Does bad posture cause back pain…some studies are starting to show…no, it actually doesn’t.
And here’s the Cliffs Notes version of “why”
Tissues adapt to stresses over time - In the same way your muscles get bigger the more you lift at the gym, your ligaments, joints & tendons will change and adapt to take on stress created by certain postures.
Tissue damage does not equal pain - If you were to chuck anyone over the age of 30 into an MRI you would have a VERY strong chance of finding some kind of significant damage, even in places without pain. Pain is complex & tissue damage is only one contributor to pain.
Different People are different - So, “bad” posture doesn’t always correlate with pain, because everyone has a unique structure. If you were to take 100 skeletons from 100 different people you would see big differences in the shape of the bones & spinal curves. Theses differences will to some extent tell the body the most comfortable way to sit/stand & move/ So, what’s “dysfunctional;” for one person might be nice & comfy for another person **typed as I’m hunched over a laptop comfortably on the floor**
So, because of these differences, comparing yourself and posture to some perfect model and trying to make corrections is super problematic.
Sooooo what do you do instead of posture you’re wondering, right???
Ensure you have good alignment when some sort of force is involved. During stationary standing or sitting, the stresses on your joints will be pretty small. Your body has years and years of experience to theses exact stresses thousands of times a day and is well adapted to them.
But on the flip side, during any sort of exercise, for example a heavy deadlift, the stress will be a lot greater and your body has less opportunity to quickly adapt to this. So your postural alignment matters greatly in that particular instance. Just the same as a jump/landing, sprint/quick directional change.
Next you want to change up your posture every once in a while. So don’t beat yourself up f you look like Quasimodo when you’re in from of your computer. Getting up and moving around a few times an hour will be better for you in the long run than stressing over keeping your shoulders back all the live long day.
Throw your good posture all the time thought process out the window, instead, stay comfortable, keep moving, and use alignment/form during strenuous movements.