Think you have bad posture?  Take this simple test and let us know if you need any help.

Posture Self Test

1) Stand against the wall with your feet shoulder width apart and heels about 6 inches from the base board.

Make sure that your tailbone and shoulder blades are touching the wall

Measure the distance between the back of your head and the wall with your fingers

If you have good posture, your ears will be vertically in line with your shoulders and your head will be no more than three finger widths from the wall.

Now, start again.

2) Stand against the wall with your feet shoulder width apart and heels about 6 inches from the base board.

This time, make sure that first your head and then your tailbone is against the wall.

If you are forcefully arching your low back to get into this position or your low back is more than 1-2 inches from the wall at its farthest point, your posture needs some work.

Additionally,

3) Stand or sit in your normal posture, drop your arms to your sides with hands open, palms facing your body and thumbs facing forward.

Now raise your arms in an arc, in front of you until your thumbs are pointing upward and then, keep going (as your thumbs point backwards and hands are over your head) until you can go no further, or your shoulders hurt.

If your arms are straight (elbows locked) and your hands are in front of your shoulders, your upper back or shoulders are too stiff.

This can lead to forward rounding of the shoulders and hunch back posture.

Try this,

4) Sit or stand again in normal posture and turn your head to one side paying attention to how far you turn, repeat on the other side.

If you were able to turn farther to one side, your posture may be affecting the function of your neck.

This can lead to neck pain and headache. More importantly, your ability to turn your neck while driving may be compromised.

If you are extra motivated try this,

5) Take a soft tape measure and wrap it tight around your chest; across your shoulder blades in back and at the level of your breast bone in front.

Expel all of your air and measure.

Now breathe as deeply as possible and measure again.

Your chest expansion is the difference the second and first measurements.

In men chest expansion should be roughly two inches and in women, one inch.

If your chest is not expanding fully, you are not inflating your lungs as much as you could be. This means less air (and less oxygen) in and out with each breath.

Chronically rounded shoulders and a stiff upper back may be the cause of limited chest expansion.
 

Source: Cailliet, R., & Gross, L. (1988). The Rejuvenation Strategy. New York: Pocket Books.