I don’t know about you, but the word “posture” makes me cringe. As a former athlete who spent 14 years in the ready position and is a member of the tall girl gang, I’ve always had poor posture. I’m constantly hunched over to hear my peers talking or feel smaller. In turn, my back hurts, my neck hurts and frankly it just looks poor.

Can you relate? So what do we do about it? Listen up. 

Don’t limit your capacity

Having poor posture can seriously limit the capability of your thoracic spine. You want a more powerful swing or graceful transitions? Let’s talk about how this is directly related to your posture.

Poor posture, forward head tilt, rounded shoulders, upper crossed syndrome, whatever you call it, creates overactive and underactive muscles which leads to imbalances and unwanted movement patterns. Imbalances and unwanted movement patterns lead directly to injury when paired with repetitive motion.

Do you exhibit any of the following? 

• Arms falling forward or to side during the descent
• Head migrating forward
• Elevating or elevated shoulder blades
• Elbows flexed or challenged in keeping arms straight

If so, let’s correct these issues to get on the path to optimal performance.

Start Here

Here are 4 things you can do to improve your posture and build better movement patterns: 

• Massage your trap muscles with a yoga therapy ball
• Stretch your traps with some shoulder openers. Tuck your chin to your chest move left ear to left shoulder. Extend your right arm away from your torso. Repeat on the other side. 
• Strengthen your scapulae with a table top hover hold. Get on all fours, stack shoulders over wrists, hips over knees. Curl your toes and lift to hover your knees 2” above the gound. Press the floor away from you so the space in between your shoulder blades lift toward the sky. Hold for 10 breaths. 
• Practice YTWLs

Stand tall and be proud of your progress. 1% better every day and you’re on your way to looking like the beautiful peacock that you are. 

Want more?

If you’re looking for more ways to improve your posture, check out the videos on YAX Online including yoga and self-myofascial release (SMR).

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