To gain correct posture we must learn how and what effects our posture.

Posture is the alignment and position your body adopts at any given moment based on what your brain is telling it to do. A good way to think of posture is that it is your ‘default’ position at any moment.

If you are reading this it is likely that you have bad posture or are worried that you are getting poor posture.  Maybe you are aware that something you are doing on a regular basis may be causing your posture to change for the worse.

Take action to correct your posture now, the longer you leave it, the harder it becomes to make those corrective changes.

Posture does not just refer to a standing still position, we hold a posture in everything we do.

If we bend forwards to pick something off the ground, the way I would do it is different to the way you would do it. This is because the blueprint patterns or maps that our brain has created over time tells our bodies how to best go about performing certain tasks. The reason it is different for each individual is that everyone has different amounts of strength, weaknesses, tension, pain, ability to balance, etc. – we are all made differently.

IDENTIFY AND FIX POSTURE PROBLEMS:

LORDOTIC – An abnormal forward curvature of the spine in the lumbar region.

CORRECTIVE EXERCISE: Glute Bridges
(click image for instruction)
          

KYPHOTIC – Abnormal rearward curvature of the spine, resulting in protuberance of the upper back; hunchback.

CORRECTIVE EXERCISE: Prone Stick-Ups
Best posture exercise for…slouching too much when sitting, or else hunchbacks, or else kyphosis.
(click image for instruction)
           

SWAYBACK – An excessive downward curvature of the spinal column in the dorsal region.

CORRECTIVE EXERCISE: Feet Secured Sit-Ups
Sit-ups to strengthen lower abdominal and hip flexor muscle
(click image for instruction)
          

FLATBACK –  Loss of either lordosis or kyphosis or both, making the spine straight.

CORRECTIVE EXERCISE: Cat/Cow or Pelvic Tilts
Cat/Cow focusing especially on the COW!
(click image for instruction)
           

For more information regarding postural deficiencies and corrective exercises, Click Here.