Are posture correction sticks useful?

For most ordinary people with posture problems, it is not a "posture correction tool" that can be achieved in one step, but it can really help a lot in the entry-level stage if used correctly, but if used incorrectly, it may put a burden on the spine.

I have been a fitness personal trainer for 4 years, specializing in posture adjustment. Last month, I met a girl who was in her junior year. She went to the library every day to write her graduation thesis. Her chest was hunched over for almost half a year, and her shoulders and neck were so sore that sometimes it was difficult to lift her arms to comb her hair. I followed online tutorials and used a correction stick to stand for 15 minutes every day after meals. In the first week, she came to me happily and said that her shoulders were finally open, and she was not as tired after sitting down all day. As a result, in order to get faster results, she would push her shoulders back hard every time she stood for half an hour, and pressed them hard with a stick. After only half a month, her back hurt so much that she couldn't sleep. She went to a rehabilitation department to find out that it was a thoracic facet joint disorder, and it took almost a month for her to recover.

In fact, most of the people who find it useful are novices who have no exercise habits at all before and can't even figure out what "sinking shoulders and lifting chest" actually means. At this time, the corrective stick is like training wheels when you learn to ride a bicycle or a copybook when you learn to write. It is equivalent to adding an external reference object to the body. The head, back, and sacrum are attached to the stick at three points. The position is the state closest to the neutral position of the trunk. It can quickly help you find the strength of the middle back muscles that are rarely used. The trapezius and chest muscles that have been under compensatory tension when holding the chest are stretched, and the soreness and swelling of the strain will naturally be relieved. This immediate sense of comfort will indeed make people feel that it is "effective".

But people who have stepped on it complain that it is useless or even harmful to the body, which is really not an injustice to it. Many people regard it as a "lazy person's tool". They push it behind their back and start watching TV shows and mobile phones. The whole weight of the person is pressed on the stick, and the core and back muscles that should exert force to maintain posture directly "lie flat". As time goes by, the muscle strength becomes weaker and weaker. As soon as they leave the corrective stick, they immediately return to their original shape. Some people even push their shoulders back hard, which forcibly suppresses the normal physiological curvature of the thoracic spine, turning it into a flat back. On the contrary, it is more prone to soreness problems.

I usually help students adjust mild posture problems such as breast enlargement and rounded shoulders. In the first week, I will only let them occasionally use the correction stick to find the feeling. Each time can last up to 10 minutes. The requirement is that the stick should be gently pressed against three points. They must rely entirely on their own muscle power to maintain their posture and find their hair. Throw it away as soon as you feel the strength, and turn to dynamic strength training such as YW stretching and seated rowing. After all, only muscles have formed memory, and good posture can be maintained in daily scenes such as walking and working. You can't carry a stick everywhere you go for the rest of your life, right?

By the way, if you have obvious high and low shoulders, scoliosis, or already have symptoms of shoulder and back pain, don’t just buy them and practice on your own. See a rehabilitation practitioner or orthopedic surgeon to evaluate the problem first. If it’s not symptomatic, no matter how good the tool is, it will only help.