Posture issues?

[mama2James]

I have some lifelong posture issues that I have very recently been trying to focus on correcting...mostly through sheer force of will at this point lol. I am tired of catching myself in mirrors or photos and seeing ugly posture. My family occasional mentions it, but they usually don't because they know I am sensitive about it.
I tend to stoop with my shoulders rounded forward and my tummy pooched out a bit. When I am sitting to eat, drive or use the computer, I round my shoulders and tend to jut my head forward and my chin up a bit.
Holding a correct posture is difficult for me, but I have been trying to retrain my muscles by focusing on it while doing certain activities like driving, showering, brushing my teeth etc. I also try to correct myself whenever I notice my position throughout the day. I hope that over time my body will "learn" new habits.
Even when I am trying my best however, I feel like my shoulders cannot go down and back as much as they should because the muscles in my chest are short and tight and my back muscles are weak. I found some posture correction excersize videos by a chiropractor on youtube so I have been doing some of those moves.
Just hoping to hear anyone else's experience with posture problems, what's worked and what hasn't... Thanks in advance!

[pollypurebred39]

I've heard great things about this product

Shoulders Back Posture Support Lite from ActiveForever.com -

[McD]

I have really bad posture in regards to my hips/buns. I pop them out in the back, so my tummy is out a bit. I have to make a conscious effort to pull it all 'in-line'.

Never noticed it until I was in the military,

[mama2James]

I have really bad posture in regards to my hips/buns. I pop them out in the back, so my tummy is out a bit. I have to make a conscious effort to pull it all 'in-line'.

Never noticed it until I was in the military,

I do that too! Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to make up for my lack of buns lol I do have a bit more back there now that I've had 2 kiddos though

[Ali Lee]

I have been telling my daughters all their life... to stand up straight, shoulders back. Now with my youngest turning 30 in a month, I'm still saying it & catching myself saying it to my gr'kids & SIL's!!!!!! What's up with slouching?? Drives me nuts!!!

[frugal is fun]

I don't have bad posture but I do make an effort to walk with shoulders back and my head up, rather than looking down.

When I was pregnant I was very concerned about my posture.

There is a simple exercise that you can do to strengthen your core. Get on all fours and extend your left arm out straight and your right leg out straight, hold then reverse, right arm, left leg. This is not a speed exercise. Do these slowly and concertrate on form.

one of the benefits of yoga is core strength.

[Libby]

My dad had a mini-stroke (TIA) recently and his physiotherapist suggested two exercises to help him 'unslouch' which he never used to.

Chicken Wing - tuck yer thumbs under each armpit and while keeping them there pull back like you're strutting your stuff like the proud bird that you are lol. Puff yer chest out - hold this for a count of 10 then relax. Slowly increase the time and hold longer as you get better. This should be done while standing.

Hands Up - standing with your back against a wall, raise your arms in front of you then slowly continue to raise them over your head so you're reaching to the sky. Your shoulder blades should be touching the wall still - the tops of your shoulder blades. (When your arms are down its your lower blade touching the wall) While keeping your feet flat on the ground, stretch/reach for the sky! This should be done for a count of 10 then return to relaxed posture and increase the duration as you get better.

Both of these open up your posture and stretch out the muscles so they don't compact and grow into the hunched position.

[mama2James]

I have been telling my daughters all their life... to stand up straight, shoulders back. Now with my youngest turning 30 in a month, I'm still saying it & catching myself saying it to my gr'kids & SIL's!!!!!! What's up with slouching?? Drives me nuts!!!

Yep, I heard it all the time as a kid too. Less now that I'm an adult and the people close to me know that it bothers me. The thing is, your body position is controlled by reflexes, unless you are actively thinking about it, similar to breathing. So, most of the time, the sloucher isn't aware she is slouching. I'm hoping to retrain my reflexes to hold me upright instead

[JerryG]

One thing that was / is most helpful for me is yoga. It makes you very conscience of how aligned your body is.

If you don't want to pay for a class (I take mine at a local community college and it's fairly inexpensive) get a book out of the library and practice in front of a mirror. I don't have a full length mirror anymore but since I've taken classes, I can 'catch' where my posture is lacking.

[ncarr]

There is a simple exercise that you can do to strengthen your core. Get on all fours and extend your left arm out straight and your right leg out straight, hold then reverse, right arm, left leg. This is not a speed exercise. Do these slowly and concertrate on form.

one of the benefits of yoga is core strength.

I do those too! We always called them "dead bugs" but I'm not really sure why lol

I have bad posture. I tend to round my shoulders forward. I have to think about rolling my shoulders back all of the time.

[shoiji]

I have been noticing that my shoulders are rounded and I am not standing straight up. I have been trying to do more exercises for my upper arms and stomach. One thing I try to remember to do is to walk while holding in my stomach. Gymnasts will walk around holding in there stomach and rear. It seems to help keep me up right. Plus I noticed when sitting if I sit up straight that my belly actually gets smaller.

[summertimegriller]

Oh I have a bad posture problem too. I have a bad back plus it doesn't help that we have horrible chairs at work. ha ha. Thanks everyone for your great advice. I'll try some and see how it works.