Work(out) on Your Posture
We all know focusing on good form during our workouts is the key to progress, but what about daily life? Did you know good posture plays an important role in improving and maintaining our quality of life?
Every day activities - from carrying a heavy purse or backpack, to working at your desk, slouching on the couch while watching tv, or even looking down at your phone, can all contribute to improper posture - resulting in sloping shoulders, a hunched back, or even assymetrical body alignment (trust us - that heavy purse really isn’t good for your shoulders and neck). Not only that, but poor posture in one area will usually lead to aches and pains in another - stiff shoulders, a tight neck, or a sore back.
Good posture doesn’t just make us look and feel more confident, but will keep your neck, back and shoulders strong and ache-free. It’s also important as we age - helping to prevent injuries and ensuring we stay flexible.
Read on to find workouts and tips to improve your posture - it’s never too late to start paying attention to it!
Stretching
When you think of working out to improve your posture, you may think about yoga and stretching first. And they’re a great way to help lengthen muscles that are shortening and/or pulling forward. Stretching these muscles helps to lengthen them and correct their position, so that your shoulders are pulled back and down, and your spine and neck are straight.
Bianca takes you through six stretches for the entire body - perfect for office workers to do at their desk.
Don't forget about good ergonomic practices while you're at work. Make sure your feet are on the floor, your monitor at eye level, and your keyboard and mouse at a comfortable height that keeps your shoulders low.
Yoga can help strengthen our back and core muscles, on top of providing a deep stretch to lengthen our neck, shoulders and chest muscles that may be pulling forward due to everyday activities. Tomo takes you through a hatha flow that uses twists and binds to stretch out the back and shoulders.
Fundamental Exercises
Ever wonder why certain exercises and movements are popular and why we do them? Fundamental movements at the gym help us in our everyday life - from correcting our posture to ensuring we're able to carry our groceries without injury. Wendy shows you three key movements and explains why you should be doing them.
A popular movement in the gym, the deadlift actually helps to correct a forward leaning posture. If you find yourself leaning forward due to working at a computer too much, this is a great way to strengthen you back (and glutes) to help improve your posture.
How to Back Squat (Y@HOME+ Member Exclusive)
The back squat will obviously work your lower body, but it’s also a great move to strengthen your lower back and core muscles - making it a great movement to incorporate in a posture improvement routine.
How to Do a Lat Pull (Y@HOME+ Member Exclusive)
Working out your serratus posterier muscles with a lat pull helps to keep your ribcage depressed, as well as your traps down so that you don’t get an achey feeling in your neck. If you feel that your shoulders are constantly raised towards your ears, or looking a little lopsided from carrying heavy objects on your dominant side, this is the move for you!
A Strong Core
A strong core and posterier muscles (including the glutes, hamstrings, calves, erector spinae, lats, and rear shoulder muscles) are major players in maintaining and improving your posture. Strengthening the muscles in your lower back and core will also help to improve lower back pain.
Mike takes you through six foundational core exercises so that you can use to start strengthening your abdominal muscles. This is the perfect core workout if you’re new to core work.
Develop your Core’s Power and Stability (Y@HOME+ Member Exclusive)
Adding light dumbbells to your core workout not only increases the intensity and your overall strength, but will also help to improve your stability.
30-Minute Total 10 Pilates Class (Y@HOME+ Member Exclusive)
This pilates workout will help you with improving your posture, body alignment, and core development. Using high repititions, Lisa takes you through an advanced core routine that will leave you sweating.