Why is good posture important? 為什么姿勢正確很重要？

When it comes to posture, your mother did know best. Her frequent reminders to stand up straight and stop slouching were good advice.

一提起身體姿勢，媽媽總是知道得最多，她不厭其煩地提醒你要站直、別懶懶散散的，而這些都是正確的建議。

Your spine is strong and stable when you practice healthy posture. But when you stoop or slouch, your muscles and ligaments struggle to keep you balanced — which can lead to fatigue, back pain, headaches and other problems.

在健康的姿勢下，你的脊柱強健而穩固，但當你彎腰駝背或懶散而坐時，肌肉和韌帶就不得不努力保持身體平衡——進而導致疲勞、后背疼痛、頭痛和其他問題。

Your spine's curves脊柱的生理彎曲

A healthy back has three natural curves: 健康的后背有三個生理彎曲：

An inward or forward curve at the neck (cervical curve) 頸部向內或向前的彎曲（頸曲）

An outward or backward curve at the upper back (thoracic curve) 后背上部向外或向后的彎曲（胸曲）

An inward curve at the lower back (lumbar curve) 后背下部向內的彎曲（腰曲）

Good posture helps maintain these natural curves, while poor posture does the opposite — which can stress or pull muscles and cause pain.

正確的姿勢有助于保持這些生理彎曲，而錯誤的姿勢則相反——其將壓迫或拉伸肌肉并引起疼痛。

Good standing posture 正確的站姿

When standing, keep these tips in mind: 在站立時，記住以下幾點：

Hold your chest high. 挺起胸部。

Keep your shoulders back and relaxed. 保持雙肩向后并放松。

Pull in your abdomen and buttocks. 收腹提臀。

Keep your feet parallel. 保持雙腳平行。

Balance your weight evenly on both feet. 雙腳均勻承重。

Try not to tilt your head forward, backward or sideways, and make sure your knees are relaxed — not locked.

盡量不要讓頭部向前、向后或向兩側傾斜，同時膝蓋不要用力，保持放松狀態。

Take the wall test 做墻壁測試（做靠墻測試）

To test your standing posture, take the wall test. Stand with your head, shoulder blades and buttocks touching a wall, and your heels about two to four inches (five to 10 centimeters) away from the wall. Reach back and slide your hand behind the curve in your lower back, with your palm flat against the wall.

用墻壁測試來看看你的站姿是否正確。站立時，將你的頭部、肩胛骨和臀部緊貼墻壁，而腳踝距離墻壁2-4英寸（5-10厘米），雙手向后，沿后背下部的彎曲處滑下，并保持手掌平貼墻面。

Ideally, you'll feel about one hand's thickness of space between your back and the wall. If there's too much space, tighten your abdominal muscles to flatten the curve in your back. If there's too little space, arch your back so that your hand fits comfortably behind you. Walk away from the wall while maintaining this posture. Keep it up throughout your daily activities.

理想情況下，在后背和墻壁之間，你能感覺到有一只手厚度的空隙。如果空隙過大，收緊腹肌使后背的曲線變平。如果空隙太小，挺起后背使后部的空間能夠容納一只手。保持這樣的姿勢離開墻壁，在日常活動中也要保持該姿勢。