We all know that good posture not only looks good, but also allows the body to move with great efficiency free of pain and compensation. Modern living and technology advancement has made many changes to our lifestyle that makes things much easier, unfortunately, it has also come at a cost to our health and in particular our posture. The introduction of computers and jobs requiring us to sit for long periods and more recently IPAD’s and smart phones that people stare at all day in a flexed and hunched position has seen a rapid rise in postural related injuries. We cannot change this evolution to our lifestyle, but we can begin using exercise as a way to counter the damage created from these daily habits. The exercises to use can vary a lot from person to person as we are all unique in our own way and our postures might differ slightly, but generally there is a common theme to all exercises that promote good posture. And that is – they encourage EXTENSION. In this article, I give you some ideas of what to use and an example of a strength workout you could use to improve your posture and prevent the onset of injury and pain.
Understanding The Potential Damage Poor Posture Can Create
The most concerning issue arising from postural faults and imbalance, is not just the area in pain but the risk of further more serious injury in other areas in the body. This is due to the loss of stability and balance as the body is forced to use compensatory methods to protect itself. These compensations set in motion a chain reaction of problems when we begin to move.
For example a forward head posture will increase the thoracic spine kyphosis restricting your ability to rotate your head and upper body, which in turn restricts your balance. Also the strain on the neck muscles to hold your head up and be able to look ahead increases substantially.
Research has found that for every inch the head moves forward it doubles itself in weight!
The damage created to the discs in the lower back from repeatedly sitting in poor posture is common knowledge to all health practitioners. Sustaining a slouching or forward bending of your spine leads to overstretching and weakness of the posterior fibrocartilage (or annulus) of the spinal discs. Over time, this leads to poor disc integrity and displacement of the disc nucleus fluid posteriorly. This places your spinal joints and nerves under pain-causing pressure.
What Exercises Can You Use To Improve Your Posture?
If you are not in pain and looking for a program to prevent problems then the following workout is for you.
Again I must state that this is just a guide and you do need to modify things based on your own ability and postural requirements. For some this workout will be too difficult and others might need a greater amount of stretching involved. But as a general rule you will begin to see how each of these exercises provides a unique demand on the body to enhance how you maintain optimal posture.
Before moving on we will define exactly what “ideal posture” is.
If you were to draw a line extending down the side of the body it should run through the ear lobe, transect the shoulder, hip and knee joints and fall just in front of the ankle bone. This is the position you are trying to maintain with the following exercises.
Below is a quick video of how you could assess your own posture.
We will now evaluate each of these exercises individually to explain their specific purpose and also if you may need to modify or skip using it entirely.
Prone Cobra
I used to regard this as the best exercise for improving posture and thought everyone needed to improve their thoracic extension strength. I now know that some people have excessive thoracic extension and this exercise can actually cause more thoracic rigidity and neck pain.
I will rarely use this with people who have a winged scapula or excessive lumbar lordosis as it can be counter productive and exacerbate their existing problems. I like to use this exercise with beginners for it requires little skill, no equipment, and even if they get it wrong it does not cause any problems.
You can see a good example of this exercise in the video below by watching from the 2:00 mark.
Instructions:
- Lie face down with your arms at your sides.
- As you inhale pick your chest up off the floor with the neck in neutral alignment simultaneously squeezing your shoulder blades together and rotating your arms out so the palms face away from your body.
- You should feel the muscles between your shoulder blades doing the work. If you feel stress in your low back squeeze your butt cheeks together prior to lifting your torso.
- Hold until you need to breathe out and exhale as you lower.
Make sure you hold this for 10 seconds and complete 6 repetitions before completing two more sets.
Improve Hip & Thoracic Mobility
We quickly touched on thoracic mobility with the last exercise and this is very often a big factor to change. As opposed to trying to strengthen this area as with the prone cobra, we are now trying to mobilize and free it up.
The main function of the thoracic spine is to hold the rib cage, and protect the heart and lungs. It also provides our ability to extend the upper back and rotate the trunk.
When we lose the mobility to perform these movements big problems will be on the horizon. Your body will be forced to find mobility at other joints compromising their stability. And the two joints that suffer the most are the lumbar spine, and the shoulder/neck.
There are many things you may need to use to improve this and I suggest you read our full article on this for more detail – Why Thoracic Mobility is the hidden cause of chronic pain
In our workout I would allow time to complete the exercise shown below.
We cannot ignore hip mobility as this is the other area we also see significant stiffness. This is very common to the flat back posture who find it difficult to bend correctly. This is where their butt is stuck in a gripping position and being tucked under, usually this is created from poor sitting positions.
Spending a lot of time to release the stiffness in the hips is critical. Again there is many ways you can try but some of our most effective exercises are shown below. You can see more in the article – 10 ways to improve hip mobility
Romanian Deadlift
Now that some of the simple exercises are out of the way we can start to look at the big strength movements, and number one on the list is the Deadlift. In terms of improving posture this is simply the art of standing up tall and learning to use your hips to bend correctly.
This one movement provides so many benefits to your body we believe it should be included in every person’s program it is that good. However, perfect technique is critical for the risk of injury is very high. The video below shows just how important this movement is to the body and how many other movements it can influence.
I suggest to read our article – Why the Romanian Deadlift is the key to treating hip and back pain
- Stand in a position that allows you to keep a natural arch in your low back at the lowest point of the exercise. It is very important to keep the natural arch!
- Standing with feet a comfortable width apart. Reach down keeping the natural arch in your low back. Grasp the bar a little more than shoulder width apart (clean grip).
- Pick the chest up, look forward inhale drawing the belly button inward. Bend forward slightly until the bar is at knee level; lift the torso to the top position, exhaling through pursed lips through the most difficult point of the movement. Imagine trying to push the ground away from you with your feet.
- At the top repeat the inhaling process before lowering to the ground.
Viking Press
This is an interesting choice and one that was suggested by one of my trainers when we were deciding what to include in the video. Shoulder press is an exercise most find hard at the best of times, and can really aggravate problems in people who hold a lot of stiffness in their neck and shoulders.
This exercise is unique in that it utilizes the legs with a squat pattern and the barbell set up allows you to move into extension with a forward lean. This forward lean gives you maximal leverage to extend, but also be able to minimize the compression on the spine.
Instructions
- Stand on your feet, draw your belly button inward, neutral spine, hold the weight elbows flexed at shoulder height
- Exhale push the weight upward keeping the spine neutral
- Inhale come back
Swissball Prone Jackknife
This exercise is an excellent way to develop anterior core strength with good hip mechanics.
I prefer this exercise over many other core exercises used for building abdominal strength as it demands a high degree of hip mobility in combination with lumbar spine stability. When your legs extend you must find a way to stabilize the lumbar spine or you will arch your back excessively creating pain.
Also the requirements of your body to breathe correctly differs a lot from other exercises like the plank. The prone jack-knife forces your body to find the correct timing and sequence of joints required for optimal movement as your legs move in and out of flexion. Planks teach your body nothing in terms of how to move for there is no movement! Always remember that strength is useless without perfect timing.
If you can have a partner who can hold a stick on your back while performing this exercise it will help immensely. This will give you instant feedback as to your postural position while you move. You may be very surprised to find you are not where you think you are when you do this. This exercise is a lot harder than it looks.
Instructions:
- In a push up position with your feet on a Swiss ball.
- Draw your belly button inwards draw your knees towards your chest without letting your hips drop and maintaining good postural alignment.
- Keep the natural arch in your low back.
- Slowly return and repeat.
Bent Over Row
A great exercise that shares the same body positioning as the deadlift.
A key part of this exercise is the strength endurance required for maintaining thoracic extension needed to hold the spine in perfect position. The person with a hunched posture will find this very difficult to do, but if they spend the time to master this movement they will go a long way to improving their posture.
This is one of the best exercises to build strength into weak upper back muscles in combination with learning good hip mechanics.
Instructions:
- Standing bent forward at the hips with knees bent holding a barbell in front of your legs palms facing your body.
- Maintain an arch in your low back.
- Drawing your belly button inwards bend your elbows to pull the barbell up to chest height.
- Lower under control and repeat.
Yoga Push-up
In Yoga the upward part of this exercise is known as “downward dog” and this can be a great way to again encourage thoracic extension. It also allows for great upward rotation of the scapula which is important for healthy shoulder function. By adding the push-up you can combine the benefits of adding strength to the upper body. In particular is the high activation of serratus anterior which is a key muscle in providing optimal positioning of the rib cage.
Instructions:
- Assume push up plank position with hands close the body maintaining optimal alignment
- Push your hips to the sky and extend through your shoulders into the “downward dog” position
- Lower back into a push up position (complete a push up if no pain)
- Hold for a few seconds before repeating
Swissball Neck Flexion
This last exercise looks quite strange and it appears as nothing is actually happening. You have to be careful of overdoing it during this exercise as too much pressure on the ball can have a negative effect. This is an awesome exercise for correcting forward head posture and improving the strength of the weak muscles under the chin. These muscles are essential for providing your head with stability and they are easily weakened from poor postural positions.
Instructions:
- Stand next to a wall or post.
- Face the ball.
- Place the tongue on the roof of your mouth.
- Using 50% effort push your head into the ball as you exhale.
There is many other great exercises you can use and as I stated at the beginning we are all unique, with our own specific needs and imbalance. To read more about this and other exercises to use for the neck check out this article – How to fix forward head posture
Do You Want More Help?
We also have a great program called Back Pain Secrets you can download with 90 minutes of video and a PDF report that takes you through all of this assessment process and provides a step by step program to help guide you on implementing many of these and other corrective exercises.
This is not a one size fits all program but a way to identify what your body specifically needs.
Click here or on the image below to see more and get your copy.
Summary
I hope this article gives you better insights as to what exercises are best for improving posture, just remember these are just a guide and you will need to tweak this to find what is right for you. Movements that promote extension are often the key for they lengthen the body and reverse the effects of hunched postures and slouching that cause excessive compression to joints. Also you MUST learn how to stabilize these movements for they can also create damage if not controlled.
All of the movements shown in this article, if performed correctly, will help to develop both extension and stability. Once mastered, you will notice the improvement to your body and your ability to move efficiently and allow you to do all the things in life with great enjoyment.
About The Author
Nick Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 20 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Level 2 Sports conditioning Coach. Based in Melbourne Australia he specializes in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise. He has worked with professional athletes in Golf, Tennis, Basketball and Football but is known throughout the local community more for his work with injury prevention and rehabilitation.
References
•Movement – By Gray Cook
•Testing & Function With Posture & Pain – Kendall, McCreary, Provance, Rodgers, Romani
•Bending the Aging Curve – by Robert Signorile
•Corrective Exercise Solutions – by Evan Osar
•Diagnosis & Treatment Of Movement Impairment Syndromes – By Shirley Sahrman
•Low Back Disorders – by Stuart McGill
•Back Pain Mechanic – by Stuart McGill
•Anatomy Trains – by Thomas Meyers
•Motor Learning and Performance – By Richard A Schmidt and Timothy D Lee
•Assessment & Treatment Of Muscle Imbalance – By Vladimir Janda
•Scientific Core Conditioning Correspondence Course – By Paul Chek
•Advanced Program Design – By Paul Chek
•Scientific Back Training – By Paul Chek