5 easy ways to improve your posture
To have good posture, you need to have a strong, stable and supportive foundation.
It’s like attempting to build a house on sand, if you don’t lay the concrete it’s not going to support you. Our hips are much like the concrete - they are our base of support and our centre of gravity. If there is no foundation, the force of gravity lands on the shoulders and neck, which over time may lead to the formation of a dowager's hump, and possibly kyphosis and/or upper cross syndrome.
Maintaining hip stability requires the activation of the deep, local pelvic stabilizer muscles in the hips and the core. In order to activate these you must have a strong neuromuscular connection to these muscles. You need to be able to engage them by simply using your brain, rather than relying on the dominant structures to take over.
If the neuromuscular control in your pelvis is weak, you may be prone to an increased risk of lower back pain, which can also be related to poor core strength and/or lordosis.
Basic level pelvic stability comes from engaging the major local pelvic structures and abdominal muscles called the transverse abdominus. I often refer to these groups of muscle as the T-zone or our built-in belt. It is absolutely necessary to engage them if you desire to maintain hip stability.
By following these 5 easy steps, you will improve pelvic stability and posture.
- Engage the Transverse Abdominus (T-zone): 5 – 10 sec holds x 8
- Breathing into the rib cage, not the belly
- Laying on your back
- Legs bent
- Squeeze internally, pulling your belly button to the base of the spine, which creates a posterior pelvic tilt
- Hold 10 secs, and repeat
- Can also try walking, sitting, standing, etc.
- Engage deep local muscles in the hips: 8 x 5 - 10 sec holds - Both sides
- Side-lying with a thick pillow between legs imagine drawing heels together as if you were doing a clam but not squeezing or lifting the leg.
- While you’re learning you can actually draw the heels together, without lifting the top leg
- Feel the deep pelvic and bum muscles engaging
- Repeat on the other side
3. Extend the neck muscles: 10 second holds – up to 30 second
- Standing against the wall, feet, butt, and head touching, try to get as many double chins ad possible.
- Ensure shoulders don’t lift up
4. Pack shoulder on the wall: 8 – 10 rep’s x 2/3 sets
- Holding arm out straight at shoulder height against a wall
- Make a slight decline, moving your feet away, while keeping your body straight
- Engage T- zone, and relax shoulders down from ears
- Slowly draw the shoulder blades backward and towards the midline, bending at the elbows slightly and pulling them towards the torso
- Then release moving the shoulders forwards and repeat
5. Stretch the levator scapulae: 10 second holds – up to 30 seconds
- Standing against the wall, with the feet, butt, and head touching
- Ensure shoulders don’t lift up
- Let chin drop, look to one side, then apply press with your hand to the opposite side of the head.
- Repeat on the other side
These are just a few examples of the types of treatment plans I offer in my online programs.
If you are someone who is committed to creating the healthiest version of themselves, as consistently as possible but is struggling to stay accountable, then this is the program for you!
Or perhaps you are like me and became inconsistent with your training after a burnout and needed something new and supportive to keep you motivated, then this is the program for you!
If you are a high-performance person, committed to taking action to achieve your goals daily, them this is the program for you!
Feeling the call to get involved with the online programs?... Join the Tribe and I will be in touch.