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  • Welcyon

They Were Right!

I'm not sure from whom you heard it first: your mother, your grandmother, your grade school teacher, or maybe all of them. “Sit up straight! Don't slouch!”

Now, an occasional slouch is just fine. What they were hoping to prevent is the habit of slouching, which could lead to bad posture. And, it turns out they were right.

Gravity is a never-ending challenge. It's constantly pulling us down, and when we give way, heads jut out, shoulders cup forward, lower backs flatten, hips flex, and so on. The more time spent in this position, the more our bodies begin to permanently take that shape. Unfortunately, poor posture doesn't just affect how tall we appear, it leads to many unfortunate consequences. Here are just a few:

1. Research shows that those who have poor posture have a greater risk of falling. A primary reason is because the center of body mass shifts forward; more weight on the front of the body, more force to pull one down. Tight hips can also slow walking speed and prevent one from responding to rapid leg movements when attempting to prevent a fall.

2. Cupping of the shoulders causes the shoulder blades to shift forward and rotate down. The top of the shoulder blade then directly blocks the humerus (upper arm bone) when one tries to reach overhead. This can lead to, or worsen, shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, bursitis, and other shoulder problems.

3. A forward head position makes it more difficult to eat, speak, drink, and swallow. The structures and muscles of the neck work best when the head is positioned over the trunk. Long-standing poor posture can result in food entering the lungs, resulting in pneumonia.

Fortunately, the Welcyon exercise protocols are designed to address these problems. The Flexibility Station is a gravity fighter; each exercise stretches one or more of these tight body parts. The strength exercises target anti-gravity muscles to provide you with more strength to stand and sit taller, reducing your risk of succumbing to slouching-related consequences like those above.