Stop obsessing over posture

Have you ever had a coach or physio tell you that your 'x' body part is sore because your posture is bad? Or because you're moving dysfunctionally? Or because a part of your body is 'out of alignment' ?

With how confidently people make this statements, you would be forgiven for believing there is significant evidence to support them. Turns out, there really is not. There is no scientifically validated measure of good posture or functional movement. In fact there is very little correlation between any specific posture and pain, which is a highly complex area with far more inputs than simply how you sit in a chair.

Human beings are not symmetrical, and we are not designed to be. We have different organs on one side of the body. Most of us have one dominant eye and hand. Many of us have one arm or leg slightly longer than the other. High performers across sports have significant asymmetries in their posture and their movement.

So why does everyone seem to think we need 'good' posture and symmetry? Probably because it sounds good, and because people of higher authority than us have been saying it for so long. Additionally you can have a great experience working with a coach who believes this, simply because you finally started some healthier habits.

When you start to look for support for the specific posture ideas, it's nowhere to be seen. What you will find instead, is an awful lot of people moving and getting strong with various different movement strategies.