If you train with poor posture, you will enforce poor posture.

Here are 2 EXAMPLES THAT I SEE ALL-TOO-OFTEN….AND IT MAKES ME CRINGE!

The first one is rounded shoulders.  You may have been told that to improve your upper body posture, you need to train your back muscles and stretch your chest.  Sounds simple enough, right? The only problem is that you can still do both of these things with poor posture.  Just because you are doing a row movement in the gym, one of the most common back exercises, it doesn’t mean you are doing it correctly.  You can still do a row with your shoulders hunched up and rounded forward, which will only emphasize this anterior shoulder position and put more emphasize on the biceps to pull at the elbow joint.  The outcome?  Elevated shoulders, overuse at the elbow (which can lead to tennis elbow), and a stiff upper back, not to mention the lack of results you are training for. 

Faulty movement patterns such as this can lead to worse problems down the road.

 Tearing a rotator cuff by doing a simple movement around the house, such as carrying a large bowl down from the kitchen cupboard or putting on a jacket, is often a result of a weak shoulder girdle, tight muscles pulling the shoulder into bad posture, and poor instruction in the gym.  You might see a personal trainer teaching their client a seated row exercise by placing their fingers in between the client’s shoulder blades.  To be honest, after over 12 years in a gym setting as a manager, I can honestly say that most people don’t know why a trainer does this.  I personally do this with clients because I’m making sure that the shoulder blades are actually moving during a row movement, and to feel the correct muscles activating.  As mentioned, you can do a row by just pulling the arms and elbows, which makes the movement look correct; however, if the shoulder blades aren’t moving, the exercise is pretty useless.  You need to ensure the shoulder joint is in a good starting position, and has enough mobility to help the movement to be done correctly.  If the shoulder has no movement, then its important to break down the movement, take a step back, and see where the limitations are.

I’ve attached a link to one of my favourite exercises, a Standing Single Arm Cable Row  

A second example is an excessive curvature in the lower back called Lordosis.  Lordosis is related to both mobility and core strength. What do we see most often for a core exercise?  A plank.  I have one way that I teach a plank position, and if someone cannot get themselves into this position long enough to hold it for 10 seconds, then I regress and give them a modified version that they can do properly.  

There’s nothing worse than a bad plank!

A plank is lot harder than everyone thinks, there is no way you should be able to hold it for 5 minutes with a 40kg plate on your back.  There has to be something better you can do with your time….surely.   Always ask yourself why are you doing an exercise ?  If you are trying to improve your core, then you need to work your core.  A plank is a great core exercise, however if done with poor posture, than you are wasting your time and setting yourself up for injury.  If you can’t hold yourself up in a neutral spine position while standing upright, then you most likely can’t perform a plank position with the increased resistance applied by gravity. Here are my tips for a good plank:

1. Keep your forearms shoulder width apart and parallel like train tracks.  Keep your hands unfisted and relaxed.  If you keep your hands clasped together, you are creating too much tension in the chest and shoulders; this actually enforces poor posture.
2. Ensure the shoulders stay away from your ears and activate the area between the shoulder blades.  Line up your shoulders directly above the elbows in a vertical line, trying to created a 90 degree angle at both the shoulder and elbows.  You do not want to hold a plank while the upper back is rounded up towards the ceiling.  Try to engage the muscles between the shoulder blades so they are supporting you against the pull of gravity.  Many people cannot achieve this position, so ask someone to watch your form.
3. Keep your feet hip width apart, toes curled up and heels pointing up the ceiling.  Keeping some space between the feet will allow the hips to be able to move as needed.  Try to stay on the balls of your feet, which can be a tough position to achieve if you have tight calves, achilles, or arches.
4. Tuck the bum slightly so the lower back is not swaying. By ensuring a slight posterior pelvic tilt you should feel the abdominals turn on immediately.  In this position, you should still see a slight curve of the low back, but the low back muscles are not strained.
5.  Breathe.  If you can’t do all this and breathe, than its too hard.  And as hard as that is for some people to admit, its okay if this feels very challenging.  It means your probably doing it right!

I’ve been doing a lot of high planks lately, with the arms straight.  Even in a high plank, you have to make sure the spine is held strong with the mid-back, the core, the trunk, and those glutes!  Follow these 5 tips and you’ll be on your way to a stronger body with better posture.

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