Your muscles have an optimal position from which they can do their job best. While we all have different postural issues and imbalances to overcome, it is safe to say that we will all have bad posture after a day at the desk. Even if you train first thing in the morning, your posture will not be ideal. While “fixing” your posture will take time, effort, and consistent training, there are some things you can do to help improve the results immediately.
If you don’t have time to warm up, then you don’t have time to workout!
Before you participate in structured exercise, I recommend taking the time to do a proper warm-up that focuses on getting you into a better postural alignment before you start to train. If you are heading into a strength training session, your body will perform better if it is in a more optimal position. You will also be able to strengthen the muscles to hold you in this better position for longer. I notice a huge difference if I focus my warm-up on improving my starting posture.
Here are some examples for an upper body workout.
- Open the chest and shoulders. If you are planning to do some upper body exercises in your workout, it is best to make sure you have good mobility and activation in these areas first. There is no use in trying to get maximum results if your joints are compressed and the muscles have been dormant all day. This is an injury waiting to happen!
One exercise I include in my warm up is this Side Lying Lat Mobilization technique on the foam roller to increase overhead range of motion. I perform a variety of angles and rolls for approximately 60 seconds on each side. More details are included in the 6 Weeks to Better Posture Program.
2. Activate the weaker muscles. After I’ve worked on mobility, I like to get some of the smaller, weaker muscles activated so that they are awake and alert during my training session when I need them. It is easy for these smaller, weaker muscles to be over powered by the larger, more dominant ones (which is a HUGE contributor to poor posture). An example would be our upper traps constantly being overworked, while the smaller muscles keep quiet, such as the rotator cuff muscles.
like when you’re out to dinner with 2 people, and one of them does all the talking.
If you let the dominating muscles take over, a greater discrepancy in your biomechanics will manifest into some sort of pain or injury somewhere down the road. How many times have you heard of someone who hurt their shoulder doing something very minimal, like putting on their shoes or opening the car door?
This exercise is a small movement, which is why it is even more important. Dominating muscles such as your upper traps or biceps should NOT take over. This is a great warm up exercise for any push or pull movements, such as a chest press or a dumb bell row. Supine Scapula Retractions are part of the 6 Weeks to Better Posture Program, where more detailed instructions can be found. Focus on squeezing the shoulder blades from this supine position, holding for about 3 seconds. Repeat 2 sets of 15 prior to a workout.
More to come on our Members Only Balanced Posture Online — COMING SOON!
