Stop Slouching Shoulders: It Causes Poor Health

Man slouching while sitting in front of the PC Slouching shoulders, while seemingly relaxing, leads to stress and tension in various muscles. Most of all, it causes chest breathing since the diaphragm becomes immobile. During quiet breathing at rest we need the diaphragm to do the main work of breathing (up to about 90%, as many medical textbooks suggest). Hence, slouching shoulders immediately causes chest breathing with the reversal of roles: up to 90% of respiratory movements will be done by costal muscles.

What are the effects of chest breathing? Since the diaphragm provides nearly maximum oxygenation of the arterial blood, slouching leads to reduces blood oxygen levels. It also stops lymphatic drainage of the lymph nodes from all organs located under the diaphragm. This is another vital function of the diaphragm. Most of all, slouching shoulders make breathing deeper and faster leading to chronic hyperventilation that causes low body oxygen content, poor body oxygen test results and ... more slouching. Why?

Relationships between body oxygen level and chances of slouching

Body Oxygen Level	Minute Ventilation*	Chance of slouching
Less than 20 s	Over 12 L/min	Likely
20-30 s	9-12 L/min	Possible
30-40 s	6-9 L/min	Almost impossible
>40 s	<6 L/min	Virtually impossible

* Minute ventilation for a 70-kg person at rest

Doctors smiling Clinical experience of Russian doctors show that while diaphragmatic 500 ml), slouching intensifies breathing causing lack of CO2 in the lungs and arterial blood. Since CO2 is a potent vasodilator and required for the Bohr effect, poor posture immediately reduces cells oxygen content. This promotes any chronic disease since they are based on tissue hypoxia. It is normal then that some people can experience chest pain, angina pain, exacerbations of digestive problems, heart palpitations and arrhythmias due to slouching. Hence, they should stop slouching shoulders.

Older man sits slouching on hospital bed Since less than 10% of modern people have normal breathing parameters and over 40 s for the body oxygen test, it is not a surprise that most modern people have poor posture and slouching shoulders is a norm in public schools, universities, libraries, and other places. However, if you watch old movies and investigate old pictures and photos, you can notice that they had a good posture with no slouching.

Furthermore, the problem is even worse in the sick, since their heavy breathing makes muscles even more tense and oxygen deficient. As a result, the sicker the person, the stronger the slouching. To stop slouching shoulders is easy with breathing retraining since at higher body oxygen levels, correct posture becomes normal naturally.

Generally, people stop slouching when they get over 40 s for their morning CP. However, when a person with about 25-30 s has a poor posture, his breathing gets worse and the CP drops.

Conclusions. In order to stop slouching, one should learn the diaphragmatic breathing and gradually change their unconscious breathing pattern. For more detail, visit the Section Learn with free modules related to healthy lifestyle factors, simple techniques, and breathing exercises.

Resources
Chest Breathing Problems, tests and solutions
Learn Diaphragmatic Breathing: Module 8 of the Learning Section

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

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* Illustrations by Victor Lunn-Rockliffe

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