10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Posture (And One More Important Thing!)
Correct posture ensures good health, gives you confidence, and helps you look slimmer. However, despite all these benefits, most of us keep stooping, especially when sitting in front of the computer.
We at Bright Side would like to show you 10 simple exercises and tricks that will help make your back straight and keep it that way.
1. The greeting
Put your hands behind your back, and connect your palms as shown in the picture above. It’s important to make a straight line of your arms from one elbow to the other. Your shoulder blades should move to each other. Hold this position for 10 seconds.
2. The lock
Put one arm behind your back. Raise the other one, and put it near the shoulder blades bent at the elbow. Clench your hands in a lock, and pull your upper arm’s elbow up. Change hands after 5 seconds.
3. Twists
Without moving your lower body, put your hands behind your head and turn your upper torso to the left so that your shoulders are at a straight angle with the back of the chair. Hold this position for 5 seconds, and turn right.
4. Bends
Sit at the edge of a chair, and put your arms behind your head. Bend at the spine, and look at the ceiling. Slowly pull your head backward, still looking up, until you touch the back of the chair.
5. The stand
Stand up as shown in the picture. Make sure you feel the wall with both of your shoulder blades, buttocks, and calves. Strain your abs, and breathe deeply in and out several times.
6. The fall
This exercise continues the previous one. While still standing at the wall, spread your arms to the sides and slowly tilt forward without bending your knees. Hold this position for 10 seconds.
1. Holding your abs
The posture is kept by your back and abdominal muscles in equal measure. When you keep your abs strained, your back straightens by itself. A broad belt or a skirt or pants with a high waist will help keep your abdominal muscles in the correct tone.
2. A special pose
Sit on the edge of a chair, stuff one leg under the chair as far as you can, and stretch the other one. This pose will help you sit straight in order to keep your balance. Sit in this position after doing any exercise.
3. Back weight
When you work at a computer, hang something on your back to pull you back, making you keep your spine straight. A simple clothes hanger will do perfectly.
4. Chest weight
When doing house chores, hang a weighted backpack onto your front. Your body will attempt to cope with the weight and pull your shoulders back for balance.
Lastly, all these recommendations are of a short-term variety: they have an almost immediate effect that doesn’t hold for long. For best results, do the exercises above regularly, adding other ones you find.
You should also remember:
Your posture depends not only on your muscles but on the condition of your teeth as well — including the occlusion. Exercises may be insufficient to get rid of a stoop. Pay attention to your dental occlusion, and consult your dentist to solve the problem under professional monitoring.
Illustrated by Alena Tsarkova, Leonid Khan for BrightSide.me
Based on materials from dailyhealthpost, smashingtops, huffingtonpost
