Have you ever seen a photo of yourself and wondered, “When did my posture start resembling that of a muppet?”
We all know that having good posture is good for us, but the struggle to find and maintain it is real. For a more in depth look at the ways good posture improves your entire life, make sure you read our other blog where we show you how to access our free Posture Assessment Tool.
For now, we’re going to give you five of the most effective exercises you can start doing now to get better alignment.
UNDERSTAND SPINAL FLEXION AND EXTENSION
Spinal flexion is the act of rounding forward. Your abdominals are the primary muscles used for this.
Spinal extension is the opposite of flexion and you use your back and neck muscles to straighten your spine, tilt your head back, and arch your low back.
While you want to be able to use your full range of motion and be strong in each of these end ranges, the real sweet spot, and most stable position, is in neutral - the position between the two extremes. Neutral is where you want your body to spend the majority of its time.
RECOGNIZE THE CAUSE: MODERN LIFESTYLES
There is nothing wrong with spinal flexion or rounding forward. However, most of us spend the majority of our time in this chronic state of flexion.
Sitting on couches puts our bodies in flexion. Sitting at desks looking down at laptops puts our bodies in flexion. Doing anything on our phones or tablets puts our bodies in flexion. Do you see the pattern?
Even those who do manual labor are spending a lot of time in a flexed posture: plumbers, mechanics, nurses, electricians, etc all spend a great deal of time rounding over their work.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with rounding or flexing your spine! But without the counter balancing effect of strong extension muscles, our bodies will default to this hunched position. Too much time in flexion leads to problems - as does too much load under flexion.
Why Is Poor Posture Bad for Your Health?
Poor posture is one of those “give it an inch, it’ll take a mile” scenarios. It may start in one area of your body (like jutting your neck forward), but before long it’ll travel to multiple areas of your body.
Since we have another blog on the benefits of good posture, here’s a list of some of the bad stuff that comes from poor posture, for those of you who prefer a little negativity to kick your butt into action.
- Neck and back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Hip pain
- Joint degeneration
- Spinal dysfunction
- Pins and needles
- Numbness
- Poor circulation
- Restricted breathing
- Stress
- Fatigue
- Tension headaches
- Jaw pain
- Tight and painful pelvic floor
5 BEST EXERCISES FOR POSTURE IMPROVEMENT
Weakness, without intervention, leads to more weakness. The good news is that strength leads to more strength - provided you stay consistent. Here are 5 of our favorite exercises for stronger, more upright posture.
Reverse Flys
This exercise is going to help strengthen your deltoids, middle and lower traps, lats, rhomboids, and your serratus anterior. Now that’s what we call getting a BANG for your buck!!
- In the quadruped position, place your left hand on a yoga block and grasp a resistance band or light weight with your right. You can also do this on a bench without the yoga block.
- Keep your core braced. Lengthen your spine by reaching your head away from your body. Keeping your arm straight, slowly raise your right arm out to the side, keeping your shoulder blade pressed down toward your back pocket. Lower your arm slowly. Aim for 3 sets of 8-10 reps per side.
Straight Arm Rotations
When your shoulders are rounded forward, it can pull your upper spine into an overly flexed position (the inverse is also true - too much flexion in the spine will cause your shoulders to round forward). This exercise strengthens the rotator cuff muscles which will play a part in getting your shoulders back into the proud position they belong!
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Stand up with good posture, feet hip width apart.
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Lift your right arm straight out to the side with the palm facing down.
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Notice if your shoulders are hunched up. Gently press them down toward your back pockets.
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Now begin rotating your arm and shoulder backward into external rotation. As you do, reach your shoulder out and away from the center of your body. Imagine your back spreading broad like the hood of a cobra.
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Reverse it - rotate the shoulder and arm internally until your palm is facing down (or behind you, if you have that range of motion). Then repeat. Aim for 3 rounds of 5-10 reps per side.
Plank
Your “core” isn’t just your abdominals. It includes those, but also your obliques, pelvic floor, diaphragm and back. The plank, when done properly, engages your entire body and helps you hold yourself upright.
- Set up on your hands and knees. Be sure to keep your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists for these.
- Spread your fingers wide and press your hands into the floor as you drive the shoulders down away from your ears.
- Reach your head away from the rest of your body to create length in the spine. You may notice this adds a little more extension in the upper back.
- Brace your core and come up onto your toes. Draw your pelvic floor up and in. Hold for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Coach Cues: Remember to breathe. Keep your pelvis neutral - no arching of your low back. Film yourself and aim for a straight line from the crown of your head to your tailbone. If someone were to place a platter on your back, nothing should spill.
Superman
The Superman helps you strengthen your posterior chain (glutes, back extensors, and shoulders). This counterbalances all the passive flexion we typically find ourselves in.
Please note: we’ve seen some of you do these in a way that resembles a flopping fish, desperately gasping for its final breaths on this Lonely Planet of ours. Please, exercise full body control here. There’s no time cap. Take it SLOW.
- Lie on the ground face down with your arms straight overhead.
- Tuck your pelvis under and squeeze your glutes.
- Keep that tuck/squeeze and lift your feet off the ground as much as you can. Enjoy that max glute contraction.
- Keeping the arms straight, raise them off the ground. This may be all you need and is enough on its own. If you want more extension, move on to…
- Raise your upper body off the ground. Keep your head long and reach away from your body to create length in the spine. Are you breathing?
- Lower everything back to the ground, with control. Do this for 3 rounds, 8-10 reps per round.
Bird Dogs
The Bird Dog is another full body exercise. It requires a core brace, but is also using a lot of back, thigh, and arm extension. It also provides a nice challenge to your balance.
- Set up on your hands and knees with a flat back. Knees should be stacked directly under hips, wrists directly under shoulders. Keep reaching your head away from your body.
- Brace your core and raise the opposite leg and arm. Think of trying to reach the hand and heel away from each other to make as long and straight a line as possible.
- Lower both arm and leg back into tabletop position.
Coaching cues: Avoid arching your low back here. Make the glutes to the work of lifting the leg. If you have difficulty getting the arm straight overhead, just use whatever range you can. Rotating the palm inward will get you more external shoulder rotation, which will help counter the forward rounding of the shoulders.
CAN YOU FIX BAD POSTURE?
Yes, you can! It is possible to fix poor posture with knowledge of how your body works and with support like that offered in our MoveU Community. It takes time and consistent effort, but we’re here to support you every step of the way. Join the online MoveU membership and let’s get MUving!
