posture

[muskles]

i've been trying to improve my posture for the past 2 years, and it definitely has improved. however, i catch myself slouching all too often... especially at work when i'm in front of a 'puter all day.

anyone got any tips or exercises to help with this?

 

[KBgrl]

tie a broomstick to ur back....never fails

 

[Sassy69]

Here's a motivating thought -- your back is countered by your stomach -- when you walk, do cardio, etc. - if you focus on keeping your abs tight, then you notice that you tend pull your chest up , shoulders out, and voila - your back straightens up. There's no feeling i love better than sore abs after a good workout - so just focus on that.

I noticed my posture improved massively as I went into comp prep -- I'm a 15 year computer jockey so I know where you're coming from. But I was amazed at how good it felt to keep everything upright!

 

[muskles]

tie a broomstick to ur back....never fails

yeh, no one will call me a witch then! ooh, maybe i'll get the harry potter nimbus 2000... than i can fly, too

Sassy69 - oh no, now i'm going to be kicking myself when i catch myself slouching AND when i'm not keeping my abs tight.

 

[sysopt]

do these two stretches daily:

http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/LatissimusDorsi/Overhead.html

http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/ChestGeneral/Doorway.html

and start doing rows with perfect form if you are not already

 

[Suzr]

You may want to be sure that you haven't overdeveloped your chest muscles in comparison to your back muscles. This would tend to pull your shoulders forward. If this is the case you might notice that as your arms hang loosely to your side that your hands rotate so that your palms face toward the back of your body. This over development can also lead to shoulder impingement over time.
The solution to this is to (1) strengthen your back, rhomboids, rotator cuff muscles,rear delts, mid part of your trapezious. Practice scapula retraction (pulling the shoulder blades together).
(2) stretch your chest and anterior deltoid muscles. Doing this along with strengthening your core musculature should improve your posture over time.
Another hint is to work out your weaker muscles first in a workout and/or first in the week to give them greater emphasis.