Posture 101: Do you have rounded shoulders?

A topic not often discussed until it is too late. So this post will primarily focus on identifying signs of rounded shoulders, the causes and the steps needed to rectify your posture.

Identification:
The “Pencil Test” involves holding a pencil (or pen) in each hand. As shown in the photo below, if the pencils are pointing straight forward with your arms comfortably at your sides, that indicates correct posture. If on the other hand the pencils are facing each other, or are rotated at an angle, then you have internally rotated shoulders.



Causes:
The major causes for rounded shoulder is sitting with a bad posture, especially in an office while typing, or using an imbalanced exercise routine with excessive chest pressing. This forces chest muscles to tighten, which can internally rotate the shoulders forward, weakening the postural muscles in the upper back.

Solution:
There is a variety of exercises that would address rounded shoulders - I am just going to touch base on a few but feel welcome to share more below.

In order to rectify rounded shoulder a bigger emphasis needs to be places in strengthening the upper back muscles, and rear deltoids. It is therefore suggested that exercises such as face pulls, reverse fly's, planking and inverted rows be incorporated to correct the imbalance. Myofascial release could also be used to aid in relieving tightness in the chest.


I apologise for any grammatical errors as it was a quick write up before going for my jog.