Myth #2: Posture must be completely straight all the time!!!
I am the first to admit that at the beginning of my career I also bought into this theory.
It was frustrating for me as a therapist but specially frustrating for my patients. They had the best intentions of maintaining a straight posture but would give in after just a few minutes because of lack of muscle endurance or because they would get distracted by the computer or book they were reading and would go right back to old habits.
So I asked myself...
Is a sustained straight posture good for the spinal disc?
Is asking patients to sustain a good posture on will alone a reasonable approach?
Is there a better approach?
I believe good posture is a combination of different postures within a neutral zone, where ears are on top of shoulders, and shoulders on top of hips, and the spine in neutral position.
We must find a different neutral position every twenty to thirty minutes for the pressure of the spinal discs to get redistributed and evenly loaded and unloaded.
We must build strength and endurance of all muscles, specially those of the trunk, so we do not rely on will alone but also in the strength and endurance of those muscles.
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