Orange County Professionals! Fitness Tips to Improve your Posture!
One of the most important things to consider when strength training, exercising or just going about your everyday lives is POSTURE! Working at the Orange County location of Jungle Fitness, I see many people come in with incorrect or bad posture and often times this is the first thing that must be corrected before moving on with a proper fitness regimen.
How did this happen? Many of us sit at computers or desks most of the day and don’t realize that we’re sitting all hunched up. Most of us don’t sit straight unless we’re actively thinking about it and make an effort to sit tall. However, slouching can not only eventually cause permanent damage to posture, but often leads to buildup of tension, headaches and neck aches. Improve your posture, especially rounded shoulder posture, for a professional, fresh and healthy appearance, and to reduce aches and pains, as well.
Steps to improve your posture
Postural Awareness
When standing naturally, your palms should be facing the outside of your thighs. Your ears should be aligned over your shoulders, shoulders in line with the hips, and hips in line with the knee and ankle. However, if your chest muscles are constricted or overdeveloped due to weight training or poor body mechanics, your head will be positioned forward and hang down, your shoulders will be rotated inwards, and your palms will face the front of your thighs.
Muscles of the Upper Back
The largest and most superficial muscle of the upper back is the trapezius. The trapezius (or traps) is a large diamond-shaped muscle which begins at the base of the skull, fans out across the shoulders, and goes along the outer sides of the back to attach at the lumbar spine. The traps are responsible for elevation and depression of the scapula. Underneath the traps are the rhomboids. Attaching at the scapula, rhomboids are responsible for adduction (moving shoulder blades towards center of the body), and upward and downward rotation of the shoulders. The posterior deltoid (back of the shoulders), and the infraspinatus (external rotator) round out the major muscles involved in kyphotic posture. Corrective flexibility exercises should focus on neck retraction, stretching of the cervical and thoracic column flexors, and strengthening of the thoracic and cervical extensors.
Flexibility Before Strength
Before you begin to strengthen the weak, lax muscles, you must relax and stretch the constricted, overworked muscles in the chest, neck, shoulders and upper back. Sit up straight on a chair with your hands clasped behind your head, placed at the base of the neck and elbows pointing forward. Bend the head, neck and upper back down gently, then sit up straight, opening up the chest with elbows extended out to the sides of the body. Hold this expanded chest position for 20 seconds then repeat 3 times.
Open up the chest by placing your palms on either side of an open doorway. Keep your arms bent at a 90 degree angle, with elbows pointing towards the floor. Slowly lean forward until you feel a stretch in your chest and the front of your shoulders. Adjust placement of your hands up or down the doorway to feel a stretch in different parts of the chest.
Do Anywhere Exercise
Strengthen rear deltoids and the muscles of the upper back while increasing range of motion at the same time. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, abs tight, ears aligned over shoulders. Arms should be extended out to the side of the body with elbows bent at 90 degree angles. Keeping your shoulder blades down, slowly press both arms backwards as far as is comfortable. Keeping elbows up, slowly swing arms forward with the goal of touching elbows/forearms together then repeat. Perform three sets of 20 repetitions.
At the Gym
Perform the seated cable row to neck exercise. Attach a rope handle to the seated cable row. Place your feet on the footpads and push back on bench, keeping knees slightly bent. With one end of rope in each hand (palms facing the floor), pull the rope in towards the chin, keeping your elbows high and upper arm parallel to the floor. Without leaning backwards or shrugging shoulders, contract muscles between the scapula as you pull and hold rope at chin height for 1 count. Allow your arms to fully extend forward to feel a stretch as you release then repeat for 20 reps. Begin with a light weight and gradually increase the weight as you get stronger.
