What causes bad posture?

“A lot of the reason our posture goes wrong is because we’re not strong enough through our posterior chain, which is the back side of the body,” says personal trainer Tess Glynne-Jones. That’s because we spend a lot of time at desks where our back muscles are lengthened and the front side is shortened, so we have a rounded shoulder position. “When you’re on the tube, at home, at work, we never stand up. We don’t need to hold ourselves up in the same way that we used to so our muscles are weaker than is ideal.”

Personal trainer Caroline Bragg agrees that our lifestyle could be to blame. “Weakness can cause poor posture as the muscles can’t properly support the skeleton. For example, if your shoulders slump over at your desk, you’ll shorten your chest muscles, which will in turn make it even harder to keep your shoulders back.”

Can strength training improve posture? Why muscle weakness could be the cause of your hunched shoulders