Poor posture can impair physical function and affect one’s health. It’s very common to see people with a slouched, forward head posture. The usual advice is to sit up straight, limit phone use, or hold devices at eye level. Those are good tips! Are there any exercises that can help reverse this forward head posture? The answer: “YES!” Let’s look at five easy-to-perform exercises you can start right away…
EXERCISE #1 Pectoral Stretch: Grasp a door jam and rotate your body outward. Allow your arm to pull back until you feel a firm stretch in the chest wall muscles. Hold for three-to-ten seconds until the muscle loosens. Move your hand upward and downward and repeat to stretch the different muscle fibers of the pectorals. Repeat on the other side. Even though the pain can be on the back of the neck, posture exercises that focus on opening up the chest can help the most. These are the muscles that shorten the most with incorrect daily use.
EXERCISE #2 External Rotation: Use a light weight (2.5-10 lbs./1.13- 4.5 kg, judge by fatigue without pain after ten to fifteen reps); lie on your side with the upside elbow bent 90 degrees. Slowly raise the weight toward the ceiling, and then slowly lower it. As an alternative, use Thera-Band or Thera-Tubing from a sitting or standing position. You can also perform this bilaterally at the same time.
EXERCISE #3 Scapular Abd-/Add-uction: Assume a push-up position (from feet or knees). Rather than bending the elbows (like in a “normal” push-up), keep the elbows locked straight and drop the chest to bring the shoulder blades together. Then reverse the motion, raising the chest to spread the shoulder blades out as far as possible. Repeat to fatigue, adding more reps as able. This retracts the shoulders by strengthening the interscapular muscles and is one of the most effective strength posture exercises.
Check out this video for more posture tips… https://youtu.be/iKt32bBqBzk
EXERCISE #4 Chin Retractions: From a sitting, standing, or supine position, tuck in the chin while looking straight ahead. Then nod the chin down and up. This will strengthen the deep neck flexor muscles that help stabilize the cervical spine. You can add resistance by pushing the chin into your fist while in the up/down directions.
EXERCISE #5 Neck Stretch: With the left hand, reach over the side of the head. Pull the right side of the head/neck sideways to the left first while looking upward (pull sideways and back). Then slowly rotate the head left and right feeling for the stretch in the front and side of the neck. Alternative: with the same set-up, drop the head forward (in flexion, pull sideways and forward) while slowly rotating the head left and right. Feel for the stretch in the back and side of the neck.
In addition to these exercises, your doctor of chiropractic can help. Chiropractors utilize manual therapies, like manipulation and mobilization, to help restore normal motion to the body. This includes the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Chiropractic care can help speed your progress to a more normal, healthy, and attractive posture. Find out what a chiropractic treatment can do for you and your posture today!
This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history
Our office is a member of ChiroTrust and has taken The ChiroTrust Pledge:
“To the best of my ability, I agree to provide my patients convenient, affordable, and mainstream Chiropractic care. I will not use unnecessary long-term treatment plans and/or therapies.”
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Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic
1849 Yonge Street Suite 412 Toronto ON M4S1Y2
www.DKChiroBlog.com
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Call 416-960-9355
Or visit www.torontoneckandbackpain.com