Postural Kyphosis

[Eleanorsbee]

Now I have lost 20lbs one thing stand out more than normal .. and thats a pretty hunched back and forward neck, most probably from a life spent hunched in front of a computer.

 

Whats the best way to remedy this ...... will working out such as press ups, pull ups, DB rows help with this, (and sitting properly) .... or is there some specific exercise I can do to get my shoulders and neck back in a manly confident position ?

 

 

Thanks 

[Shortgorilla]

Deadlifts, face pulls, high pulls.  Use a roller to loosen up your back and break up some of the fascia.  Lot's of stretching and mobility work.

 

Any exercise that opens your chest and causes you to retract your scapulae is going to help.  Work on it every day, multiple times a day if you can.

[Eleanorsbee]

Cheers for the advice ..... I'll do that before the local cast of Notre Damme get in touch with me

[Dleffe]

If I remeber this correctly, bent over rows. They train the romboids, normally used during deadlifts to keep your upper back from hunching.

[Eleanorsbee]

Oh thats good then as they are part of my workout since I started the 6WC

[Eleanorsbee]

Well, upped the weight on my dumbbell Row ..... but the advice

 

"use a roller" ... wow, no one told me about these before .... the 1st time I used it it was akin to being stabbed in the back, but I felt about 4kg lighter afterwards (go figure) .... this morning the pain of rolling is no where near, and again I feel quite lively afterwards 

 

who would have figured a £10 bet of foam could do so much 

[Shortgorilla]

I made my own roller out of a length of PVC and some of that rubber carpet-grip stuff, and some duct tape.  Works wonders.

[Machete]

I've had posture problems all my life. The best thing I ever did for it personally was heavy front squats. It forces proper spinal alignment and core bracing, otherwise you miss the lift. If you can eventually work up to a 1.5x BW Front Squat, that would be a great level of relative strength.

[Oramac]

I've had posture problems all my life. The best thing I ever did for it personally was heavy front squats. It forces proper spinal alignment and core bracing, otherwise you miss the lift. If you can eventually work up to a 1.5x BW Front Squat, that would be a great level of relative strength.

 

I've been seriously thinking about switching to front squats for a little while.  Might just have to do that. 

[Razzy]

Mental exercises can help with this as well. I share one I learned from choir.

 

Imagine you are a puppet with a string attached to the very top of your head and it's pulling you up like a marionette. I always try to remember this and found lately that I push my hips forward and this makes me straighten out much better.

 

By the end of the day when I first started doing this, my lower back was sore -- all those muscles weren't used to working properly!

[Eleanorsbee]

hips you say ? ....... I struggle with that pose ..... hips out is very close to Groinal thrust, of which I get told off for at work

 

[Barmacral]

What I did for mine was a lot of pullups and rows and stretching my chest muscles. While my posture isn't perfect yet I no longer have a hunch and look much much better than I once did.

[Shortgorilla]

Elliot Hulse did a good video about posture where he recommends doing any exercise that will open up your chest.  So rear dumbell flys, face pulls, etc.  Think of it like working the muscles that directly oppose the hunch.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

I started lifting last November and it's definitely improved my posture. Hooray for back exercises and rows of all kinds!

 

Still, progress has been slow, mainly because the posture problems have likely been accumulating for over 20 years. I was somewhat expecting this to be the case, though, and I'm not letting that discourage me. What does discourage me is how the world seems to be set up in a manner that promotes shitty posture. Texting or reading? Neck slopes way too far forward. Driving? Many car seats seem to shove your shoulders and head forward. This isn't limited to just car seats, either. The campus library chair I'm sitting in as I type this isn't too bad for the shoulders if I bring it close to the desk and lean back, but then my neck is still bent forward too much. It's like one can't win unless they're standing up all the time.

 

The workouts are great, but how do you all deal with the little every day things that assault proper posture?

 

 

Mental exercises can help with this as well. I share one I learned from choir.

 

Imagine you are a puppet with a string attached to the very top of your head and it's pulling you up like a marionette. I always try to remember this and found lately that I push my hips forward and this makes me straighten out much better.

 

I've done this and it works great, but I can never maintain it for more than a few minutes at a time. Still trying, though! Probably harder now that I know it also helps with hip posture X)

[jfreaksho]

I started lifting last November and it's definitely improved my posture. Hooray for back exercises and rows of all kinds!

 

The workouts are great, but how do you all deal with the little every day things that assault proper posture?

 

I've done this and it works great, but I can never maintain it for more than a few minutes at a time. Still trying, though! Probably harder now that I know it also helps with hip posture X)

Constant vigilance!  You need to be aware of your posture as much as you possibly can.  Sit *actively*.  Choose your posture as best you possibly can.  Usually this means not using the back of the chair at all, or else pushing your butt as far back in the chair as it will go.  Workouts will help (rows, farmer carries, all kinds of stuff really), as will loosening tightness in the chest and across the upper back, but those things won't necessarily make up for 8 hours a day hunched over your books or keyboards.

 

Car seats (bucket seats especially) are terrible, and I've never quite figured out how to make them not suck.

 

Texting and reading should be done at a level where you can drop your eyes to the page, rather than your head. (Beware of apple-pickers when you are walking around, though.)  Sit forward on the edge of the chair, using your body to maintain the position.  Setting a reminder to buzz every 10 minutes can help you maintain it better.

 

Alternative positions are great, too.  I find that studying while laying on the floor works really well for me.  I can lay on one side or the other, on my back, or stomach.  Sometimes if I need to adjust I'll use a pillow under my hips while lying on my stomach.

 

As far as I can tell, after the big "standing desk" craze, people are starting to realize that it isn't just about sitting, but about staying in the same position for too long.  Standing for hours without moving has its own issues, same same but different.  Move more.

[Steppinon D'Arrows]

I'm working on this very problem right now.  I'm a little self conscious about my looks.

BTW, was that picture I saw up there from one of the series of Blackadder? I loved that show!

[El Exorcisto]

On top of everything that's already been said, roll your pecs against the wall with a baseball or something similar. Be prepared for levels of pain that make foam rolling your back feel like a day at Disney.