Posture isn’t just about standing up straight, there’s a lot more to it than that.

You didn’t have to be Sir Isaac Newton to first coin the phrase, “what goes up must come down”. Sounds logical enough, and whoever has thrown pretty much anything into the air, will have proof of this truth. The same description may be given of human movement, or more precisely, what goes forwards must go backwards and what goes left must go right.

Most of our skeletal joints have one or more pairs of muscles crossing them. If a muscle exists to extend a finger, then an opposite muscle must also exist to curl or “flex” it back again. It’s like the man in the old MTV adverts who plays the funky tattoo-covered rockstar and the briefcase-peddling, tie-wearing anti-rock star; perfect opposites.

Muscles work in pairs, and this is known as the agonistic/ antagonistic relationship. As the agonist flexes, pulls on a bone, and produces movement, the antagonist must relax to facilitate that movement. If the antagonist does not relax, then the two muscles will essentially be fighting against each other, restricting movement. It is for this very reason athletes are told by their coaches to relax while performing powerful athletic movements, because tense muscles restrict movement. Only the working muscles should be flexing and nothing else.

When we think about muscles working in pairs, however, we need not consider solely their interaction during movement. The muscle pairs have an impact on our body all the time, even standing around or at rest. They contribute greatly towards our posture and the way the body ultimately looks. It is easy to think that increasing or decreasing muscle or fat are the only noticeable and dramatic changes in the body we can facilitate through exercise, but posture is a pretty important component of the appearance of our bodies too, and it can be improved with exercise.

We all have an innate under­standing of what good posture is. People with good posture tend to look healthy and confident; they stand tall. People with bad posture, by comparison, tend to appear weak and lethargic. But posture isn’t just about standing up straight, there’s a lot more to it than that. Good posture may be defined as the ideal alignment of various joints and body parts for good health, and this includes all of the major joints of the body, not just the back.

The muscle pairs have an impact on our body all the time, even standing around or at rest

The major joints should all be sitting in the right place, otherwise we get misalignment. Misalignment usually in turn places undue pressure or strain on other body parts, muscles or tissues which should not ordinarily be subjected to such strains. When one part of the body then becomes injured or inflamed, the rest of the surrounding joints and muscles tend to attempt to compensate for the inefficient movement or body positions that result from the anomaly. In this way, the injuries or problems may spread to other parts of the body. Before you know it you could be suffering terrible back or neck pain, shoulder or knee pain, from something you never would have guessed could be related. For example, a misalignment of the feet could eventually manifest itself as problems in the hip or lower back, and you might be surprised how effective a little pair of insoles could be in curing your lower back pain.

So how do we correct such issues before they become problems? Our muscle pairings need to act around their associated joints in an optimal way. The easiest variables we can control in the agonistic /antagonistic relationship of muscles is strength and flexibility. Through a simple resistance training programme we know that we can strengthen various muscles of the body. Through flexibility training or, simply put, stretching, we also know we can improve the flexibility of various muscle groups. Muscles around a joint may be either weak or tight, leading to an undesirable effect on the associated joint. The good news is that if muscles are weak, we can strengthen them with resistance training, and if they are tight, we can loosen them with stretching.

A strategically planned pro­gramme therefore can serve to correct many postural problems, but even if it isn’t specifically or stra­tegically planned, a general and balanced strengthening and stretching routine will always im­prove your posture, whoever you are. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Have you ever felt your shoulders stooped too far forwards? This is known as rounded shoulders and could result from tight chest muscles and weak upper back muscles. A resistance training programme for you therefore might include exercises for the upper back muscles, combined with a stretching routine for the chest.

You might find that your posture will improve in a relatively short amount of time employing such a strategy.

The same principle can be seen at play aound the hips and back. Do you have a “beer-belly” appearance combined with an exaggerated curve of your lower back? This is a very common issue and is known as “lumbar lordosis”, which results in a forward tilting of the pelvis.

When this happens, it is fair to assume the abdominal muscle are weak and the lower back muscles are tight. Also, the hip flexors could also be tight, in concert with weak hamstrings. A simple strategy to improve this posture would therefore consist of abdominal and hamstring strengthening exercises, combined with stretching for the lower back and hip flexors.

So if you are unhappy with your current posture, start resistance training and stretch­ing, or speak to an experienced and qualified trainer for more detailed advice.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt