Posture, it turns out, has everything to do with your general health – and millions of us are falling victim to bad ones.
“Shrimp posture” comes from being hunched over at a computer throughout the work day and smartphones are causing a widespread issue known as “tech neck.”
Bad posture can place undue stress on the spine, as well as neck, back and muscle problems.
“For every inch you tilt it forward, the amount of weight it places on your spine nearly doubles,” Cleveland Clinic chiropractor Dr. Andrew Bang said in a statement.
Knowing why your posture is bad can be half of the battle, experts say, and there are some fairly quick fixes to help you sit tall and feel good – but that are better started sooner rather than later.
“The longer we have poor posture, the harder it is to correct,” Brown University Health notes. “But there are ways you can adjust how you sit and stand to achieve all the health benefits of good posture.”
The shrimp posture is a fairly easy one to solve. It typically occurs in people whose mid-back, deep neck flexors and glute muscles are weak, physical therapists told Prevention. Having a desk that’s too high or a monitor that’s too low can contribute to this shape.
The position is characterized by shoulders hunching toward the ears, a tailbone ache, a head leaning toward a screen and tension between the shoulders.
Workers can fight this posture with several exercises. And building muscle is the way to ensure your posture becomes better over time, physical therapist Dr. Sarah Cash Crawford said.
To stop the shoulder hunch, Harvard Medical School recommends sitting up straight and clasping your hands behind your back with palms facing the back. Then liftting the hands up and down, holding in place for ten seconds.
But just putting your arms behind your back helps.
“An easy way to stretch your chest muscles: simply put your arms behind your back, grasp both elbows (or forearms if that’s as far as you can reach) and hold the position,” Harvard advised.
“Tech neck” is a part of the shrimp posture that comes from staring down at your phone. To fight the habit, tuck the chin back toward the spine. That strengthens the front muscles in the front of the neck.
“Chin tucks work the deep cervical flexor muscles that support good posture. This helps counterbalance forward head posture to reduce neck strain with tech neck,” GoodRX physical therapist Kristen Gasnick wrote.
And if you carry a heavy bag daily – particularly on one shoulder or side – this can impact how you walk, Houston Neurosurgery and Spine cautions.
Carrying a smaller, lighter bag is a quick fix, as well as switching shoulders as you carry but so is strengthening and stretching your upper body.
Working on core muscles can help you stand up straight, Dr. Sabrina Strickland, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, told TIME. That means getting down on the ground for Russian twists, planks and sit-ups.
“Having good posture depends on core strength, and having good core strength allows us to have good posture,” she said.
