But I didn’t really feel like that change translated into postural changes during specific movements; While looking in the mirror during a Pilates class, I still had to actively think about pulling my shoulders back during standing movements like lunges and squats. And the more she wore the bra, the less powerful that initial feeling became. Over the course of an 18-mile run, for example, I was still hunching my shoulders like I do when wearing a traditional sports bra.
As for the tights, I didn’t feel any difference from my standard compression stockings. Forme says its patented 3D Waist Alignment technology engages muscle memory in your core, glutes, and spine to improve your alignment, stability, and mobility. But the only difference I really felt was that the high waist digged a bit uncomfortably into my abdomen when I moved.
After using both products through multiple workouts over the course of two weeks, and a surprisingly super-comfortable 11-hour flight to Japan, I have to say I’m skeptical of their benefits for posture. FWIW, the brand recommends wearing their clothing for four to six hours throughout the day for four to six months to improve posture, so I can’t say for sure that following this to the letter wouldn’t have led to more results. dramatic.
However, it made me wonder: Ought Have I felt a bigger change? I connected with certified runner and physical therapist Victoria Sekely, DPT, CSCS, for information.
When I told him about my experience, he was not surprised. “Saying that there is a perfect posture is not true,” Dr. Sekely tells SELF. And looking for that probably won’t bring the benefit of pain or injury that you may think.
It turns out that the emphasis on “good posture” is more of an old-school way of thinking that’s no longer supported by research, she says. Instead of having to correct bad posture, which has basically become synonymous with slouching, what her body really craves is a change.
“Putting yourself in a different position, like putting on this bra, will immediately make you feel better,” says Dr. Sekely. “But it is not because the position is betterit is because the position is different.”
Any position, whether curled up over your cell phone or sitting up straight at your desk, can be painful if you stay in it long enough. “Your best pose,” she adds, “is your next pose.” The name of the game, then, is to take movement breaks so your body gets used to changing positions.
In fact, that 2021 study in the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics stated that “the PMSS is not intended to be a therapeutic device to correct postural abnormalities or a long-term solution to less than ideal posture.” Rather, the study authors wrote, it should be viewed as a instant posture corrector or, essentially, girdles. And by looking at other related literature, the researchers determined that there is no real evidence to support posture corrective shirts as a pain relief tool, according to a 2019 review published in the journal scandinavian journal of pain.
