drop the back posture routine 👀
i incorporate a mix of a few of these back and core exercises when i exercise to train those muscles to better support my upper body. people with poor posture tend to have very underdeveloped back & core muscles. some of these require equipment and some do not
BACK: rows, lat pulldowns, floor angels, swimmers, dumbell pullovers
CORE: planks, russian twists, shoulder taps, twisted ball lifts, bicycles, crunches, weighted side bends
i work out about 4-5x a week and do at least SOME core every time but i don’t do back every time, i’ll do back stuff only about twice a week. you definitely do not have to work out this frequently to achieve results. doing just a couple of the above exercises a couple times a week + posture stretches is also sufficient but consistency is the ultimate key
after every training session i’ll do a posture stretch before i move to the treadmill so i can spend my cardio time practicing walking upright/correctly
the stretch i like to do the most is:
1. stand completely flat against the wall, including your shoulders
2. walk your feet out about a foot from the wall so only the back of your head is touching the wall. if you have poor posture your arms will usually start off wanting to rest in front of you/on your thighs
3. set a timer for one minute and focus on letting your shoulders and arms hang back more perpendicularly to the wall/fingers pointing to the floor instead of resting them on your thighs or having them pushed too far forward (you should feel the stretch in your neck and shoulder blades as the minute goes on)
4. when the time is up, DO NOT pop off of the wall. slowly walk your feet back to stand in starting position with your heels and shoulders back against the wall. slowly walk off the wall with your back straight, head held high, and shoulders back. the first time i did this stretch it felt soooo good and the difference was obvious
5. you can repeat up to 3x throughout the day. but i honestly only do this 2x a day on workout days
there are also other posture exercises out there that will achieve a similar effect/result. the key is finding one or two that’s easy to set up and that you LIKE to do so you’ll WANT to do it. consistency and habit-building are paramount. try out a bunch of stuff til you find something that clicks and don’t be afraid to switch things up if you start to get bored!
