Do Corsets Help with Posture?

Bad posture seems to be the hallmark of modern man.  If you’ve ever seen a basic chart of human evolution, one that starts with an ape walking on all fours and morphs into a modern-day hominid standing upright, you might think we’re starting to regress, what with so many people bent with poor posture.

Blame it on computer culture, if you like, which causes us to hunch over a keyboard all day, or smart phones and tablets that we bend our necks to look at whenever a notification pops up (at approximately 2-second intervals).  You could blame it on looser, more casual clothing, relaxed attitudes, or simple laziness.

Whatever the reasons, modern humans do not seem inclined to maintain an erect posture, and the result, aside from a feeble appearance, could be increasing back pain.  Our spines were designed for upright posture, and when we slouch, we can easily add pressure and knock them out of alignment.

While you could walk around with a book on your head or practice mindfulness when it comes to your posture, there is an easier way to improve your upright appearance.  Do corsets help with posture?  They certainly can.  Here’s what you should know if you’re interested in using this supportive garment to make you stand a little taller.

Straighten Up

You’ll find, when you tighten your corset, that it becomes virtually impossible to bend at the waist.  In order to provide the waist slimming benefits you crave, corseting must be rigid, and this is made possible by steel boning placed in channels in the garment and spaced to ensure a stiff and unyielding structure.

Depending on the corset you choose, you should still be able to bend at the hips (it could be more difficult with longline corsets), but the area your corset covers will not bend, even in a tiny waspie that’s virtually confined to within just a few inches of your waist line.  If you’re seeking the benefits of better overall posture, however, more coverage is key.

Consider a basic back brace.  This medical device may only have a small band that wraps around the waist, but the back portion tends to provide more coverage, helping to align your spine in order to improve posture and treat back pain or more serious concerns like herniated discs, for example.

The same principle applies to a corset.  If you’re only interested in waist training, a waspie will do the job just as well as an overbust corset, for all intents and purposes.  If you want to correct your posture, compressing a larger portion of your spine will deliver better results.  Whether you’re seated or standing, hunching won’t be an option when you wear the right corset.

A Rigid Regimen

Bad habits are hard to break, so chances are good you’ll go back to slouching as soon as your corset is off.  So, how do corsets help with posture long-term?  You need to wear them regularly.

Anyone interested in waist training will find that they not only have to don a corset daily to engineer incremental improvements to the size of their waist over time, but they have to wear this compression garment for the bulk of each day.  You will start slow with just a couple hours of wear a day, but many serious waist trainers even wear their corsets to bed, taking them off for just a couple of hours a day to bathe and groom.

If you want to see long-term improvements to posture, wearing a corset throughout the day is ideal.  In time, you’ll start to notice that you stand more erect even without your corset, but this won’t happen overnight.  Stick to a regimen of regular wear, however, and you will see lasting improvement to your posture, and very likely, lower back pain.

Other Helpful Resources

• Waist Trainer for Posture: How a Corset Can Improve Your Posture
• Corset For Back Pain? It Just Might Help With Posture, Too!
• Are Corsets Painful to Wear?
• Wearing a Waist Trainer For a Week: What to Expect?

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