Poor posture is due to a lack of awareness of the causes of structural misalignment. In the case of rounded shoulders, any activity that involves your shoulders being in a forward position for an extended period of time are contributing causes:
- sitting at your computer/tablet
- using your cell phone
- reading a book/magazine
- driving your car
- bending over repeatedly to pick up objects
- carrying heavy objects
Over time, the muscles in the front of your shoulders will be become shortened and tight and the muscles in the back of your shoulder will become permanently lengthened. Your body will interpret this position as the new”normal” which leads to increased stress on the joint, lack of range of motion, mobility issues, nerve impingement and eventually pain. It also doesn’t look great.
Take Control of your posture and pull those rounded shoulders back!
Yes, you can take control of your posture and tell your body this is not the new norm. Simple stretches to release tight muscles and exercises to strengthen weak muscles will, over time, retrain your muscles and restore their proper position. Good posture is habit. You taught your body bad posture, now you need to teach it good posture through awareness.
Stretching can reprogram your slouch
There are several great stretches you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.
WLY doorway stretches, Shoulder rolls, behind the back hand clasp are some of the few. In our Stretching Around the House™ video series we walk you through many of these so that you can understand how to do them properly and get immediate relief. When you maintain a regular and consistent regimen of daily and weekly stretching you can start to reprogram your entire body to remain upright and move with proper postural alignment.
Stretching On Demand
Our On Demand Video Library has hundreds of stretches for every part of your body. There are 5, 10 and 15 minute stretches, full body routines, sport specific and injury focused stretches. Our Stretch Education section teaches you about your body and the benefits stretching has to fight stress and anxiety.