your body isn't prepared to bounce back. Poor posture can lead to a weakened core strength, which can ultimately leads to a loss of balance and coordination, and over time can lead to an increased risk of falling and therefore injury.

6. Be Physically Fitter!

Many people spend a lot of time, energy and money working out in the gym, but then slouch around all day. You can do all the exercise routines in the world, but if you don't pay attention to your posture before and after, you're damaging your own muscles and sabotaging any chance you have for getting stronger and fitter.

Slouching over your phone or computer for extended periods of time, leads to muscle imbalances, particularly in the chest area, because your shoulders round inwards. Even the strength of your biceps and rotator cuff muscles could become compromised when you're not sitting with the proper 90 degree angles at your elbows. The worst-case scenario is that these misalignments eventually lead to tendonitis. However, another more short-term consequence is that you lose the ability to move around freely, especially at the gym. Not only does the quality of your workout suffer, but you'll likely enjoy physical activity a lot less.

7. Avoid Lasting Spinal Problems.

Almost everyone suffers from chronic back pain at some point in their lives, which can be debilitating and energy sapping.  It can affect pretty much every avenue of your life and can prevent you from doing many things. The link between bad posture and spine problems such as Dowager's hump, a forward curvature of the thoracic spine, is well known, and caused by years of slouching, habits which start at a young age. It's not too late to correct these habits though, and reduce your risk of chronic back and spinal problems in the future.

So what can you do about your poor posture?

Well, nothing beats a good diet, and being physically active (focussing on building core strength), and getting lots of sleep.  But alongside this, posture correctors are the best way to change poor posture habits and set your posture up for a pain free life.  

Take a look at our posture corrector range here, and let us know if you have any questions or comments.