Has anyone successfully improved their posture?

[In_infamy]

Hi,

I have very bad posture and have always had it. I was wondering if anyone has successfully improved their posture and if they could share tips?

Thanks

[gregarious_introvert]

I don't really have any tips, In_infamy, but when I was working on improving my posture, my main problem was that my body was so used to being slouched that the moment I forgot to pull back my shoulders, I returned to my "natural" position.

When walking, I tried to fix on a point in the distance to keep my head up (for years, I'd had the habit of looking at the ground) and when sitting, trying to make contact with the back of the chair all the way to my shoulders. I do believe that improving my posture also had a positive impact on my confidence and that in turn, my improved confidence further improved my posture, so I hope you will benefit from making the change.

[Mr. Nobody]

back exercises are good for this, especially ones for your lordosis.
I think weight lifting is good too for posture,
but obviously it's something most people need to build up to slowly,
I'm still at the stage of just trying to do simple core exercises, with no weights.

[Formershyguy]

Weight training is very good for posture. I've also improved my posture dramatically by observing how famous cool people behave like James Bond (Daniel Craig).

[am1000]

I found abs exercises worked. Once I had strengthened my abs, a bit I was noticeably standing straighter.

[In_infamy]

Thanks guys, I am actually looking into some exercise apps (including sit up ones) and am trying to eat more because I am very underweight. I echo another poster about returning to a "default" slouch positon because that's all I've even known because of the anxiety.

[Sisyphus]

My posture was poor for most of my life and this resulted in lots of back pain and ultimately a prolapsed disc.

The prolapsed disc now makes it mandatory for me to hold my back correctly and gives me every incentive to do so.

If you can do anything to improve your posture I would urge you strongly to make the effort.

For me it is about strong core muscles that now have to do the work of the ligaments that have been torn.

This comes down to two main things; exercise and constantly reminding myself to get back into the correct position.

I try to make it to the gym every other day. Doing the exercises at home is perfectly possible; it is simply that I didn’t do them.

The exercises I do specifically for my back are to lie on my stomach with my arms extended forwards and then lift both my upper body and legs off the ground and back down again. I do that 15 times twice.

I do the same the other way up, so I lift my bum off the ground using my shoulders and heels.

These are combined in with other mat exercises and having a session with a personal trainer made sure I did everything needed to maintain a balance.

Lifting free weights is also very helpful. Make sure you get advice from a personal trainer on this though.

To remind myself to adjust posture I find that having a support, like a rolled up towel, in the small of my back when I am sitting helps. If I find that I am using it to rest my back against I then pull my back back into position.

As has been mentioned, as soon as I stop thinking about it I revert back to my old ways. I must have pulled myself upright half a dozen times while writing this. Over the years it has got a lot better and I am maintaining a good posture for much longer than I did when I started.

Good luck.

[limey123]

The Alexander Technique helped me. I had very poor posture and gait until then. But I feel my posture getting poor again during times of nervousness.

[In_infamy]

Originally Posted by Sisyphus

My posture was poor for most of my life and this resulted in lots of back pain and ultimately a prolapsed disc.

The prolapsed disc now makes it mandatory for me to hold my back correctly and gives me every incentive to do so.

If you can do anything to improve your posture I would urge you strongly to make the effort.

For me it is about strong core muscles that now have to do the work of the ligaments that have been torn.

This comes down to two main things; exercise and constantly reminding myself to get back into the correct position.

I try to make it to the gym every other day. Doing the exercises at home is perfectly possible; it is simply that I didn’t do them.

The exercises I do specifically for my back are to lie on my stomach with my arms extended forwards and then lift both my upper body and legs off the ground and back down again. I do that 15 times twice.

I do the same the other way up, so I lift my bum off the ground using my shoulders and heels.

These are combined in with other mat exercises and having a session with a personal trainer made sure I did everything needed to maintain a balance.

Lifting free weights is also very helpful. Make sure you get advice from a personal trainer on this though.

To remind myself to adjust posture I find that having a support, like a rolled up towel, in the small of my back when I am sitting helps. If I find that I am using it to rest my back against I then pull my back back into position.

As has been mentioned, as soon as I stop thinking about it I revert back to my old ways. I must have pulled myself upright half a dozen times while writing this. Over the years it has got a lot better and I am maintaining a good posture for much longer than I did when I started.

Good luck.

Wow I didn't realise having bad posture can escalate into more serious health problems. Sorry to hear you have that. The tips you provided are very helpful. I found an app which does stretching exercises which I find easier to do than the resistance training exercises (as I am underweight). I feel a lot better doing the stretching than the resistance training. I am thinking I have to start doing stretching exercises first before I can go onto do any kind of resistance exercise because I have zero muscle

It's great to hear from a lot of people that resistance exercise was helpful, and that all the pain was eventually worth it!!

[In_infamy]

Originally Posted by Vasco Da Gama

I'm still at the stage of just trying to do simple core exercises, with no weights.

I'm the same Vasco. Do you follow a particular programme? What core exercises do you do?

[DanielleGaresh]

Yes !!!

Anything that strengthens the lower and upper back muscles is great.

Also increasing shoulder flexibility helps - I use a tie each morning and rotating my shoulders whilst hold the tie - you feel your shoulder bones scraping, and your chest lengthening - but it's great

When you have a strong back - it pulls your ( newly flexible) shoulders back , which puffs out your chest and it makes you *look* confident - even if inside you're not.

I suppose if you look confident, people will react to you differently and off the back of that it may help your SA

It hasn't cured mine but it's a little cog in my journey and pursuit of happiness

[Deadbeatunderadustymoon]

as others said weight training