How To Correct Your Posture - 5 Home Exercises To Fix Your Posture
Poor posture can result in neck pain, shoulder knots/tension, and headache pain. As a physical therapist these are common complaints I treat in my clinic - oftentimes these issues correlate directly with a person’s posture. Today I’m sharing 5 of my favorite exercises you can do at home to help correct these postural issues.
➡️ Here’s an Amazon link to my favorite foam roller:
OTHER VIDEOS TO WATCH AFTER THIS ONE:
✅ 10-MINUTE DAILY POSTURE ROUTINE:
✅ EXERCISES TO FIX NECK HUMP FAST:
✅ HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR UPPER BACK POSTURE:
✅ HOW TO ELIMINATE MUSCLE KNOTS IN YOUR NECK, SHOULDERS, AND BACK:
✅ 6-MINUTE POSTURE FIX ON A FOAM ROLLER:
As a physical therapist, I treat many posture related problems.
The thing is – people don’t come in to my clinic complaining of “bad posture“. People come into my clinic complaining of the symptoms that are typically associated with bad posture. Neck pain, knots in your upper shoulders, headache pain, etc. are typically related to poor posture.
These are the complaints for which people typically seek Physical Therapy help; little do these patients know how many of them wouldn’t be in any pain if they just spent some time addressing their posture!
Today on Tone and Tighten I wanted to discuss these postural issues – specifically what is poor posture, why you developed it, and some simple exercises you can do to correct this problem.
WHAT IS POOR POSTURE?
Poor posture is typically characterized by what we refer to as a “forward head and rounded shoulders“ posture. When you stand up straight and tall, if I were to look at your profile from the side your ear should be directly located over the tip of your shoulder. Your sternum/chest should be pointed up with your shoulder blades sent back. This is what “good“ posture looks like.
In this position, gravity holds your head squarely on top your neck with very minimal muscle activation required. This results in minimal tension, decreased muscle knots, and decreased muscle activation.
WHY DOES POSTURE MATTER?
Again, bad posture is typically characterized by a “forward head and rounded shoulders“. Forward head refers to the position of your head relative to your shoulders. It simply means that if I were to look at your standing posture from the profile view your ear would be out in front of the tip of your shoulder.
This typically causes a “rounding“ forward of the shoulder blades and an increased visible “hump“ in the upper back.
In this position, your head is not in an ideal anatomical location. Gravity would cause it to flop forward if not for some muscle activation to hold it up. So to prevent your head from flopping forward you must activate the muscles in your neck and upper shoulders.
15–30 minutes at a time this might be OK, but when you spend 8 – 12 – 16 hours in this position, those muscles can get extremely fatigued.
The result is increased tension in your neck, pain with movement, stiffness, knots in your upper shoulders, and even headaches.
HOW TO TREAT POOR POSTURE
The muscles in your body are highly adaptable to stresses placed on them or removed from them.
Our forward head and rounded shoulders posture typically results in what we refer to as an “upper cross syndrome“. The muscles through the front of your chest and back of your neck get tight while the muscles through your upper back and front of your neck get stretched out and week.
The treatment for this poor posture issue is to basically reverse our “upper cross syndrome“. We need to stretch where it’s tight (upper chest, front of the shoulders, and neck) and strengthen where it’s weak (rhomboids and middle traps – between your shoulder blades).
Here are 5 of my favorite exercises to help you overcome these problems. Push “Play” on the video above for a detailed description of the principles discussed in this post including an explanation of the following exercises.
(0:00) INTRODUCTION
(1:01) WHAT IS POOR POSTURE?
(2:05) SIMPLE POSTURE TEST
(4:10) FOAM ROLLER OVERHEAD
(6:41) FOAM ROLLER ANGEL
(7:26) DOORWAY STRETCH
(8:49) WALL ANGELS
(10:47) FLOOR ANGELS
Performing these exercises regularly will help to improve your posture. In fact many of my patients notice a significant improvement in about a month; it might be up to 3 months to see a remarkable improvement (it took your body a long time to develop poor posture; it’s going to take some time and effort to reverse this problem). You have to be diligent and consistent, but I know these can help you out!
Many people refer to a “hunchback“ posture when talking about this problem. Here are more great exercises to fix “hunchback“ posture:
✅ BEST EXERCISES TO FIX HUNCHBACK POSTURE:
1 view
137
24
2 days ago 00:03:47 1
SCOOTER - HOW MUCH IS THE FISH (Metal cover)
4 days ago 00:20:57 1
Incredible Discovery In The Grand Canyon? - YouTube
4 days ago 00:29:11 1
Interview with Valentin Kozlov, Valmix Company | Potato Tour Across Russia (Part 2) 🥔🚜
6 days ago 00:57:54 1
Lost In Time : The Isolated House Where She Lost Her Mind | How I Find Abandoned Placess
6 days ago 01:01:39 1
TIME SLIP STORIES (SN 18 EP 38) TRUE UNEXPLAINABLE EXPERIENCES WITH MISSING TIME & TIME SLIPS
7 days ago 00:00:31 2
How To Train Your Dragon | Big Game Spot
1 week ago 00:05:05 59
How to Clown - Misha Usov - Professional Clown School
1 week ago 00:38:45 2
Try Not To Laugh Challenge#7 | Instant Regret Fails Compilation 2024 | Amazing People
1 week ago 00:29:31 1
Membership Perks
1 week ago 07:10:32 1
У края бездны-(2024) все серии 1-4. Освобождение Мариуполя.Причитайте ограничения в описании ниже!!
1 week ago 00:08:00 16
Dream Theater - Midnight Messiah (Official Video)
1 week ago 00:05:14 2
Clara Fernández: The Spanish Sensation Transforming Pole Vaulting
1 week ago 00:27:54 5
Секретные космические лазеры устраивают пожары на Земле?
2 weeks ago 01:18:02 2
The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire | The Secret World of Finance
2 weeks ago 00:03:57 46
Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time (Official Video)
2 weeks ago 00:17:09 1
Blouse crochet pattern - how to crochet summer top
2 weeks ago 00:15:40 1
Как вязать росток кардигана Вязание укороченными рядами How to knit a cardigan back height
2 weeks ago 00:04:50 20
In The Army Now (Status Quo) • Drum Cover
2 weeks ago 00:38:56 2
Time Team Podcast | New excavations at Pompeii
2 weeks ago 00:56:53 3
DOGMAN, MIRRORED MEN AND HIGHWAY GHOSTS: TALES FROM THE ROAD (SN 18 EP 36) TRUE SPOOKY STORIES
2 weeks ago 00:15:46 2
🐹 КРОТЫ УХОДЯТ НАВСЕГДА! Как прогнать кротов с участка дымовой самодельной шашкой
2 weeks ago 01:12:12 1
Crochet Lacey Vest Tutorial | Chenda DIY
2 weeks ago 00:09:56 1
Mother Tucker: The Donald Trump & Jared Kushner Family Business Suckled From The Tit Of Saudi Arabia
2 weeks ago 00:18:46 1
I Crocheted a Houndstooth Vest | Pattern Walk-through