Have You Shrunk?
This post was inspired by a conversation I had with my 17 year old niece. She said she had “St. Pierre posture.”
I as a St. Pierre do not have bad posture. Posture is not hereditary.
True my father had poor posture, and my brothers have poor posture. But these days I look around and see many, many, many people both young and old have poor posture. That rounded spine and head forward posture. We humans exist in that always forward position. Think about how you sit at your desk with rounded shoulders and a slouched spine.
Sure the spine has natural curves but yes we humans seem to be moved to excessive kyphosis (spine is curved more than typical) in the thoracic spine. You might be leaned forward, hunched over, while running, or cycling, or hiking, skiing, lifting weights, etc.
Especially when on our phones!
It is everywhere!
Stop and take note. Look around you: in the gym, grocery store, school, work…
Back to me. I was shrinking!
The good news is this can changed.
So, I did work on my posture to improve it after seeing too many photos of myself with my head jutted forward, rounded spine and shoulders, and my belly protruding.
But what is the big deal about poor posture, why does it matter? Who cares? Why should any of us care?
Have you been shrinking over the years?
There are symptoms that may come along with shrinking. Are you developing a belly? Is your lung capacity declining? Does your back hurt? Frequent Headaches when you never had them before? Are your muscles stiff? And perhaps the worst symptom is spinal disc are being compressed due to the excessive curve. Or a pinched nerve. Do you have a hard time standing straight or just standing in general (especially with aging)?
Your license from 4 years ago has you at 5’6” but you are now 5’5”?
Good news! For most of us kyphosis can be improved…provided that you actually put these exercises to practice.
Follow my video and get to it!
Grab a roller and a tennis ball or something similar as we will start with mobilizing the soft tissue first then add in a few activation exercises using a set of dumbbells in the 2-5 lb range.
Start with the pectoral muscles: tight chest muscles draw us forward so a good place to begin is there. Using a roller, tennis ball, or lacrosse ball will work. This can be done on the floor or in a door jam. The tissues, muscle and fascia that wraps the muscle, can become tight, stiff and a bit gnarly so they don’t slide and glide very effectively. The overactive tissue can then pull the shoulders forward, rounding the thoracic spine. The shoulders rounded are out of place, not sitting in the shoulder joint. This may limit the power you produce, and/or have you doing an exercise, for the shoulder for example, yet the should is not in the correct position while you do the exercise. This translates into not developing the muscle the exercise is meant to be addressing as well as causing pain.
After the front side work you will move to the trapezius and shoulders. These areas can be rather sensitive, so be sure to breathe deeply to relax as well as “own” the position. These soft tissues (muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons) can be over stretched, under active, tight and sticky around the spine.
After the mobilizing work I give you two exercises to strengthen the backside, engaging the shoulder blades and upper back.
Be sure to follow along-don’t be a tourist by watching-get to it!
If you begin with these steps, you will begin the process of shifting your posture by both adding loosening the front of the body while tightening the back side to improve your ability to stand tall, breathe deep, and move efficiently!