Does Posture Matter?

by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS

This is sort of an age old question for healthcare providers.  Does posture really matter?  Some people have “horrible” posture, but never have a pain or problem.  Others look much better, but feel like crap all of the time.  If we assume that posture does matter, how do we define it?  There are a ton of variables with body styles, limb length, movement patterns and so on.

My answer at this point if asked about posture is that there isn’t necessarily a “normal” posture, but there is a basic framework of what it should fall within.  I love what my good friend Mike Stella, ATC says about posture when he says “where you start does affect where you finish”.

What this means is that posture isn’t everything, but it does matter to a certain point.  I don’t necessarily have to pick apart every component of shoulder, spine, hip, knee or other joint position.  If they pass the eye test of looking fairly normal and they function well without pain, then I don’t think it is that important to fix it.

However, if they don’t move well or have pain, we have to address it.  Having a centrated and well positioned joint will affect how you move.  If you start in a bad position, it will absolutely affect how you finish.  If the shoulder is rotated forward with poor scapular stability, a throwing athlete will perform poorly and have pain.  If the foot is sloppy and pronated, the knee will tend to fall into valgus and experience injuries.  And the examples can go on and on.

There are a lot of different technology options for helping you find “perfect” posture (and I love most of them for the record), but for most of people, it is a matter of the “eye test.”  If they look decent according to the eye test and they aren’t in pain or having poor movement patterns, then I’m not sure it is worth messing to much with.  If they don’t fall within a normal framework, have pain or decreased performance, it is time to get to work to centrate a joint and find a more normal postural position.