improve posture?

[stoic]

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What are some good ways to improve your posture? I'm a champion sloucher and it really messes with the muscles in my back.

 

[Luck]

What are some good ways to improve your posture?

Stand straight. 😕

 

[Robz]

you have to make a concious effort to sit up straight..usualy what corrects me is being in important meetings and get togethers.

I slouch like hell playing video games or watching tv.

Of course you can always put a ruler in your belt loop in the back or a long stick...that should keep you from slouching!

😀

 

[flighterdoc]

What are some good ways to improve your posture? I'm a champion sloucher and it really messes with the muscles in my back.

Basic training was pretty good at fixing my posture......

 

[PACtoDOC]

Pilates works like a champ because it seriously strengthens the core muscles that are your posture muscles. Buy a book on the basics and all you need is a carpeted floor and 15 minutes a day. It will change your painful existence.

 

[stoic]

Pilates works like a champ because it seriously strengthens the core muscles that are your posture muscles. Buy a book on the basics and all you need is a carpeted floor and 15 minutes a day. It will change your painful existence.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is this "pilates" you speak of? My painful existance could use changing.

 

[PACtoDOC]

Pilates is really the same sort of stuff used in PT to work muscles that few people work. When you go the gym, you focus more on large muscle groups that are superficial, but when you do Pilates, the exercises are more isometric to stretch and tone the small rotatores and deep back muscles along the spine, as well as abdominals. You just have to try it to believe. You will be somewhat sore the 1st week but I swear your pain will go away. It focuses on breathing and slow stable movements on the floor, mostly on your back with flattening of the lumbars, sucking in your gut, and using various body positions to work those core muscles. It is hard at first but gets easier. Don't overdo it. It is best to do it slow at first and eventually you will be pain free. I was in less than 7 days. But I feel the pain come back when I stop for a couple of weeks. You can do a search on Pilates and there will be zillions of books. Buy a cheap one with good pictures, or buy a video honestly.

 

[coreyw]

Pilates...

...and swimming... non-weight-bearing exercise that tones and stretches and oxygenates and lifts your mood and clears the head

swimming good

 

[coreyw]

oh, and Alexander Technique is supposed to be very good for postural stuff. Lots of musicians and actors and singers use it to improve the delivery of their performance.

http://www.alexandercenter.com/

 

[osteo emt]

Go for a girtle, works everytime 😀

 

[Jimboe]

get a girlfriend who makes you feel like you have something to be proud of. Keep listening to Dylan!

 

[gioia]

oh, and Alexander Technique is supposed to be very good for postural stuff. Lots of musicians and actors and singers use it to improve the delivery of their performance.

http://www.alexandercenter.com/

Wow. What a memory. When I was a music student, I studied under a cert. A.T. teacher, it really helps when standing... but I always lose it when slouched over my books/artwork.

 

[DrOctagon]

not sure what they're called, but do some reverse crunches (back crunches?)to work out ur lower back

a few sets will straighten that back out quick

 

[STAC]

Pilates is really the same sort of stuff used in PT to work muscles that few people work. When you go the gym, you focus more on large muscle groups that are superficial, but when you do Pilates, the exercises are more isometric to stretch and tone the small rotatores and deep back muscles along the spine, as well as abdominals. You just have to try it to believe. You will be somewhat sore the 1st week but I swear your pain will go away. It focuses on breathing and slow stable movements on the floor, mostly on your back with flattening of the lumbars, sucking in your gut, and using various body positions to work those core muscles. It is hard at first but gets easier. Don't overdo it. It is best to do it slow at first and eventually you will be pain free. I was in less than 7 days. But I feel the pain come back when I stop for a couple of weeks. You can do a search on Pilates and there will be zillions of books. Buy a cheap one with good pictures, or buy a video honestly.

Sorry to hijack a thread, but PACtoDOC is there a way to email you/send a personal message? I have some questions about our first class Cell Science/Biochemistry and some of my worries in getting started at TCOM. What can I do to get in touch with you? Thanks! RC

 

[bonjuju]

Best way to improve is, as Luck said, stand up straight. It will be uncomfortable at first, but your muscles will adjust. Posture is training in the same way that tai-chi, dance, etc is training. Low back "crunches" are not the best way to fix a slouch, you are mainly working erector spinae and mutifidi muscles. Although these are important, the culprits here are probably weak rhomboids, tight traps and tight pecs. Stretch pecs and traps, strengthen rhomboids. Work on scapular depression and retraction (bringing blades more "together") and read "Anatomy of Movement: the exercises" by Blaine Calais-Germain. Also, this is something you need to do constantly, not just for a set time each day. Your muscles will eventually develop a kinetic memory, and it will begin to be uncomfortable to slouch. Good luck!

 

[sether52do]

......Find a wife that's a half an inch shorter than you (I'm 6'8"). It'll really make you stand up straight when out and about in public.

Seth