In a never-ending battle against gravity, the human is at an extreme disadvantage.  With advancement in technology, musculoskeletal disorders and chronic pain are on the rise.  In the United States, 76.2 million or 1 in 4 people, experience chronic pain, which translates into $635 billion in yearly spending (NIH). Of these chronic pain patients, 27% reported back pain, the most common reason for chronic pain, and 15% reported neck pain.  The undeniable truth is that everyone, whether a chronic pain sufferer, a professional athlete, or a stay at home mother, has a posture; and most of them are dysfunctional.  According to the American Medical Association, poor posture is defined as “the chronic disorder that makes all other chronic disorders worse.” Postural Fitness is defined as taking the necessary actions to re-strengthen and remold the postural muscles of the entire body, not just the back, to assist the human body in all environments.  Postural Fitness can impact the daily lives of people who have Pain, Performance, or want to improve their Aesthetic.

The pain market is a vast, unruly sector of healthcare that is always in need of innovation.  The global attention that opiates are receiving is increasing the demand for alternative pain management, without the usage of these drugs.  Todays’ method of evidence-based medicine provides treatment to all individuals, based off the information that has been gathered by a few sample populations.  The demand for Postural Fitness is rising daily.  Bringing the body into neutral alignment is not a new science, but recent science suggests the benefits are far more than we have known in the past.  Properly protecting and aligning the core muscles, including the postural muscles, are a vital component to daily life.  The recent declaration by the American Medical Association that poor posture makes all chronic disorders worse is simply another driving force in the demand for Postural Fitness. Fortunately enough, Postural Fitness is a concept that can be easily understood, practiced, and achieved given the proper tools and education. 

                  In its simplest forms, Postural Fitness is a method in which people train and re-educate their muscles to perform at their most efficient rate.  This means that every athlete in the world can improve their game by simply following the Guidelines of Postural Fitness.  The split-second differences from proper form-to-action versus improper form-to-action may seem irrelevant, but when considering in Professional Baseball the batter has less than 300 milliseconds to decide whether or not they are going to swing the bat.  The fractions of seconds that are regained from having the body in proper alignment can be the deciding factor of whether or not the batter will make contact.  Across all sports, the often split-second decisions that people make are often the deciding factors of win or lose.  In order to gain an advantage, athletes can practice Postural Fitness in their daily lives outside of their performance needs. As an injury prevention method in football, practicing Postural Fitness may have the ability to help lessen the incidence of neck and back injuries in football by ensuring that each player can get into proper form tackling and stay there throughout the play.

As dynamic a market as the health industry is, Aesthetics are in the forefront of elective procedures in the medical field today. Body Language and nonverbal cues are responsible for 93%of human communication.  Only 7% of communication is done through verbal communication. In the Aesthetic market, the need for Postural Fitness goes beyond just your look better feel better mentality.  In order to come off as confident, young, and fruitful, the human body must be in its natural, root form.  Not only is it looked negatively upon for having poor posture, but it also makes the persons brain function differently when in a proper posture.  The neuroreceptors and chemicals in the brain operate on overload when a person is in a poor posture, which contributes to rising rates in fatigue and confidence alike.  The implementation of certain poses such as ‘Power Pose’ and ‘Victory Pose’ are simple and easy ways to help acutely change the way the person thinks.  Introducing the person to proper posture, which allows them to maintain energy levels that would be lost had they been in poor posture, can help reduce the energy out, which allows for improved concentration and productivity.    With the most people carrying excessive loads as well as perpetually performing anterior movements, the need for reversal of that damage is paramount.

Maintaining good posture takes practice. AlignMed keeps your muscles naturally active, teaching your body to hold great posture without ever having to think about it. AlignMed posture shirts are the best way to activate your Postural Fitness.

Also in BLOG