exercises for posture

[PandorasVise]

I have been noticing in pictures that posture is awful. I also tend to lean into punches, which is not good. All you fitness gods, and goddesses know which muscles I should be targeting to help me stand up straighter, and which exersices would be good to hit those muscles. Maybe I could borrow someones grandma to tell me to sit up straight whenever I slump.

~Patty

[Boss Man]

Firstly if you want a stright posture you need to be balanced in the Upper Torso, so you need good consistent strength, levels with the Pec Area, Lats, Rhomboids and the Traps, particularly the Descending and Medial.

You should also make sure you have the right kind of conditioning in the Abs and areas like Erector Spinae muscles, (Spinalis, Longissimus and Intercostalis), the Mutlfidus and also the Qudratus Lumborum the biggie around the Pelvic area. The Multifidus and E S muscles run pretty much the Length of the Back.

If you have too much buil on the front you will start pulling the shoulders forward and possibly cause stiffness or pain in the Uppr Back.

If you lack at the front and have too much behind, you may find you cause posterior pull, which could easily affect the upper back, possibly things like the Cervical and some Thoracic Vertebrae, which may result in pain and / or stiffness.

Mild Pain may result from Abdominal conditioning, that cannot be supported properly in the lower Back.

You sound more like you're a bit top heavy at the front, which may cause you to tilt more in an Anterior way, with perhaps an inability to recail at an adequate speed. This could be stated when you try to do kicks as the lopsided anterior, posterior bulk nay cause some kind of dipping in the movement, if the lower body is being pulled forward somewhat.

If you simply have a technique issue, then you need to correct that, by allowing yourself to stand strighter, but more frontal build would make the upper body more likely to create an anterior "slouch", creating more ability for the upper body to tip forwards.

You may therefore find, if it's an upper back issue, things like Bent over Barbell rows, T-bar Rows, Cleans, in front of the head Pull-ups as examples, will potentially help to resolve this issue. You may be doing things that don't create a fuller impact on the Bakc like you need. Such exercises could give you this, promoting added growth to portions of Back, that are often underworked.

So possible avenues to explore.

[PandorasVise]

Thanks bossman for the exercises. I am top heavy so it is a slotching from shoulders. Generally it corrects for kicks, for you have to lean back some to get your leg up really high. Punching is the real problem because I lean into them, bringing head lower. opponent will not have to kick so high to get me. Besides that slouching looks bad in everyday life so I want to the problem. I 'll try those exercises you mentioned starting today!

I saw these posture correcting braces. Basically they are elestic and are supposed to help you straighten up. like http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Posture-Cont ... B0001F2K1G" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; There are several varieties. Does anyone know if they work?

[Fygle]

I used to walk around hunched over like a dog shitting razor blades

You paint quite the pretty picture here

[Boss Man]

And how .

I saw something once on a celebrity ice skating show, where one guy was told he was too relaxed in the lower body, affecting his posture, so one judge told him something along the lines of, imagine getting a live Hand Grenade, and shoving it up your butt, then imagine what happens if you relax your lower body, instead of keeping it tight.

That got some laughs all round .

[TheFitRebel]

I used to have some pretty bad posture too and this little tick fixed me right up:

Hold a 25# or 35# plate about 6-10 inches from your naval while standing. You're going to notice that you're hips are going to want to move towards the plate and your shoulders to round. By forcing the body to remain strait up with your shoulders back you are strengthening all of the muscles that hold your posture in place.

I like to walk around the gym with the plate kind of like I'm steering a car around. It kinda looks goofy but it works wonders. Give it a try!

[PandorasVise]

I used to have some pretty bad posture too and this little tick fixed me right up:

Hold a 25# or 35# plate about 6-10 inches from your naval while standing. You're going to notice that you're hips are going to want to move towards the plate and your shoulders to round. By forcing the body to remain strait up with your shoulders back you are strengthening all of the muscles that hold your posture in place.

I like to walk around the gym with the plate kind of like I'm steering a car around. It kinda looks goofy but it works wonders. Give it a try!

I never heard of that one but I can picture it in head as being helpful. I'll try that and the other exercises too. Thanks

[swanso5]

stretch - quads, hip flexors, chest
strengthen - glutes, core, upper/mid back
mobilise - thoracic spine

go