Bad posture

[SiNa94]

I want to take a stab in the dark and say that weak back muscles are contributing to my bad posture. Is that a possibility? And what could I do to strengthen it up if that's the case.

 

I don't lift... so if that's your answer, links or detailed descriptions are going to be a necessity. I would assume that the gym at my university is pretty nice... but I wouldn't know since I'm not a very social exerciser and have avoided it like the plague.

[kuramus]

Hi sina94, my own personal experience is that upper body muscles also contribte to posture, and the most effective way (to me) of improving it is just hanging from a pullup bar and also to strengthen the muscles by doing pullups.

[offense74]

I don't think that's the problem. Some of the worst postures I've seen have been on bodybuilders and strength athletes.

Good posture is a combination of confidence, balance and strength.

Dance classes helps posture alot, you could try that.

[Kathryn]

A lot of people have bad posture from a combination of overworked chest/front shoulder muscles (we do mostly 'pushing' activities in our daily lives) and weak upper back muscles (we round forward in front of computers, and when we are sitting at desks or watching TV).

 

A good 'fix' for this:

Work on chest/front shoulder flexibility (clasp your hands together behind your back, put your chest up and out and lift your hands back behind you. You'll feel a stretch through the front delt and the pecs. This is especially good to do once in a while if you are sitting at a desk. Also, get in the habit of rolliing your shoulders back and down, and hold a scapular retraction (shoulders back and down) when doing weight work, especially upper body).

 

Work on strengthening the upper back and rear delt with reverse flyes and dumbbell rows done with the elbows out to the sides. And again, work on keeping a scapular retraction when doing upper body work especially.

 

I agree with several authors who recommend omitting (or at least not doing regularly) isolated front shoulder work, like anterior raises. The anterior delt is worked plenty when you do push-ups and bench presses (and in daily life) and most people need to work more on gaining flexibility in this area rather than making it tighter.

 

Having imbalances in the front-vs-rear muscles of the upper body not only leads to bad posture, but can cause some pretty nasty shoulder problems.

 

HTH

[Kathryn]

I don't think that's the problem. Some of the worst postures I've seen have been on bodybuilders and strength athletes.

 

Who often overwork the 'mirror' muscles (chest, front delt) to the detriment of the back muscles. Muscular strength alone isn't an automatic road to good posture: that strength must be balanced. When I see a well-muscled guy with the posture of a gorilla (slumped forward), I can pretty much tell he does a LOT of benching, but not much to stretch those muscles or to balance with back work.

[Gaia]

What kind of bad posture do you have? Try to describe in detail if you can. Like are your shoulders rounded? Do you hunch forward, with your top back rounded? Do you have an deep curve in the lower back? How about your hips? Does your pelvis tilt forward (making the lower back curve deep)? Or does is it tilt forward and in (making the lower back curve flat or even rounded)?

[SiNa94]

Do you hunch forward, with your top back rounded?

 

I think that would describe my posture.

 

But I did do a quick set of dumbbell rows like Kathryn suggested. I don't recall where or when, it might have been from trying to force myself to sit up straight and having those muscles get fatigued, but the rows definitely seemed to be working the same area I'm having trouble with.

 

I always feel like I have bad form when I'm working with dumbbells though. I used to do a seated row and reverse flies on cable machines as part of a circuit in a weight-lifting class a few years back. Could I do those and achieve the desired effect?

[Odidnetne]

If you have bad posture going a little lighter on the weight could help you out.

[_raVen_]

I was going to recommend 'Superman,' but Dr. F. has some others he recommends for spine/bone health and back strength.

 

From Dr. Fuhrman's Disease Proof Blog:

 

* Check your Vitamin D level

 

* Do NOT take Vitamin A in supplemental form (or multivitamin)

 

* Do not consume more than 1500 mg of sodium daily

 

*Do back exercises at least twice weekly - Examples follow:

 

1. Seated cable row: With knees slightly bent, lean forward, then pull the handles back to your chest with elbows wide as your back comes to vertical.

 

 

2. Wide cable pull downs: Pull down the cable to your chest with elbows wide as you lean back to a sixty-degree angle.

 

3. Back extensions: Lean over exercise ball, and arch your back up like a reverse sit up, or use a back extension chair made for this exercise.

 

4. Superman: While lying on your stomach, lift trunk and legs up off the ground like a bow.

 

5. Alternate Superman: Use alternate arm and leg to perform the superman.

 

6. Weighted backpack: Wear a weighted backpack for a few hours per week. Normal activities of moving around and getting up and down with a weighted backpack on strengthens the back.

[Gaia]

A hunched forward with a rounded back is usually tight chest/pectoral muscles with loose back/trapezius muscles. A row will help you strengthen your traps, but remember to make sure you think as you do it, heart forward, head of your shoulders are drawn back, and the shoulder blades are flat on your back cradling the heart forward. Also keep your chin up and level. When your chin falls down, your heart caves in and the back wraps around to protect it. To get some flexibility in your chest/pectorals try to do some type of lying down cable chest flyes increasing your range of opening your arms wide, or just trying to get your hands to clasp behind your back without bending the elbows/head of the shoulder will turn outward also stretching the chest wide open. I've also grabbed the sides of a door wall opening and pushing forward till I get a good stretch in the chest.

Hope that helps.

[MartinVegartin]

As well as what others have said, you might find help here:

 

http://www.exrx.net/ExInfo/Posture.html

 

 

The Alexander Technique and pilates are good ways to improve posture and balance.

[kjtten]

6. Weighted backpack: Wear a weighted backpack for a few hours per week. Normal activities of moving around and getting up and down with a weighted backpack on strengthens the back.

 

I bring all my food and water to work with me in a backpack. Said backpack usually weighs >12 pounds. And I walk, 3 miles one way. (Well, I do that only twice a week) ... my traps are so big and hard I never work them in the gym.

 

I also sit on an exercise ball at work ... which is supposed to be good for posture ... and my lower back is strong because of that.

 

But, I have found ways to slouch, on the ball! And wearing the backpack makes me lean forward (to balance the weight) so I tend to lead forward when I'm not wearing it ... I have to remind myself to 'walk tall'.

 

I think a big part of posture is being very aware of it and consciously correcting it. In time, one hopes that would become an automatic habit.