HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE - 5 EASY WAYS!

A poor posture can lead to many short term and long term issues including spine misalignment, pain along your neck, shoulder and back, headaches, and an increase risk of osteoarthritis. Spending a lot of time sitting down and looking at your books or using your laptop/computer during the HSC and high school can certainly make it easier for you to develop a bad posture. Thus, during this time, it is important that you keep vigilant of your posture or you might regret not doing so in the future. Below are a few things you could do when you are studying that may help you maintain a better posture!

Keep your ears in line with your shoulders!

If you constantly lean forwards or downwards to look at things, this one may be for you. By constantly checking that your ears are in line with your shoulders, you're able to make sure your spine is still in its correct position.

Don't slide down your chair!

It is important to sit on a chair that provides good lumbar support as this can help you maintain a good posture and avoid long term back issues. Additionally, try not to slump on slide down your chair when you are sitting as this is terrible for your posture too. If you find you are always doing this, a lumbar support cushion may help prevent this from happening.

Get up and move!

No matter how amazing your posture may be when you sit, sitting down for very long periods of time is never good. Your blood flow will slow down, and over long periods of time, your muscles and bones may become weaker due to inactivity. It is important to have breaks when you study, and you should use them wisely by walking around or doing a few stretches rather than just going on Facebook!

Open your shoulders everybody! Adjust your keyboard and monitor distance!

Pull back those shoulder blades! Open your chests! Drawing back your shoulders will prevent you from getting rounded shoulders. It is important that your monitor, keyboard and mouse aren't so far away that you have to roll in your shoulders in order to use them or look at something on your screen.  On the other hand, if your computer screen is too close, it can strain your eyes and cause headaches. As a general guide, it should be around an arm's length away.

Make sure your monitor height is perfect too!

Make sure your monitor is aligned with your eyes and that you don't have to tilt your neck or move your body in order to look at your computer screen, as this can result in poor posture and even neck, back or shoulder pain. If you're using a laptop and thus, find it hard to adjust the laptop's screen's height, you can try using a laptop stand and a separately connected keyboard and mouse.

Jack Zheng | N° 35