坐直！改善你不良坐姿的小貼士

As a freelance writer, I do most of my work wearing cotton Old Navy pants, slumped down in a squishy arm chair with a computer on my lap. I also spend a small fortune on massages trying to work the increasingly annoying kinks out of my shoulders and upper back. Coincidence? Nope. The more time we spend sitting in front of our computers, the worse our posture gets. Modern technology is turning us into literally twisted creatures.

In addition to being detrimental to how your body functions, bad posture isn’t cute. It causes you to jut your hips forward, slump your shoulders, and even breathe inefficiently, according to Pat Davidson, a trainer with a PhD in Exercise Physiology who is the Director of Training Methodology and Continuing Education Coordinator at Peak Performance in NYC. I went to see him for a painstakingly objective and honest assessment of my posture.

Davidson explained that bad posture compromises your diaphragm, the big muscle right below the ribs that helps you take deep breaths. So instead, you start using other muscles, like your shoulders, to help you breathe. I found out that I’m guilty of shoulder breathing, which is likely contributing to some of my upper back fatigue and discomfort. I also learned that I “walk with my lower back.” Turns out, people with lousy posture don’t walk correctly, and they count on their lower back muscles to help propel themselves forward. (An adulthood devoted to high heels probably hasn’t helped my walking problem either.)

Aubin Sullivan, a physical therapist and the Clinical Director of Cynergy Physical Therapy in New York City, sees a lot of women like me in her practice. Here are a few quick fixes she recommends for correcting your slump:

• If you sit at a desk all day, don’t perch on the edge of your seat at work trying to sit up straight. The best thing you can do is scoot your hips and butt against the back of the chair, and use it for support—that’s what it’s there for. “You have to support your spine. Your muscles are going to get tired, they will fatigue and you’ll slowly start slumping down,” Sullivan says.

• Get up frequently and walk around. (I wear a Jawbone fitness tracker that vibrates when it senses that I haven’t moved in a long time. I also sometimes set my phone alarm to go off every 30 minutes, and I do jumping jacks. Sometimes.)

• If you carry a heavy shoulder bag, make sure to carry it on both your right and left shoulder, switching off as each gets tired. Even better: wear a cross-body bag so that the weight’s more evenly distributed.

• Work out your core. Never mind a six-pack—you need to concentrate on the transverse abdominus, the deep abdominal muscle that acts as a “corset” around the lumbar spine, according to Sullivan. To do this: lay on your back with your knees bent, put your hands on your hips, breathe normally, and pull your belly button straight down to your spine. You don’t want your pelvis to tilt or lift, which is why you have your hands on your pelvis. Hold it for 5 seconds and repeat. “Once you get it, you can do it all the time, just sitting at work and it becomes a habit,” Sullivan says.

• You can work on your posture in a more hard-core way at the gym, too. Davidson told me to try backwards jump-roping. “If the rope hits you, you have the wrong posture,” he says. He also recommends hula hooping. (Fun!)

• Sullivan recommends focusing on the upper back and shoulder muscles. One of her favorite exercises is having clients stand up against a wall, with their hips touching the wall. Put a tennis ball between your shoulder blades and try to squeeze the ball. Rows are also excellent for improving posture, since it causes you to pull your shoulders up and back.

Now stop reading this article and go for a walk.身爲一個自由作家，我大部分工作都是這樣完成的：穿着一條舊的棉質海軍褲，蜷坐在一張軟綿綿的椅子上，把電腦放在膝蓋上。我還花了一小筆錢買了個按摩器，希望能緩解我肩膀和上背部的疼痛。巧合嗎？纔不是！我們在電腦前待的時間越久，我們的坐姿就會越差。現代科技正將我們變成“畸形生物”。

除了對人的身體機能有害之外，不良坐姿還會對你的身材造成影響。帕特·戴維森（Pat Davidson），是一名運動心理學的博士。同時還是瑞典戶外運動品牌Peak Performance紐約市健身教育協調部主任。他表示不良的坐姿會使你的胯部突出，肩膀下垂，甚至會導致呼吸不順暢。我找到他，希望他能費心對我的姿勢做個客觀實在的評判。

戴維森說道，不良坐姿會對隔膜造成一定傷害。隔膜位於肋骨正下方，在它的幫助下我們才能夠深呼吸。因此，用不良坐姿坐着時，身體會調動像肩膀等地方的肌肉來幫助呼吸。由此，我發現正是我自己造成了自身上背部的疲勞和不適。我還得知，我“靠下背部走路”。事實證明，坐姿不正確的人通常走路姿勢也不正確。他們通常依靠下背部的肌肉支撐，推着身體向前走（成年後常穿高跟鞋這一事實或許也導致了我走路姿勢的問題）。

理療學家、紐約賽諾秀理療中心的臨牀主任奧賓·沙利文（Aubin Sullivan），在臨牀實驗中，見過很多情況跟我相似的女性。在這裏，她提供了幾條建議，可以快速幫你矯正姿勢。

1、如果你要在桌子旁呆一整天，工作時別坐在椅子的邊緣，要儘量坐直。最好的方法是臀部貼着椅背而坐，用椅背撐住你的腰——這正是它之所以在那裏的原因。“你得利用椅子來撐着你的脊柱。肌肉可能有點酸，有點累，而你也會慢慢地放鬆，背又駝了起來。”沙利文說道。

2、多起來到處走走。（我手上帶了個Jawbone的健身追蹤器。當儀器感知到你長時間沒有運動的話，就會震動提醒。通常，我會設置以30分鐘爲間隔的鬧鈴，提醒自己做些跳躍運動，不過只是“有時”而已。）

3、如果揹包很重，確保兩邊肩膀都要用到。一邊肩膀累了，就換另一邊背。更好的方法是背斜挎包，這樣揹包的重量會分佈的更均勻。

4、鍛鍊核心肌肉。沙利文表示，別再糾結六塊腹肌了，要多注重腹橫肌的訓練。腹橫肌是深層腹肌，做一下幾個動作：平躺，膝蓋彎曲，把上放在屁股上，正常呼吸。然後吸氣，讓肚臍慢慢貼近脊椎。把手放在骨盆上是爲了防止骨盆的傾斜或者擡升。堅持5秒後，再重複這個動作。沙利文說：“學會這個動作後你可以經常做，就像坐着工作一樣。慢慢地，你會逐漸成爲習慣。

5、你還可以在健身時多練習核心肌肉。戴維森建議我向後跳繩。他說：“如果繩子打到你了，則說明你的姿勢有問題。”他還建議可以轉呼啦圈。（真有趣！）

6、沙利文建議要加強對背部肌肉和肩膀肌肉的訓練。她最喜歡的訓練就是讓學員貼牆站立，並且臀部要觸到牆面。還將一個網球放在肩胛骨處，然後學員得努力地擠壓那個球。划船也能夠很好的改善姿勢，因爲划船使肩膀得以前後拉伸。

好了，文章讀完了，快出去走走吧！