Posture Perfect – Tips on How to Straighten Up!

Fitness Articles | January 24, 2007

Posture Perfect - Learn the facts and then some helpful tips on how to improve your posture through simple exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles that support your perfect posture. Improving your posture not only makes you look better but improves your breathing, reduces stress in the body, and helps you move more easily and efficiently.

How many people do you see with perfect posture? When you do see someone with good posture don't they look taller, thinner, and younger than they might be? Wouldn't you like to have good posture too?Good posture helps your body function at its best; you breathe better, move more efficiently, have more endurance, and just look better.

Most of us feel tension and pain in our shoulders and upper back; this is often due to incorrect posture either while sitting or standing.

Learning the causes of bad posture and how it affects the tension in other areas of the body is the first step in correcting and alleviating bad habits. Next, you'll need to know how to correct bad posture so you can move more confidently and with less pain and strain on the body.

Did you know some of these facts about posture?

Proper posture can help prevent many aches and pains including chronic back pain.
Wearing high heels regularly can lead to bad posture and back pain.
Being overweight can cause bad posture by pulling on the back and weakening abdominal muscles.
Stretching regularly can help to improve your posture.
When having to stand for long periods of time keep your abdominal muscles drawn in and hands at your side to improve posture and ward off back pain.
When you lift things with proper posture it helps to reduce injury risk. Keep the object close to you with your chest lifted, back straight, abdominal muscles drawn in, and then use the strength in your legs to lift the object not your back.
Good posture goes hand in hand with better balance.
Doing exercise that strengthens the core of the body, such as Pilates can help improve your posture.

Tips on how to improve your posture:

1. Strengthen your abdominal muscles through Pilates-based exercises. Having strong abdominal muscles supports your spine and allows you to stand up taller and with less pain.

Pilates exercises are well-known to realign the spine by correcting the length-tension imbalances in the muscles supporting the spine, pelvis, and shoulders. Thus, it assists the whole body in working more efficiently and with a stable, solid core.

2. Stretch the tight muscles, such as your hamstrings, which pull on the back muscles that cause pain resulting in a slouched posture.

3. Check your posture regularly in the mirror: Are your ears centered over your shoulders, chin parallel to the floor, chest lifted, shoulders over your hips, and abdominal muscles drawn in with a slight curve in the lower back.

4. When sitting pull your bottom right up against the back of the chair. Then stack the rest of the spine straight up so that your shoulders are right over the hips, ears over the shoulders, and your chin parallel to the floor.

5. Work on exercises that strengthen the upper and middle back muscles. Lateral rowing exercises and some of the Pilates-based mat exercises including the elbow lift lying on your stomach are just a couple to start with.

Article Tags: Abdominal Muscles Drawn, Abdominal Muscles, Muscles Drawn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Adolfs is a certified Pilates Mat and Equipment Specialist who works with musculoskeletal injuries. Her new Pilates Ebook outlines special considerations for those affected by back and joint conditions. You can learn more by going to her web site at http://www.Pilates-Back-Joint-Exercise.com