Will the mobility and HS work improve posture ?

Hi !

 

I'm asking this beause i have a bit of thoracic kyphosis ( shoulders tend to lean forward ) from sitting at the computer too much and i was wondering if Coaches described exercises in H1 will also help to fix it ?

 

I noticed that Coaches students have very good posture and it is probably from the Gymnastics training right ?

I also work at a computer full-time, and tend to default into the same position.

 

My wife has commented that my posture has improved already.

 

I am working on HS/PE1 (Tripod) and also including additional HS/PE2>iM for a few sets afterward. F1 is helping immensely too, especially with my lumbar spine, alongside some stretching to counteract short/tight hips from sitting so much. The iMs for HS1 are perfect for strengthening weak traps/rhomboids, and lengthening tight chest/shoulders which for me are the major problem.

 

You will also need to think about your working posture as well. It's going to be tough to override 8 hrs of slouching over a keyboard with 1/2 hour of mobility work. I have started sitting on my swiss ball again, which makes me sit upright at least, and have a stretch band on my desk to do a few band* dislocates through the day if I'm feeling tight.

 

* a stick would be better, but won't fit in my drawer.

 

What works for me is having a few triggers throughout the day, for example - At work, when it's my turn to make a cuppa I fill the kettle right up, so I have time to stretch out my shoulders/chest and do a set of wrist stretches. If my hips are feeling tight I'll spend a few minutes in a paleo chair instead, or grab a stool and do a glute/piriformis stretch. That means I'll remember to do it 2-3 times a day.

George basically summed it up. I'd like to add that you should not neglect re-alignment of your neck - the cue I use is to lightly push my chin back with my finger while simultaneously elongating the neck (imagine the top of your head being pulled up by a balloon). Only let your head and neck move, do not allow your ribcage to lift. If you do this right your head and neck should travel backwards in a straight line and you will feel the muscles at the base of your skull and down your neck working. I believe this is also know as 'packing the neck', and you should make it a priority to also 'pack the neck' during most or all of the strength and conditioning exercises you do.

Sure the exercises will improve your posture: to a certain degree. If you want to improve your posture you should also make a conscious effort to improve your posture. This means throughout the whole day (like George already described): Your posture is the weighted average of the movements you do throughout the whole day + genetics. 

George and Rachid said it, you need to adjust your posture throughout the day to ingrain new (better) habits.

A kitchen timer works well: set on 15 min, reset your posture when it rings, rinse, repeat...

all it takes is 3 seconds 32 times a day

It'll definitely help!

 

However, if this is a major concern, I'd invest a few bucks to buy Kit's book: Posture & Flexibility. That thing is gold!!

I also work on a computer all day but from home so I can try any setups that can be seen as weird in an office. Several weeks ago I tried the following and it seems to be work very well - I don't ever feel slouchy after work now, though it will still be a lot of work to reverse the old posture:

• Swiss ball to sit on
• Ironing board for the keyboard and the mouse. I found that this works amazingly well because you can adjust the height to exactly how you want it, as opposed to tables which have a set height and are usually too high for a swiss ball. The second great advantage is that you cannot lean with your elbows on an ironing board the way you would on a normal table - and after sitting for a whole day on a swiss ball in the beginning you really feel like leaning. However I find leaning to be very bad for the posture. By the way, an ironing board is still very strong and can take 10-20kg which should be enough for anything you want to put on it.
• A second ironing board for the computer (laptop) and the second monitor. When I have the monitors at the same height as the keyboard either one is too low or the other is too high resulting in bad posture. With the 2 different boards there is about a 20cm difference between the keyboard and the monitors which is right for me. The height of the second board can be adjusted too, and mine is set to quite a bit over what a normal table would be at.

As an alternative to ironing tables there is this - http://www.geekdesk.com/ but its cost is $1k versus $30 and I'm perfectly happy with the  ironing boards.

It better improve posture! After all, a lot of us spend quite a chunk of time hunched over lurking on these forums!