Workout schedule to improve my posture

[wateengedoe2]

Is this a good workout schedule to improve my posture? It's meant to strengthen my scapular muscles, rotator cuff and lower back and i'm planning on doing this for a month and then see what happens. What do you think, is it feasible? I found it over here

This is the problem ...

Image: http://home.hccnet.nl/e.raats/zijkant.jpg

Mensendieck posture therapy didn't help, because I got completely bored out by those excercises .. At least that won't happen here

 

[scrummy]

Hey I am definately not an expert in this category, but my husband and I were both diagnosed with the winging scapula by our chiropractor. He says it is from an imbalance in the front of the body vs. the back (end up with shoulders rolling inward and forward). Usually this is from really strong pec and front delts and weak rear delts and back muscles. He said to start doing really light cable rows while keeping shoulders down so that you are pulling and contracting in the shoulder blades, instead of pulling up and contracting mainly in the traps. Just my thoughts. scrummy.

I cut and pasted this from another page. (http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0034-shoulder-injuries.htm)

Correct scapula positioning when performing exercises
The correct position for the scapula (shoulder blade) is back and rotated down. Essentially, this means maintaining a good 'military posture', with shoulders back and chest out. A round-shouldered or hunched posture is to be avoided at all times. To achieve the correct position, you need to use your rhomboids, mid and lower trapezius muscles to retract the shoulder and pull the scapula down.
When you perform any upper body weight training exercise, always get into the habit of starting with good upper body posture and pinching the shoulder blades together. You should feel that the scapula is a solid platform which keeps the shoulder correctly positioned while you perform the exercise. As mentioned last issue, a good way to learn the correct position is during the seated row exercise by keeping your scapula back and down while you move your arms. During the exercise, you should feel that the rhomboids and trapezius muscles are statically contracting to hold the scapula in place, and the latissimus is working to perform the movement. Once you have the feel for maintained scapula stability during the seated row, try to achieve it during all upper-body exercises. What you might find is that exercises such as the press up or front raise, where the shoulder may become impinged, will not be painful if you stabilise your scapula correctly. In effect, by using the scapular muscles you can achieve better shoulder mechanics and avoid injury

Correct scapular stability is difficult to learn and demands a great deal of practice and concentration during your training sessions. You first need to understand what the correct position is, and often this requires a trainer/physio to guide you.

 

[Gladiola]

Seems pretty good - snatches should hit rotator cuff. You should do some internal rotation as well as external (I think I only saw external on that sheet).

For posture improvement, reps should be higher than 12. If you are under 12 reps, you are in the muscular strength range (fast twitch fibers), for posture, you need to work muscle endurance. Try at least 15.

You might want to talk with a Physical Therapist - I'm volunteering at a clinic now & there are a lot of patients with rotator cuff problems.

I agree tight pec muscles could be part of the problem - but you would need to be checked out to be sure. If you see a PT - I reccomend one who is a certified athletic trainer as well. But in my limited experience, they've ALL had great attitudes towards rehabbing people so they can do whatever they want (i.e. Heavy lifting)

 

[FitFossil]

Do you have anyone in your area who does Rolfing? It is also called "Structural Integration". It is a type of massage, but they work on your muscle fascia (connective tissue) rather than your muscles, and each time they focus on a different area of your body to bring it into balance.

This was the absolute best thing I ever did for myself. It made a definite change in my posture. As such, I longer have any aches and pains like I used to - none at all! The only pain I have now is muscle soreness from weight training, but I like that!

Here are websites with more details:
http://www.rolf.org/
http://www.rolfguild.org/aboutsi.html

 

[wateengedoe2]

Thanks for your replies, ladies! Scrummy, both my chest- and back muscles are quite strong (well, in comparison to each other, their strength is in balance, I'ld rather say, I know there are women on this board who are twice as strong ), but this applies to the internal rotators only. According to the t-mag article, internal vs external strength should be about 3:2, for me that's something like 3:1! That's why I'm focusing on my external rotators so much, they are much too weak in comparison to my internal rotators!

I don't have access to a good PT, my physician will only prescribe Mensendieck therapy to me and that only bores me so much that I can't stick to it LOL, I had this therapy two years ago, I don't remember over half of the excersices anyway. Fitfossil, I've never heard of rolfing .. working on the fascia, LOL, that sounds painful Anyway, I'll take a look at the sites, I'm really curious if we have this in Europe already .. We tend to be a bit lagged in these kind of things Same thing with spinning, it really kicked in now, but that took years and a friend of mine who had been in the States often (in fact she's over there right now) already knew it five years before it became popular over here.

A specific question about the schedule: don't you think it will cause overtraining? 4 days geared towards shoulders is perhaps a bit too much? Re more than 12 reps, that's exactly the problem I have with Mensendieck therapy .. I won't stick to it because it gets boring. I think it's better to try the lower reps first, at least I'll not give up on that and it's better than nothing After a few weeks/a month I might try higher reps too. Posture while lifting is quite good I think, I always keep an eye on myself in the mirror. It's the posture while just standing/sitting, that is the biggest problem.