Bad Posture.....

PanteraGirl

Okay so I have really bad posture.....I will try and explain my back to you and hope that it makes sense.....I have larger shoulder blades...then my spine arches, then my butt kinda sticks out.....so when I where a tight shirt...you could see an arch in my spine. I have big boobs so that doesn't help my posture.

I have recently been trying to correct my posture by sitting up straight, however when standing and walking, I find when straighten up my upper body, my lower back and butt arch out even further. I feel like Im sticking my butt out to the world!

A few people have told me that I should be tucking my butt in and tightening my ab muscles at the same time to get more exercise and improve my posture....

Does this make sense to anyone...I tried it on my walk with my dogs yesterday and my muscles are sore....Does anyone else have this problem....I can't afford a chiropractor..just looking for some friendly advice.

bangiempangie

I have terrible posture, pretty much a hunchback. I am thinking it is from all the years of lack of self confidence.
I am constantly trying to stand up straight with my shoulders back but after a couple minutes I found myself slouching again. I wish I knew a way to correct this. It is so not flattering!!

pilotgirl2007

Try adding some flexibility training into you workouts or on your days off. I am a runner and I find that my posture suffers due to tight muscles. Especially if you have tight hip flexors and weaker abs it will cause your pelvis to tilt throwing off your posture. I have really horrible posture and I try to remind myself to sit up straight (and when I saw the title of this post I sat right up! lol)

I have a whole book on how to stretch and part of it is a stretching routine to help with posture. I think the title is just "stretching"

edit: try doing some of the yoga poses you can find here http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/finder/anatomical_focus/shoulders

skinnyhappy

Hi! I had terrible posture until recently. Yoga has helped me some, and maintaining constant awareness of how I'm sitting/standing is helping a ton! YES it's painful. I found I tended to sit with one shoulder forward and now that I've started to correct it I get strange pains in my chest. I will say I've focused on this for a bit over a month and the amount of soreness/pain I'm experiencing is subsiding a bit. I have large boobs, too and I definitely think it makes correcting posture more difficult but it can be done.

And YES you're supposed to tuck your butt in and contract your abs. A good way to simulate this feeling is to lie on the floor with you feet flat on the ground. Roll your pelvis in toward you, draw your belly button in toward your back. Do this until your lower back is touching the floor. THAT'S the feeling you want while standing. It won't be as pronounced but it will be similar.

My posture was so bad I started to noticed a small hump below my neck where my back starts. I got scared, I'm not even 30, so I took action. It's unreal how much it's improved even within a month. Make it your top priority. You can fix it, and I can't even tell you how much it's helped my confidence and overall appearance! GOOD LUCK!

heathergettingfit

I use a stability ball and I have found that it is a great too for helping to stretch and length the muscles in the abs, hips and back. This has helped me with my posture. Also, flattening the shoulders and slightly tucking in the chin helps to straighten your posture. I have the worst posture when I drive. I make myself flatten and tuck in order to sit up straight in the car.

LJV1031

I would agree with the stretches to improve posture, also if you went for a walk with your dogs and feel sore (NOT PAIN), then it can be a good thing, because you are engaging muscles that you haven't been using with walking, in the past. Strengthen your abs, because the core of the body is SO important to posture, especially since you, like myself, have a large chest. If your abs are stronger, it will help when strengthening your back. Also concentrate on your walking and sitting posture. Okay, that's my two cents, hope it helps. :happy: