Correcting Posture with 7 Simple Stretches and Mobility Drills

Help CORRECTING POSTURE.

We live pretty sedentary lifestyles these days, and that’s before the national lockdown! A lot of jobs involve sitting at desks, driving in cars or simply doing a lot of forward facing activities. I mean, the chances are you’re either sat slouched in a chair or looking down at your phone as you are reading this!

Over time our posture can be significantly affected. We may see a rounding of the shoulders and a dropping of the chest, which may even result in neck, back or shoulder pain. Movement may become limited, we may not be able to perform activities to our potential and it could begin to impact our confidence levels, disliking the way we look or how we feel.

This can be a pretty easy fix by simply understanding how our bodies work and by incorporating some relatively straight forward mobility drills regularly. The pecs may become tight, the shoulders may internally rotate and the back may become weak. By increasing the range in the chest and the shoulders whilst strengthening the posterior chain can we begin to slowly correct posture.

Here are some stretches and mobility drills you can do at home to help improve overall posture.

1 – WALL SLIDES
A great drill to really test shoulder mobility! Start with your back against the wall, the elbows at 90 degrees and with 5 main points of contact – the base of the skull, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists and the lower back. Whilst trying to maintain these points of contact, gently press overhead before returning to the starting position. It’s really tough to maintain those points for most people and a static hold may be enough.

2 – CORNER PEC STRETCH
Simply set up facing the corner of a wall with the elbows at 90 degrees and gently press your chest towards the corner, a great way to open the chest up.

3 – PEC MINOR STRETCH
This is a really effective stretch to include daily to target the pec minor specifically, which can become a problem for most. Set up with the arm at 90 degree to the shoulder and square off the hips away, drawing the opposite shoulder back.

4 – EXTERNAL ROTATORS
With internal rotation a bit of a problem area for a lot of people, focusing on external rotation will help in opening the chest up. There are lots of external rotation strengthening exercises you can include but this stretch helps. Keep the elbow tucked in to the body, at a 90 degree throughout.

5 – BICEP & PEC STRETCH
The biceps are typically overused and overworked, especially in the gym environment. This stretch is great for the biceps in particular. Assume a fist with palm down, keep the arm straight and gently press the inside of your elbow through.

6 – PRONE PRESS
On your stomach with your chin tucked and the shoulders drawn back, raise your arms whilst keeping the palms facing each other. Begin to press almost behind your ears, driving the elbows to the back pockets before reversing the movement to the start.

7 – PRONE CIRCLES
For these your essentially setting up in the same position as the press only this time we are performing a circular, swimming type movement behind ending with the palms up before reversing the movement back. Again, this is all about keeping the shoulder blades drawn back throughout.

There are some great mobility drills and stretches you can do at home which will specifically help with your posture