 When you're out next, look around at the example of how badly we need to improve posture these days. Overly forward heads, rounded shoulders, arched lower backs, feet turned outward, bloated stomachs, and many other issues have impacted most of us. But why? Is it just the fact we spend so much time sitting? Or possibly incorrect training? Yes and yes! But there's more to it than just these points. Our lifestyles are vastly different from those of our hunter/gatherer ancestors. But our biomechanics are the same, and we are designed to move! It's no wonder we fall apart when we sit at a desk all day eating processed foods, scrolling our phones only to come home and sit down some more on the couch. Luckily, posture can be fixed when you know what is happening and how to correct it. Of course, we have to continue working, so not saying you should quit your job and move to the forest, but there are steps you can take! Here are the most important steps for improving your posture. STEP 1: KNOW YOUR POSTURe The most important step to correcting posture is to assess what is going on with your body. Knowing this will allow you to assess your current exercise and lifestyle routine and see if you are doing things that may be making matters worse. Here are some things for you to be aware of.
Take some photos of yourself and have a look. Once you have an idea of what is going on, you can correct the issues you have. STEP 2: UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS HAPPENINGOk, so now we have a few noticeable things that need to be addressed. Knowing why this is happening can help you prevent making these issues worse. Let's go over some common issues here, and you can choose which applies to you. 1. Excess time spent sitting – We all knew this was coming. It's clear now that sitting for long periods isn't good for us. If you have rounded shoulders, forward neck, or lower back pain, sitting too long won't help. 2. Poor exercise choices – We won't discuss good versus bad exercises in this article. But instead, what may or may not be best for you considering your unique circumstances. We'll go over a few examples here. If you have issues with rounded shoulders, we don't want you to be in a rounded position when you're exercising. If this is something you're experiencing, cycling and spin classes may be best avoided and focusing on exercises that have you in a better, more upright position. If you have structural issues resulting from inactive muscles not doing their job correctly, such as rounded shoulders or pelvic shifts, exercise styles that involve excess stretching may be best to avoid. You may be experiencing lower back pain or an overly depressed ribcage. (neck looks overly long) This indicates that you may need to cut out the heavy compression-based exercises and stick to exercises that don't incorporate so much weight going up and down (longitudinal force) & stick to more latitudinal work like cable work. And finally, the big one on this point. Does it cause you pain? If being in a specific position or doing a specific movement is painful, it's a good indication to stop and reassess. This no pain no gain attitude is no way to live a life of sustainability, quality movement & longevity. Remember that we are exercising to be healthy! And there's nothing healthy about getting injured. 3. Lifestyle habits – What you do in your day-to-day life plays a huge role in your posture. Do you stare at your phone with your head forward and down a little more than you should? Or maybe you stand a lot with your weight favouring one leg with your hip kicked out. One too many hours sprawled awkwardly on the couch, maybe? Sitting for long periods may not be suitable for us, but that doesn't mean standing for long periods is better. Often it's worse! STEP 3: FIX It Knowing what may be causing your issues is a great start so that you can stop or at least do them less often. But that doesn't get you back to having a good posture, and it just reduces the chance of it getting worse. When correcting posture, there are 3 key elements we'll cover here that will really help you out. 1. Knowing what good posture is – Most of us have no idea what good posture even looks like. We're told to stand up with our shoulders back and down, right? This isn't good and causes problems in the scapulae and thoracic region. Good posture can be seen on www.functionalpatterns.com who are the experts in posture and biomechanics. The founder of FP is Naudi Aguilar and is an excellent example of great posture. Stomach in, chest elevated, joints well stacked and neutral, no tilts or shifts in the pelvis, and a decompressed ribcage. This is what we're going for! Once we realise what good posture is, we can compare that baseline to where we are currently and look at the differences. Much easier to correct something when you know what you're comparing to. 2. Release work (MFR) – This is a critical step for getting you in a better position. Over time bad posture leads to your body thinking a neutral position is the one you are currently in. Over time, it feels comfortable as the body develops calcium deposits that better hold you in the positions you frequent. An example is you'll find people with rounded shoulders tend to have a lot of tightness in the chest area. So we would release the chest to help with that issue. To do release work, you'll need a trigger ball (lacrosse ball) generally to get into most places. Follow this method for the best results.
Recommended areas for release work include chest, traps, quads, hamstrings, calves, plantar fascia, piriformis, upper mid & lower back, psoas, and TFL. If you're ever unsure of what to do, just ask. Always happy to help. 3. Exercises – Once we have addressed the tight areas, we can move on to addressing the weak areas. Muscles need to be working correctly for you to be in a good, upright position. The most important being the TVA (transverse abdominis), the glutes, lats & rhomboids. If these areas are all working well, chances are you'll be in a pretty good position. This is where things can get a little technical, and the strategy for better posture will be based on your unique imbalances. Here we'll go over 3 exercises that will help target these areas and what you should be feeling for. I will provide the exercise and a video on how to do it correctly, and we will also cover what you should be feeling. Lunge – We want to make sure that we are getting glute activation with the lunge. Many of us are quad dominant, causing the pelvis to sit in the wrong position. We need to teach the body to prioritise the glutes again, and the lunge is an excellent start. If you're unable to get the glute to switch on, let us know, and we'll help. Check out the video below to see the correct technique. Many of us have learned to do lunges with a long stance. But in real life, when is that ever relevant? It is always best to make exercises as relevant to everyday, common movement as possible. That way, you are getting stronger and utilising muscles within a relevant context. Single-arm row – In this exercise, we want to try and get the rhomboid and lat to work. This is basically where your shoulder blade is in the upper back area. Do both sides feel the same? Or is one side feeling more dead than the other? If you can't get these areas to work at all, you may have a trap dominance, or the muscle has just been inactive for so long that it will take a while for you to "reconnect" with it, so to speak. Plank – Finally, we have the plank. Rather than being entirely focused on a great position and strong activation, we are conditioned to worry about how long we can hold one for. These are the things to focus on as they will provide way more benefits to your core strength and posture. Things to focus on for a good plank.
conclusion Improving posture is no easy feat. The position you are currently in has probably accumulated many years of bad habits, poor lifestyle choices and many hours spent at a desk you'd rather be far away from!
The critical thing to remember here is to know what your posture is, and you then can determine what is going well with your body and what needs to be corrected. Once you've established that, you can see what excellent posture looks like by going to www.functionalpatterns.com and checking out Naudi Aguilar. From there, you can determine what areas need to be released and which ones need to be strengthened. Returning your body to a much more balanced and upright position. Still, need a little more assistance? A postural assessment is part of our initial consultation if you live in Brisbane, so we'll cover everything for you there. We will also do a muscle function test and put a plan in place specific to your unique circumstances. We aren't always available to take clients as spots are often sold out, so let us know asap if you need an extra hand with your training, and we'll do our best to fit you in. Also more than happy to answer any questions you have. Head over to our contact page to get in touch.
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