Posture and Lung Function

Our last post talked about the lungs and how to keep them healthy during this COVID-19 crisis.  The lungs are dependent on being able to expand to keep healthy and deep breathing is one of the ways to assist in that function.  Beyond that, our posture relates directly to our lung function as either assisting to confining our lungs’ ability to expand.  Today’s society has us in front of computers, mobile phones, and screens more than ever and most of the time these postures are counter-productive to keeping our lungs open and allowing our chest to expand.

A quick anatomy lesson on how the lungs operate.  The main muscle that controls breathing is the diaphragm muscle which is a dome shaped muscle located at the underside of the lungs.  As it contracts it pushes downward and causes the lungs to expand in the chest cavity.  Here is a short video to see this in action.  The diaphragm is the main muscle for respiration (breathing), but there are many other muscles that assist in this function such as the intercostal muscles between the ribs which help to elevate the rib cage during inspiration and the sternocleidomastoid which helps to elevate the clavicle.  These muscles located around the neck, back, and chest are called secondary or accessory muscles and are generally only used when respiration becomes impaired. More information can be found here

While sitting in front of a computer, tablet, or even reading a book we have a tendency to assume a posture similar to this one:

Not only is this posture bad for our backs and necks, but it also impairs lung function.  In this position the ribs are unable to expand due to the hunched forward posture, and the diaphragm is unable to perform its function properly .  As such, this compromises our lung function and doesn’t allow us to keep the lungs healthy.  

One of the quickest ways we can improve our lung function to help to keep our lungs healthy and fight the effects of COVID-19 is by addressing our posture.  Our chest and ribs expand as we breathe in allowing our lungs to take in air.  By changing our posture from the previous picture to a more upright posture (down below) is a quick way to improve your overall lung function almost immediately.

Sitting is not the only position that can compromise our lung function due to a slouching posture.  Standing postures are just as susceptible to slouching as we are in sitting and both can diminish overall lung function.  This article summarizes correct sitting and standing postures.

Here are a few links to scientific journal articles should you like to know more about the research.