Want to Improve Your Posture?

What is posture:

Poor posture is a common issue that can lead to discomfort and pain,

particularly in the neck, shoulders and back. The human body is designed to maintain a balanced alignment of the spine, with the head positioned directly over the shoulders and the natural curves of the spine properly supported. However, prolonged periods of sitting or standing with incorrect alignment can disrupt this balance, placing excessive strain on muscles, ligaments and joints.

Can poor posture be fixed:

Yes, fixing poor posture typically involves a multi-faceted approach aimed at improving alignment, strengthening supporting muscles and promoting awareness of proper body mechanics. 

What can I do about it today:

What has worked for our patients is making 3 changes. 

1. Identify a time that you are in poor posture the longest (sitting at work etc.) and either break up the sitting every hour by going for a 30 sec walk or improve your posture by changing your environment. This could be changing the height of your monitor, using lumbar support or getting a standing desk. This will help reduce the strain on the muscles, joints and ligaments which occurs in poor posture. 

2. Stretch your internal rotators of your shoulders. (Example below is in the picture). When you think of poor posture you think of the shoulders and head going forward; this stretch will help roll your shoulders back and in will help realign the head. This stretch can be done morning, afternoon or before bed. There really isn't an upper limit to how often you can do this stretch. If its helping then do it often. 

3. Strengthen your core with posture exercises. When people think of strengthening their core, they think of their abs (6 pack). These are not postural muscles so performing crunches won't help improve posture. The smaller muscles that surround your spine and joints are the muscles we want to target. The birddog exercise (see picture below) is our go to strengthening exercise for the core to help with poster. Keep in mind there are many exercises to choose from that improve posture but this exercise tends to have a positive affect on patients that perform it. 

Picture Showing Postural Exercise

Perform 5 reps holding each rep for 5 seconds. Make sure to go slow!

Stretch to Internal Rotators of Shoulder

Hold for 30 -60 sec daily

If you found this helpful and would like more information on posture - Click on the link: https://www.revitatherapy.com/poor-posture. Thank you for your time.

Dr. Bianca Filice