Improve Your Posture

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

Improve Your Posture

As you may well know, many people suffer from bad posture, which may develop into more severe issues with age.

Although you may not suffer from major postural problems, just a few subtle changes can make a big difference on your health and on your overall appearance. More than muscles size/definition, fat percentage or boobs size, the very first thing other people notice about you is your posture and the way you carry yourself.

If you want to be more physically attractive (and avoid health issues), before even thinking about hitting the gym the first thing you should be concerned about is your posture. People automatically associate it with health, confidence and an active lifestyle.

Thus, I thought I'd share some personal tips and exercises that I use to keep a nice posture. The most common incorrect posture is the sway-back posture, where the shoulders and head are hunched forward, and the lower back loses its natural curve and remains flat:

In an ideal posture, the ears, shoulders and hips should be perfectly aligned, whereas in a sway-back posture the upper torso is swayed back and the head is tilted forward. This is often due to our modern sedentary lifestyles, where we're hunched over a computer, desk or mobile phone for a great part of the day.

The best way to correct this is to stretch the spine in the opposite direction, as shown in the video below. I personally perform these stretches a few times per day, usually in the morning, when I get back from work or just before my workout. I simply use the arm of my sofa to do them (no need to build a 'bench' like this guy); you can also perform them on a gym balloon. I hold each one for around 2 minutes, and naturally adopt a straight posture thereafter without even having to think about it. It's wonderful to release all the tension that normally keeps you hunched forward.

The guy in this video explains the stretches in a bodybuilding optic, but this is something anybody can do. The demonstration starts at 2:00:

Another similar exercise that you can perform is the 'superman exercise'. Although the stretch is not as significant, it has the added advantage to work the muscles that keep an erect spine. Simply lay on the floor, curve your whole spine backward (as shown), and hold for as long as you can. Repeat 3-5 times:

SereneProdigy

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

If your shoulders are slouching forward, you can perform these stretches a few times per day:

SereneProdigy

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

To correct a forward head posture, you can perform this:

SereneProdigy

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

As well as performing all these stretches, you might want to purposely maintain a correct posture throughout the day, until your muscles adapt and it feels natural.

While standing, what you want to achieve is having your ears, shoulders and hips perfectly aligned as shown previously. You can look at yourself in a mirror to make sure your posture is correct. A great tip I once heard of and often follow is to imagine that an helium balloon is attached to your head and lifts it upward. Following this will naturally erect your spine in a correct manner. Try to maintain this posture in your daily activities, or take a walk while following this tip to reinforce your muscles.

While sitting, the most important thing is having your lower back supported to make sure you maintain a slight inward curve in this region. I personally use a small pillow to support my lower back; you can also buy back supports at various places. Sitting like so will also naturally straighten your upper torso and tilt your shoulders back. Make sure to also take a few breaks when sitting for a prolonged period of time, and walk around for a few minutes every once in a while (every 30 minutes or so):

For sleeping, the picture below explains everything that you need to know. I personally sleep on my back with a pillow under my knees and a hand towel under my lower back to maintain a natural curve. I also sleep without a pillow under my head, and use another hand towel instead to support the curve of my neck:

SereneProdigy

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

Aside from all that, engaging in various physical activities will also help reinforce the muscles that keep your spine erect. If you don't engage in a lot of physical activities, you can still perform this routine to strengthen your postural muscles:

Further reading (this link contains many references that address a lot of postural problems):

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123812871

So, there you have it. Stand tall, walk proudly, and tilt your shoulders back to expose those nice pecs and boobies...

avrgblkgrl

In-House Sapiosexual

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

I'm rather proud of my back, although no one would probably notice. One of the exercises I do at the gym to help keep it defined also encourages great posture. Most women do not do it. I don't know why. It's perfect if you want to look nice in dresses and tops that have your back out for summer. It's your basic back raises on a bar stand.

Hook your feet under the leg anchor of a back-machine station. With your upper thighs on the pad and your hands behind your head, initiate the move by forcefully squeezing your glutes, and then bend forward at the hips until your upper body is almost perpendicular to the floor. Without swinging your shoulders, raise your torso until it's in line with your lower body. If you do it right, it not only works out your lower back but your glutes. I actually turn over and use the same stand for my abs. Good abs help the posture as well.
Watch how to do it here...

? A True Story ?

SereneProdigy

Cryptic Vigilante

0 likes 22 Mar 2014

Quote by avrgblkgrl
I'm rather proud of my back, although no one would probably notice. One of the exercises I do at the gym to help keep it defined also encourages great posture. Most women do not do it. I don't know why. It's perfect if you want to look nice in dresses and tops that have your back out for summer. It's your basic back raises on a bar stand.

Hook your feet under the leg anchor of a back-machine station. With your upper thighs on the pad and your hands behind your head, initiate the move by forcefully squeezing your glutes, and then bend forward at the hips until your upper body is almost perpendicular to the floor. Without swinging your shoulders, raise your torso until it's in line with your lower body. If you do it right, it not only works out your lower back but your glutes. I actually turn over and use the same stand for my abs. Good abs help the posture as well.
Watch how to do it here...

Yep, that's a great exercise to improve posture. In fact, in many cases poor posture is due to tight frontal muscles (abs, chest, shoulders) and weak posterior muscles (glutes, lower/upper back). The best way to correct this is to stretch the frontal muscles (as in most of the videos I posted), and strengthen the posterior ones.

The best exercises for posture are rows (for shoulders, upper back) and deadlifts (for hips, lower back):

Rows (I perform them with dumbells, with my chest supported by a bench):

Deadlifts (make sure to use proper form to avoid back pain):

Working the rest of the core (ie. abs) is nice too, though many people work them too much as compared to their backs, which creates a muscular imbalance. A lot of people would benefit more by simply stretching them.

coffeeandketchup

Active Ink Slinger

0 likes 4 May 2015

Bumping up the thread.

Tore my back muscles last year so I'm very conscious about topics like these.

CharlotteRusse1

Active Ink Slinger

0 likes 10 May 2015

Great exercises. I really like the neck alignment exercise. We do a lot of superman/swimmer moves for the back in my yoga class.

An old favorite story of mine: The Chaise Lounge

LaylaJune

Fancy Schmancy

0 likes 11 May 2015

This was great -- thank you, everyone!

miketabcdefg

Advanced Wordsmith

0 likes 12 May 2015

The best thing about this thread is not the suggestions in it (which are great) but that every time I see it in the forum list I automatically sit upright, without even thinking about it.