(Pokémon Go’ Surged by Building Community, Wall Street Journal 7/25/16, Photo: Tolga Akmen/Zuma Press)

People are chasing Pokémon everywhere, with the beneficial side effect of becoming more active. On the other hand, players of Pokémon Go are stumbling into real-world people and objects, and have been involved in injuries ranging from traffic accidents to falling off a cliff!

However, the larger health risk for most people is Pokémon Posture. Walking while obsessing over capturing virtual monsters adds to the real world problems familiar to frequent texters, computer users and others suffering from tech-neck.

When the people walking towards you see the top of your head instead of your eyes, you have Pokémon posture.

Walking while facing down and focused on the game trains muscles to push your head forward and roll in your shoulders which folds your body into a “C”. The postural problem is aggravated because your arms are made to swing when you walk, but Pokémon posture locks the arms to throw Pokeballs, and folds the chest towards the pelvis.

A huge benefit of walking is exercising the diaphragm and other muscles you use to breathe deeply. But by collapsing your torso onto your pelvis Pokemon posture makes it harder to take a deep breath, and adds to the muscle imbalances that cause neck and back pain.

The Solution: Connect with your real-world body with attentional focus exercises to strengthen your posture. The idea is to retrain your reflexive head position to align on top of your torso, and your torso over your pelvis.

Focusing on the reality of how your body stands is the key to retraining how you move (plus helps prevent a potential injury from walking into a tree!).

Try these StrongPosture® attentional focus exercise tips for optimal performance:

When looking for Pokémon:
- Stand taller and lift your device UP
- Move your eyes instead of your head so you can shift attention more quickly to see where you’re going (and avoid hazards)

When chasing Pokémon:
- Stand with StrongPosture®
- Engage your core by pulling your belly IN
- Open your chest by rolling your shoulders UP, then BACK, then DOWN
- Level your torso by pulling elbows slightly forward of your torso as you lift your device
- Stack your head in line with your torso by facing forward and pulling your head back

Downloaded 75 million times in it’s first 4 weeks, Pokémon Go is connecting online with real life for millions of people, and getting them out and moving, a great thing for health. But to avoid injury and get the most out of the exercise you’re getting playing Pokémon, stand tall and be posture aware.

International posture expert Dr. Steven Weiniger speaks globally on improving posture for health, pain relief and aging well. He trains thousands of doctors and therapists in posture improvement protocols and authored Stand Taller Live Longer, An Anti-Aging Strategy, Contact Dr. Weiniger via mail@BodyZone.com or 770-922-0700. Twitter @BodyZone