Posture

Hi everyone - again! I am a busy girl on the forums today... got lots of ideas and concerns floating around in my head...

what are some good things to do to improve posture? I am looking for things I can do at home. The computer chair I have is the pits - maybe just getting a new chair would do the trick, but if there is anything else anyone can think of, do let me know....

i am trying to do "crunches" by sucking in my ab muscles (and still breathing), and holding for 5 seconds...those help, but I am looking to see if someone has something else to add....

thank you everyone

:)

As an add on to help me, any one know anything to help with getting your shoulders more pushed back? Am I just deformed or are there muscles that I can work? My shoulders look like they are curved forward and I don't know if it can be fixed.

I am with both of you, my daughter always yells at me to stard strait. She tell me to pretend I have a string in the center of my head and it is pulling me up. It works when I remember to do it. I also heard that buying one of those roll things that go on your chair pushes your back out and makes you sit taller.

To me it just comes naturally, I have great posture.
I think I can thank horse riding for that.
Just keep practicing.

Here's an exercise my chiropractor taught me

Stand about 1 foot away from the wall with feet apart at shoulder width.  Bend your knees and lean back into the wall.  Press the back of your neck and the small of your back into the wall.  Hold your arms out at shoulder height and press them back against the wall.  Keeping your arms against the wall, raise them over your head and then lower to your sides.  Repeat 3 times.

This is harder than it sounds.  It strengthens your upper back so you stand straighter.

I had terrible posture at work and we had these ergonomics people come in and assess how everyone sits at their desks.  So... ya... they totally rearranged my desk.  It turns out I was hurting my neck because my computer wasnt right in front of me and it was tilted at the wrong angle. Also, my chair was all wrong because the arms didn't adjust to let me sit in the right position in front of the computer unless my feet were off the ground.  And my hands were in the wrong place too because I had a huge monitor that took up all the space where I would have put my keyboard.  Anyway, it convinced my boss to order a flat screen monitor and a new chair that fits me right and now I am always comfortable.  I noticed a big change in my posture too - I am not slumped over so much anymore.

I definately recommend getting a new chair that fits you.  Make sure you go to the store and sit in it yourself to try it out.

Also, if I ever find myself slumping my shoulders forward, I do a couple shoulder rolls to loosen them up and end with my shoulders rolled back, which is the correct position for them anyway.

Yoga.  I've always had the most terrible posture ever.  I let my head droop forward and my entire rib cage collapse.  People think I'm several inches shorter than my sister, when really we're the same height.  Since I've been doing yoga, I've seen amazing improvements in my posture. 

What you want to do is try to pull your shoulder blades down your back.  It sounds weird, I know, but if you focus on pulling them down your back, your shoulders automatically go back without looking strained and your head rests above your spine. 

A good way to strengthen these back muscles is to do the 'modified cobra position' in yoga... lie on your stomach with a folded blanket under your hips, resting on your elbows with your forearms parallel and flat on the ground.  Your elbows should be directly below your shoulders.  Pull your shoulder blades down your back and try to 'pull' yourself forward with your forearms.  It's not a very strenuous exercise, but it works. 

If you can, you should also try doing some core exercise to strengthen all your torso muscles.  Simply working your abs won't do much; you need to work on your lower back, obliques, stomach, and upper back too.

I sit on an exercise ball, and it has helped me so much!