Muscle imbalances in older adults: improving posture and decreasing pain by Phil Page

The word posture automatically makes us sit up straight. We remember being told as children to mind our posture—keep the shoulders down, back erect, head lifted and stomach pulled in. Most of us didn’t know at the time that posture affects our health.

Good posture is associated with proper skeletal alignment (Kendall et al., 2005). Our bones must be aligned correctly for our muscles, joints, ligaments, nerves and internal organs to function well. Unfortunately, human posture changes throughout the life span—most times worsening with age.