Logan Steele
Improving your posture requires a combination of muscle strength, joint mobility, and overall balance. Certain muscles are critical in maintaining good posture, such as the hamstrings and large back muscles, which help prevent the forces of gravity from pushing us forward. Additionally, core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and erector spinae, play a crucial role in stabilising the body and maintaining a neutral spine and shoulder position. While exercising specific muscles can help, it is also important to be mindful of standing upright and sitting with good posture. Lifestyle factors, such as habitual movements, stress, and screen time, can also impact posture, so it is beneficial to incorporate exercises like high planks, downward-facing dog, and core-strengthening routines into your daily routine to improve and maintain good posture.
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What You'll Learn
Strengthen your core, back, and shoulder muscles
Improving your posture requires a combination of strengthening, stretching, and lengthening your spine and torso. This can be achieved through exercises that target your core, back, and shoulder muscles.
Core
Your core muscles are essential for stabilising your pelvis and spine, and can be targeted through exercises like the "curl-up". To perform a curl-up, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Press your lower back into the floor and place your hands behind your head. Exhale and pull your navel towards your spine while curling your head and shoulders off the floor. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly lower back down and repeat. To increase the intensity, extend one leg straight at a 45-degree angle or hold both legs off the floor.
Another core exercise begins in a similar position: lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor or off the floor. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor. Exhale and pull your navel towards your spine while pulling one knee into your chest and extending the other leg straight. Rotate your torso towards the bent knee. Slowly switch legs, repeating the movement. To increase the intensity, lower the extended leg closer to the floor.
Back
The high plank is an effective exercise for developing balance and strength in your core and back. Start on all fours and straighten your legs, lifting your heels and raising your hips. Straighten your back and engage your abdominal, arm, and leg muscles. Lengthen the back of your neck, soften your throat, and look down while keeping your chest open and shoulders back. Hold this position for up to one minute.
The downward-facing dog pose is another beneficial exercise for strengthening and aligning your back muscles. Start with your stomach on the floor, pressing into your hands as you tuck your toes under and lift your heels and knees. Lift your hips towards the ceiling, keeping your knees slightly bent, and lengthen your spine. You can remain in this pose for up to one minute.
Shoulders
Shoulder mobility exercises are essential for improving flexibility and strength in the shoulders, which are prone to instability due to their high mobility. Begin with your right arm out in front of you at a 90-degree angle. Bend your elbow so your forearm is perpendicular to the floor. Use your left hand to push your forearm down gently. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, then switch sides.
Another shoulder exercise starts with your palms facing up and elbows bent at 90 degrees. Draw your shoulder blades down and back while inhaling. As you exhale, slowly slide your forearms along the floor until your arms are extended straight overhead. Inhale again and return to the starting position. Repeat this movement for several reps.
These exercises will help strengthen your core, back, and shoulder muscles, contributing to improved posture and overall balance.
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Stretch your chest and hip flexors
Improving your posture is about more than just training specific muscles. It's also about being mindful of standing upright and sitting with good posture. However, certain exercises can help improve your posture by strengthening your core, back, and shoulder muscles, as well as stretching your chest and hip flexors.
The hip flexors are a group of muscles that include the iliacus, psoas major, rectus femoris, and sartorius. They work together to help you bend and lift your legs smoothly when you walk, run, climb stairs, sit, and bend over. Sitting for long periods can cause the hip flexors to tighten and shorten, leading to stiffness and discomfort.
- Kneel with your hands at your sides. Put your right leg in front of you with the knee bent at a 90-degree angle and foot flat on the floor. Place your hands on your right thigh for support. Lean forward, pressing your left hip forward while keeping your right foot on the floor. Feel the stretch in the front of your left thigh and hip. Hold for 60 seconds, then repeat with your left leg forward.
- Lie down flat on your back on the floor, with your hands resting at your sides. Bend your right leg and place your hands behind your knee. Gently pull your leg toward your chest. The closer your leg is to your chest, the greater the stretch.
- Lie on your left side with your knees bent in line with your hips. Your thighs and shins should form a 90-degree angle. Move your right foot backward and gently grab the top of your ankle with your right hand. Slowly and gently pull your foot with your right hand, bringing your leg around behind you while keeping your pelvis tucked under. You should feel a stretch in the front of your thighs and your right hip flexor.
- Kneel on the floor with your left foot flat in front of you and your right knee on the floor behind you. Keep your trunk tall during this exercise. You can keep your hands on your left knee for balance. Gently slide your right knee back until you feel a small stretch in the front of your hip. Squeeze your right glute and tuck your hips slightly, creating a pelvic tilt. Hold this pose for 10-30 seconds.
To stretch your chest, try this exercise:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head and press your lower back into the floor.
- Exhale and pull your navel toward your spine as you curl your head and shoulders slowly off the floor. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly lower back down. Repeat 10 times.
Remember, it's important to be mindful of your posture throughout the day, and to get up and move regularly to avoid tightness in your muscles.
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Focus on your hamstrings and large back muscles
Having good posture is about more than just appearances. It can help prevent muscle pain, decreased mobility, and even back pain, which affects over 600 million people worldwide.
Tight hamstrings can affect posture, movement, and function, and can lead to injury. To test if you have tight hamstrings, try this: Sit on a chair with your hips and knees bent at 90-degree angles. If you are unable to straighten one knee without your pelvis tilting, you likely have tight hamstrings. To address this, you can try both dynamic and static stretching to increase hamstring flexibility.
Your back muscles are skeletal muscles, which are part of your musculoskeletal system. They support your torso, help you move, and help you breathe. They also help maintain your posture, whether you're moving or sitting still. To improve your posture, you can try exercises that strengthen your back muscles, such as the glute bridge. To perform this exercise, lie face-up with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Engage your core, tuck your hips under, and place your weight on your right heel. Press into your heel to lift your hips off the ground. Keeping your left knee bent, draw your left knee toward your chest. Press your right hand into your left thigh and maintain tension by pushing your knee into your hand and your hand into your knee. Hold this position for 10-30 seconds, focusing on not letting your hips tilt. Repeat on the other side, performing two to three sets.
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Try high-plank exercises
To improve your posture, it's important to focus on strengthening your core, back, and shoulder muscles. Planks are an excellent way to strengthen these muscles and improve your posture.
Benefits of Plank Exercises
Planks are a full-body exercise that targets several muscle groups, including your glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, chest, and core. By engaging a range of muscles, planking can also help to boost your calorie burn. Additionally, planks put less strain on your spine and hip flexors compared to other exercises like crunches or sit-ups.
High Plank Exercises
If you're new to planking, start with a basic high plank. To do this, balance on your toes and forearms or hands, keeping your spine in a neutral position and your head, torso, and legs aligned. Maintain proper form and hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds. Remember, it's more important to hold the plank with perfect form for a shorter duration than to hold it with sloppy form for a longer time.
Once you've mastered the basic high plank, you can try more advanced variations to challenge your muscles and improve your posture even further. Here are some high-plank exercises to try:
- High Plank Jacks: Start in a high plank position. Jump both feet outward, wider than hip-distance apart, and then immediately hop them back into the original plank position. Aim for 2-3 sets of 30 seconds or as long as you can maintain proper form.
- High Plank Push-Up: Assume the high plank push-up position with your palms flat on the floor. Intermittently reach up with one hand to tap the opposite shoulder, bracing your core to prevent your torso and hips from dipping.
- Swiss Ball Jackknives: Start in a full plank position with your lower legs or feet on an exercise ball. The farther the ball is from your head, the harder the exercise. Activate your core to maintain stability and align your spine.
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Practice yoga or pilates
Yoga and Pilates are both great ways to improve your posture, and they have some similarities. Both practices focus on maintaining full-body alignment and strengthening your core, increasing flexibility and endurance, and improving balance. However, there are also some key differences between the two.
Yoga embodies a centuries-old spiritual practice that can help improve your flexibility and regain your range of motion. It involves a series of stretches and poses that can be held for longer lengths of time or moved through slowly. Yoga is particularly good for correcting pelvic positioning. However, some believe that yoga may not be the best practice for improving posture due to the amount of spinal and hip flexion, which can be the opposite of what is desired for better posture. Additionally, yoga may increase muscle tiredness for those with sedentary lifestyles.
Pilates, on the other hand, is excellent for rehabilitation and warming up and loosening the body. It focuses on spinal and hip extension, which is ideal for fixing posture. It also helps with building strength, especially in the posterior chain.
Both yoga and Pilates can help alleviate back pain and prevent future pain by strengthening the core muscles needed to support your body. They can also aid in stretching out problem areas, such as the lower back.
Ultimately, the best practice for improving your posture is the one you will stick with. You may find that a combination of both yoga and Pilates works well for you, as they each offer unique benefits that can complement each other.
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Frequently asked questions
To improve your posture, you should focus on strengthening your core, back, and shoulder muscles. Some exercises that can help include:
- High planks
- Downward-facing dog
- Child's pose
- Curl-ups
- Glute bridges
Your posture is largely dictated by your lifestyle, including how you move, what activities you do, and the positions your body is in when doing those activities. Habits like slouching, carrying heavy bags unevenly, and prolonged screen time can lead to poor posture.
When sitting, be mindful of sitting with good posture. Avoid sitting with your waist bent forward for a prolonged time. When sleeping, avoid sleeping on your stomach. Sleep on your side or back, which is often helpful for back pain.
