Stand Up Straight (and Why it Matters)
Lessons on Being Human
As both a strength coach and philosopher (of sorts), I’ve thought much on the idea of standing up straight. As a teenager, I often slouched, and people would tell me to “stand up straight” quite frequently. Obviously, I understood the physical benefits, but there was an even more fundamental idea underlying this. Jordan Peterson has popularized this already well-known phrase while explaining in great depth why standing up straight is not as prominent of an endeavor as many would think. Of course, Peterson draws on work from Mircea Eliade, his own vast experience in clinical psychology, and many other sources, and I’d like to compliment this idea with both a strength training and philosophical perspective.
The Physical Benefits
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the physical benefits of good posture to set the scene. Essentially, good posture — standing up straight while keeping your shoulders back and down — actually reduces physical pain over time. The human body is resilient and can withstand some slouching, but if you do this too much, you will feel physical discomfort from it. Have you ever had a day where you’ve spent a significant amount of time staring down at your cellphone? How did your neck feel?
