How is your posture? (part 1)

During my career as a personal trainer I have learned that one of the most important aspects of an individual’s musculoskeletal health is their posture.  Poor posture is one of the most common mistakes I see in the gym.  Posture defined is a relative placement or arrangement of an individual’s body or body parts.  Our body is designed to hold our joints in a position that minimizes the stress placed on them.  However, most of our bodies have lost this natural alignment.  

When training a person I will often place his/her lower back, shoulders, and neck in proper alignment and he or she will tell me how awkward and uncomfortable this position feels.  This is because after multiple years of sitting at a desk, walking improperly, slouching while working on the computer or watching TV, the body’s muscles tighten and remodel themselves to find a way to make this poor posture feel comfortable.

For many people the first step to good posture is strengthening their rhomboids. This is easily accomplished at the gym with an exercise such as cable rows.  In lieu of a trip to the weight room, try this simple exercise:

Shoulder blade squeezes- Sitting in a chair, lift your arms to shoulder level with palms facing the floor.  Bend your elbows to 90 degrees.  Sit up big and tall and squeeze your shoulder blades together (think about trying to squeeze your elbows together behind you).  Hold for 5 seconds, repeat 10 times.

Next week I'll cover several more exercises to improve your posture.

Walk tall this week!

Joey Smith

ACE-Certified Personal Trainer

734-747-0123