Your physical performance during everyday activities relies on the strength, stability and flexibility of your core muscles because they are the source of your strength, power and balance. If you have poor posture, then your ability to perform activities, such as running or lifting, will decrease due to a weak core. Therefore, the key to a stronger body and better performance starts with your posture, which is affected by your abdominal muscles.
Definition of Posture
Posture is simply the proper alignment of the spine and other joints in the body while in static position (standing, sitting) or dynamic movement (running, climbing stairs). It also means that you are able to maintain a good center of balance without placing excessive stress on joints, muscles and other tissues. Your abdominal muscles support your core muscles, including your back muscles, which help your body achieve proper alignment.
Functional Anatomy
Abdominal muscles are part of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex (LPHC), which is considered the core of the body. It absorbs and transfers energy during exercise and is the main source of strength and power. There are 29 muscles attached to this area, which includes the transversus abdominus, external/internal obliques, the buttocks and the adductors. All of these muscles are attached to other muscles in the upper and lower body, which affect their performance while sitting and standing.
Effects
Good posture allows your abdominal muscles to move in all planes of motion (flexion, extension, side-to-side, rotation) in a normal range of motion. It allows the abdominal muscles to produce force and absorb shock without using surrounding muscles to do their work. However, poor posture weakens abdominal muscles and the LPHC which cause surrounding muscles to do their job. This causes excessive stress to these muscles and joints, which eventually causes pain and further wear-and-tear.
Appearance
Maintaining a good posture is one of the most economic and quickest ways to look and feel younger. One way is to stand or walk tall is to pretend that someone is pulling a string on top of your head. This will put help to pull your shoulders down and pull your trunk up, making your abdominal muscles active and stronger.
Prevention/Solution
One easy way to improve your posture is to sit less and move around more. When you sit, the muscles that support your body, like the spinal muscles and abdominals, do not work very much. The more you sit, the weaker they become.
If you do sit for long periods of time at work or at home, get up every 15 to 20 minutes to walk around and stretch. If you exercise at the gym, avoid sitting exercises because they will place more stress on your lower back and they do not help strengthen your abdominals. Instead, exercise standing up and use total body exercises, like dumbbell squats with shoulder press, pull-ups or medicine ball throws. Pilates, tai chi and most group classes can help strengthen your trunk.
References
- "Pain-Free Program"; Anthony Carey; 2005
- "Athletic Development"; Vern Gambetta; 2006
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