Having a good posture

God's lonely asperger

Protestant
Heritage
This is something very important for anyone, but neglected a lot of times. This is probably the best time to learn how to keep a good posture, since sitting around has become more common with remote jobs, and things of that sort.

Partially making this because my neck posture got ruined from a road trip where I slept with it very forward... once you slip up it's hard to get the habits back.
Post general advice on posture.
 
IMO there are two sides to posture.

One is mental. Confidence. Walk into a room with chin up, chest out, shoulders back. Eye contact direct. That is hard to fake. But you can practice it.

Second is physical. Lifting and being in relatively good shape obviously. On a micro level, work rear delts. Reverse flies. Core. People focus on arms/chest which are important but more important is the posterior chain. Glutes, hamstrings, back.

The combination of the above give a more elongated look. Dude's like get2choppaaa will deadlift your truck but that's more advanced.

I truly believe good posture cannot come without being a healthy weight and hitting the iron regularly. Almost never see someone with good posture who doesn't lift and do some kind of cardio. But to help in business/life the inner confidence is vital. Some will by a byproduct of being fit. Some will also come from not engaging in stuff like watching porn. Seems crazy but I can tell you people who watch porn regularly can be seen a mile away from those who don't. The body language is weak.
 
Yeah I have this kind of nerd neck posture probably from years of sitting 'wrongly'...not sure it can actually be reversed.
 
I would emphasize lifting, with good form. It's worth your time, money, health, and posture to find good lifting instruction. Be it coaching, classes, whatever you need to do.

If you lift poorly, you are likely to injure yourself and end up worse off!

Yeah I have this kind of nerd neck posture probably from years of sitting 'wrongly'...not sure it can actually be reversed.
You can't undo the past, but you can surely improve.
 
I'm going to reinforce the traps development as s way to ensure good posture.

I have never seen a guy with big traps who had bad posture. I don't think it's anatomically possible.

Louie Simmons has an Irish guy intern with him. He had terrible posture. So... Louie had him do wheelbarrow shrugs and as the dudes traps grew his posture improved and his back pain went away also.
 
Registered just to reply to this, as this is one topic where I can say something intelligent.

Yes it can be reversed.

First, the thing where the posture got really out of alignment from sleeping with the neck forward, that is something a chiropractor should look at. Find a good one who specializes in the upper back, but not "upper cervical" - that is a very narrow specialization that is quite different and may not be what you need.

The chiropractor will also be able to break up what is effectively scar tissue around your vertebra that holds the forward slouched posture in place and congealed. With age in a lot of people the vertebra actually fuse together and cause very significant pain, definitely something to be avoided. The body will simply dissolve the scar tissue once it's broken up. That's how I understood it anyway. Doesn't take long to fix, only a few sessions.

Parallel with that, do exercises that strengthen the muscles that hold the correct posture. Many of us have tried to hold a good posture consciously and we know how well that works. Try to walk in a park for one hour while holding good posture consciously. Not only is it impossible to focus on that for one hour, but the muscles of the upper back are stretched out and weak from computer work or similar, so it's very difficult to do.

So lie down on a bench face down, extend the arms to the sides, and lift them up backwards and hold for three seconds. Try to do twenty reps, or two sets of fifteen. The first time I did that, without any weights, after like ten reps the arms were shaking, the upper back was just comically weak, and I wasn't weak overall, doing bodyweight training, convict conditioning.

Once twenty reps or two sets of fifteen become easy, add some weight, one pound in each hand, even just a water bottle will do. After two and a half years I do it with five pound weight in each hand for 16-17 reps working towards 20, a far cry from where I started. Also do the same thing with the arms extended forward.

There are several other exercises with the same basic idea. One is called prone cobra. This guy's channel has a number of them, some more useful that others, but basically just do the ones that are difficult for you.


You can also get a head weight, like this one a company out of Jasper GA sells:
I actually use two of those together, for a total of eight pounds of extra weight on my head. If you put the weight on the forehead, that works the back of the neck muscles. If you put it towards the back, it works the front of the neck muscles, which are in fact the ones that help to hold the correct posture. That may be counter-intuitive, but if you think about it, it makes sense.

Also you can get a resistance thing like this one:
Pull it as you move your arms backwards in any number of ways, same idea as the bench exercises.

Once the right muscles get stronger, the default posture becomes much more upright. And if you try that one hour walk again, you'll find that you can just set an exaggeratedly upright posture at the start and forget about it, the body will just hold it for a full hour, because it is now much easier.
 
I'm currently using these exercises daily.



Very good and detailed video. Eases the pain a lot, but my current issue is maintaining it. Especially while sitting.
He uses this image in the video.
1704432411950.webp

Easier said than done, at least for me. This is a computer setup video that goes more in-depth, and that I've followed over the years. The issue is reorganizing stuff like monitor stands, chairs, tables, etc.


I have my monitor on a wall stand, since stands are the worst thing ever. They're all either terrible and cheap, or good but overpriced like a car. Issue arises in "arm length" from the monitor, which I am a bit far from. Doing what would get you arrested in Germany right now trying to see the length.
On periods where I would have pain on the computer from neck, I'd just play games with a controller. Oddly enough, this really helped.

I get up from the chair more than anyone I know, which is a big advice he gives. I really like that video, but I forget a lot of his advice and keep coming back to it.
 
I'm currently using these exercises daily.



Very good and detailed video. Eases the pain a lot, but my current issue is maintaining it. Especially while sitting.
He uses this image in the video.
View attachment 3549

Easier said than done, at least for me. This is a computer setup video that goes more in-depth, and that I've followed over the years. The issue is reorganizing stuff like monitor stands, chairs, tables, etc.


I have my monitor on a wall stand, since stands are the worst thing ever. They're all either terrible and cheap, or good but overpriced like a car. Issue arises in "arm length" from the monitor, which I am a bit far from. Doing what would get you arrested in Germany right now trying to see the length.
On periods where I would have pain on the computer from neck, I'd just play games with a controller. Oddly enough, this really helped.

I get up from the chair more than anyone I know, which is a big advice he gives. I really like that video, but I forget a lot of his advice and keep coming back to it.

Buy the Donnie Thompson bow tie. Wear it for 10 mins every hour.

You'll start finding your posture automatically fixed

I literally used this on my 14 year old who had minor scoliosis. It's gone now.
 
Buy the Donnie Thompson bow tie. Wear it for 10 mins every hour.

You'll start finding your posture automatically fixed

I literally used this on my 14 year old who had minor scoliosis. It's gone now.

Good stuff brother.

Posture = confidence/strength.

I've noticed most "men" these days hunch forward like an ape.

Start with breathing in as much air as you can possibly take. And repeat that 3 times, your posture will improve immediately.
 
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