Fitness Together Brecksville: What are Some Great Ways to Work On My Upper Body Posture?

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff of expert personal trainers. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the personal trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

What are Some Great Ways To Work On My Upper Body Posture?

Fitness Together personal trainer Sean Sullivan working with a Client on the TRX Row - one of THE BEST exercises for upper body posture!

Adam Teplitz: Proper posture is vital in living a pain free, injury free, comfortable life.
Good posture aids in breathing, digestion, circulation and overall well-being.
Here a few exercises that assist in improving and maintaining proper upper body posture:

1) prone thumb raise. This exercise strengthens your back to encourage a more upright standing/ sitting position. Begin by lying on the floor with your arms straight and in a 'Y' position. Rotate your arms outwards , make a fist and point your thumbs to the ceiling. Before lifting your arms off the ground, pull your shoulder blades back and down to squeeze them. Move arms up and down for 15 to 20 reps.

2) dumbbell external rotation. This exercise targets the rotator cuff. Begin by lying on your right side with the left arm bent at 90 degrees and your elbow resting on your left hip. Holding a light dumbbell in your hand , lift your firearm up by rotating the shoulder up and down.

3)standing wall Angels.
This exercise improves your shoulder range of motion and strengthens the rhomboids.. The muscles in between your shoulder blades.
Stand against a wall with your feet about a foot from the base. Lean against the wall and raise arms to your sides at 90 degree angle. Pull shoulders back and down while you slide the backs of your hands as far up the wall as you can manage.

The key to proper upper body posture is consistent exercise and stretching.

Amanda Ricci: Technology has advanced our society, created jobs and boosted the economy. It should come as no surprise that with our obsession with technology it has caused a strain on our bodies since it's use encourages activities such as: sitting for long hours at a computer while working, watching television, and looking our cell phones or iPads. This isn't even bringing into consideration those who might have bad vision who are using these devices and may be slumping forward even more so.

As we are engaging in these activities we start to lean forward, put our head down to look at our cell phone and after awhile our shoulders start to slump over and we begin to develop neck pain. In a society that is not conducive to good posture, there are several steps that you can take on your own to correct your posture in order to reduce back and/ or neck pain.

Whether at your office job or while driving in your car, it is important to make sure that your knees are at the same level as your hips. This will reduce the strain on your low back. It is also important to keep your ears in line with your shoulders and the shoulders in line with the hips. Some people in doing this may lean backwards but you do not want to do this. Instead it is important to keep you spine in a neutral position. Reason being is that your head weighs 10 pounds, this can put pressure on your cervical spine. Imagine the pressure that is putting on your neck if you are leaning forward or backward especially for long periods of time during the day or your staring down at your phone or tablet.

To counteract some of this pressure that is put on the neck, and back here are some tips that you can follow to reduce the strain that you may be putting on your vertebrae:

1. While sitting in your vehicle, use the head rest by keeping your head back and your chin tucked.

2. Adjust your office chair and the seat in your car so that your hips are level with the knees.

3. While working at the office it is important to take breaks. For example, stand up when talking on the phone or when doing other tasks that you do not need to sit down for. An alternative to sitting frequently may be finding out whether you can get a standing desk or use a yoga ball for a chair while at work.

4. A few other things you can do is stretch at your desk, suggest active meetings where you walk and talk to your boss or getting up every 20 minutes or so to walk laps around the office.

There are several different exercises that you can do that will help to improve your posture so that you are able to strengthen the muscles that support good posture. One of these exercises are close grip rows either with a resistance band or the functional trainer. This is going to help bring your shoulders back to support an upright posture. Another good exercise is the chin tuck. It is great for helping to strengthen those neck muscles that support the head and cervical vertebrae. Other exercises you can do are abdominal exercises. Your core is your body's center of gravity and it helps to hold us upright to support the rest of the bones and muscles in your body. A strong core is essential for good posture. A good core exercise is holding a plank.

In addition, to these exercises make sure you are trying to practice good posture. It is also necessary to stretch those muscles that may be tight so that you are able to bring back those shoulders even more and open up the chest. One of my favorites because I feel it is the most effective is the open door stretch, where you would literally use a door frame. It may be necessary to hold this stretch anywhere from 30-90 seconds depending on how tight your pectoralis muscles are.

Justin Traft: There some great ways to work on upper body posture . One being when you are working either pressing over head or shoulder press making sure your spine is neutral position. Instead of standing doing exercises try doing the again the wall with a stability ball to practice retracting your shoulders and work on keep the chest up shoulders back . Also , try using a resistance band that's is light stand against the wall with the handle on each arm try pressing out and up. Make sure it's light so you can get full range . Work on keeping head up , chest up back in line against the wall.

Brooke Kratche: Have you ever been told you have poor posture or noticed it yourself? It's a very important issue that could lead to some future issues including serious back pain or even some gastrointestinal problems. It's crucial to address the core issue here (that was punny). Strength in your lower back as well as your core will allow you to stand and sit straight consistently. We do many different core exercises during our sessions so pick your favorites and do them until it hurts to laugh! Then come in to our studio so we can tell you jokes! Second, lower back strength can be achieved by a series of exercises as well. Check out our March 29th blog to see all of those creative ideas!

Posture is not solely a strength issue, it's a big mental roadblock. I recommend a product called Lumo. Lumo straps onto your clothing and whenever it senses you slouching it vibrates just enough to remind you to sit straight. Simply working on good posture all throughout your work day will strengthen the necessary muscles you need to sit straight consistently including your mind.

Michael Roberto: As we age, we tend to lose our posture and slouch which leads to back problems along the road. Here are a few ways to prevent yourself from such a fate. Exercise is a great way to keep your posture strong, as resistance training is all about keeping good form. Another way is to stretch your back, shoulder, neck and leg muscles. Stretching increases blood flow to the muscles, keeping them at their best. Stretching also keeps the joints moving through a full range of motion. Yoga combines strength training and stretching so it can fit your posture needs. These are but a few ways to keep you from slouching in the future.

Lisa Clark: Here are a few great ways to help your upper body posture:

11.) Walk/sit with good posture. Keep your chin parallel to the ground and tucked in to chest, shoulders back and down (squeeze the pencil), and chest up

22.) Do not sit still in the same position for an extended period of time, get up for 5 minutes to stretch or move around for every 1 to 2 hours of sitting.

33.) Exercise regularly and don’t forget to STRETCH! Exercise keeps muscles strong to provide proper postural support and stretching prevents unnecessary muscle tension and stiffness.

Steven Madden: If you want to work on your posture, some good exercises are band pull-aparts, or TRX "T's". After that, some face pulls with a cable or a resistance band. You can do three sets of 15 of 2 of these exercises as a warm up before your workout, three times a week, and these will help improve your posture.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

What are Some Great Ways to Work On My Upper Body Posture?

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