How to get rid of slouching as an adult - proven tips

Nothing brings as many benefits to a woman as correct posture. The entire body suffers from incorrect posture, and back pain is only the most obvious ailment due to this defect.

If you stop slouching, all the people around you will notice: your boss, your girlfriends, men, who will immediately change their attitude towards you for the better. Straighten up and you will feel much better and more confident! We hope these five reasons to improve your posture will encourage you to take charge of your spine health.

Self confidence

Incorrect posture creates additional tension in the muscles, which leads to stress in the body. Chronic fatigue can have a direct connection with posture, and therefore with the psychological and emotional state. In addition, because of your hunched back, even the most luxurious dress will look ugly on you. Correct back position, on the contrary, will improve not only your well-being, body shape, but also your mood. You will be able to move more, exercise more easily and be less tired.

Photo: pixabay.com

Is there a connection between the health of the back and spine and a person’s character and fears?

Many healers pay attention to the fact that the back and spine show whether a person feels support in his life. They say about a hunched person that he has bent under life's troubles. And about the dignified person, on the contrary, that he has an inner core.

If you have any problems with your back and spine, then analyze your attitude towards life. Most likely you are insecure and afraid of what might happen in the future. This means it’s time to start trusting yourself and believing that everything depends on you. “There will be day and there will be food” - this biblical proverb has helped many people believe in tomorrow. Don't be afraid of anything, because life supports everyone, you just have to believe in it.

As an exercise, train yourself to repeat every day: “I know that life will always support me.”

If the back represents the presence of life support in general, then the spine is a symbol of flexible life support . It helps us adapt to situations and events, adapt to them. By the way, the spine is part of the skeletal system of the body. And bones are our frame, the base on which everything else is built. Often problems with the spine exist simultaneously with other diseases of the skeletal system.

In this case, repeat as often as possible: “I have a strong body and excellent health. My build is excellent. I am confidently building the building of my life.”

With osteoporosis, a person is also usually accompanied by the feeling that there is nothing at all to grab onto in life.

In this case, healing thoughts will help: “I can stand up for myself. Life always lovingly supports me in unexpected ways.”

Having problems with the lower back often appears due to the fear of not having enough money. Many of us are nervous, thinking that there is not enough money for everything. We fear that tomorrow we will be left without financial support, and this leads to loss of confidence, fear, tension and lower back pain.

Repeat to yourself several times a day: “I trust the process of life. I always get what I need. Everything is fine with me.”

The middle part of the back begins to bother us when we are too focused on past events . Often a person feels guilty for some past events, not wanting to part with these thoughts.

In such cases, you need to say the following healing words to yourself: “I forgive myself by letting go of the past. With a pure heart and love, I move forward freely.”

If a person has upper back pain , then this means a lack of moral support. In any case, the patient is haunted by the thought that he is not loved, that there is no one to help him. It happens that because of this, the person himself begins to restrain the feeling of love, which brings even more health problems and forces him to disapprove of himself.

Repeat the following phrases morning and evening: “I love and approve of myself.
I am loved by life and those around me. Life and the Universe support me."

Causes of postural changes in children

Normally, the spine has two natural curves, one located in the thoracic region, the other in the lumbar region. This gives the ridge shock-absorbing properties and allows the body to perform all the necessary actions, running, jumping, squatting, bending in different directions. But under the influence of a number of negative factors, the anatomical shape of the spine can change.

The main factors that provoke stooping are:

Types of posture disorders

• A sedentary lifestyle - a desk, a computer desk, a work area over which you have to bend, provokes a forward tilt of the shoulders and head.
• Rapid growth of a child - the spine stretches too quickly, and the muscle corset simply cannot keep up with it and ceases to support the back.
• Psychological factors - lack of self-confidence, complexes, the desire to appear invisible - are also often the reason why you hunch over.
• Scoliosis - stooping in a teenager is one of the symptoms of this disease, so it is important for parents to notice a change in posture at the initial stage and take the child to an orthopedist.
• Joint hypermobility - this syndrome is inherited, and its distinctive feature is increased joint flexibility; it is detected at an early age due to decreased function of muscles that cannot cope with maintaining the correct position of the ridge.

The causes of stoop may be congenital, due to abnormalities in intrauterine development. In addition, provoking factors are rickets, trauma, cerebral palsy, polio, and infectious diseases.

A visual representation of changes in posture

Meaning of the word stooped

The whole society has decided that we don’t need you here.” “Come out,” the stooped man shook his head. “Just a minute!” – I cleared my throat, overcoming the hoarseness in my throat. “Do you understand that only one thing can save you from destruction?” The stooped man looked at me with some mocking interest. “Are you hinting that we can tell the military where the aliens are hiding?” – he asked. “Why not?” “Because we know the plan of the peacekeeping forces for this case,” the stooped man took a dented metal cigarette case from his pocket and clicked the lid. – Preemptive nuclear strike.

And when a stooped guy in a cassock suddenly ran up to the “kids”, swung his savage whip with rusty spikes and thorns, Kesha did not stand on ceremony, he knocked the stooped one to the ground with one precise blow to the temple, took a closer look - he was dying in convulsions, a second blow would not be needed.

Short, stocky, slightly stooped, roughly black-haired, dark, with a long shaved face, big nose, he was truly a perfect raven - especially when he was in a black tailcoat at the charity evenings of our governor, standing stooped and firmly near some kiosk in the form of a Russian hut, moved his large raven head, glancing with sparkling raven eyes at the dancers, at those approaching the kiosk, and at that noblewoman who, with a charming smile, served from the kiosk flat glasses of yellow cheap champagne with a large hand in diamonds - a tall lady in brocade and kokoshnik with a nose so pink and white with powder that it seemed artificial.

Along an ordinary, narrow and damp street of Zamoskvorechye - one of those streets framed by two-story merchant estates that hide a completely different, leisurely and lovely city - an ordinary, short, slightly stooped elderly man was walking.

Shaggy and stooped, he seemed like a good-natured softie and mumbler, but his caricatured appearance was deceptive.

The front door knocked and Kolyam entered the room, skinny, stooped, overgrown with a black beard up to his eyes, looking like a gypsy and always gloomy.

They entered almost immediately - two employees of the operational department in identical dark gray suits and a slouched, slender man in round glasses.

The door opened, and a tall and stooped telepath jumped out, hiding his face from the wind in the high collar of his coat.

The work manager, an elderly, slightly stooped man, looked Lina up and down with displeasure: from her disheveled, dirty hair to her dusty and tattered, once-white sneakers, saw her condition and sighed.

He is even taller than his father, slightly stooped, with a rich gray mustache, and has yellow, smoky fingers that smell pleasantly of tobacco.

Paschimottanasana (seated bend and stretch)

Starting position - staff pose. You need to lean straight back forward and grab your shins or knees with your hands as far as you can reach. For 5-6 breathing cycles, helping with your hands and drawing in your stomach, you should pull your back forward, keeping your back straight.

The exercise can be performed using a belt. You need to put a belt on your feet, and while pulling it, pull your straight back forward and up.

Types of posture disorders

• Slouched back. The patient's head is bent, kyphosis is pronounced in the thoracic region, the shoulder blades are wing-shaped, and the shoulder joints are adducted.
• The back is round in shape. In this case, it is necessary to straighten the posture; there is no lordosis, but kyphosis of the thoracic spine is very pronounced. Shifts the center of gravity, the body is leaned forward, it is difficult for a person to maintain balance, legs are half-bent, arms hang along the body.
• Round concave back. The patient has increased all the curves of the spinal column, the stomach protrudes, the head is pushed forward.
• Correction of posture is also necessary with a flat back, when the chest and stomach are protruded, and every step and blow is not absorbed (due to the flat position of all curves of the spinal column), but is transmitted directly to the brain and cranium.
• How to correct posture is a tormenting question for patients with a flat-concave back. With this pathology, kyphosis becomes flat, and lordosis in the lumbar region is increased. The pelvis is pushed back during movements, the patient's legs are bent.
• Recovery is also necessary for patients with scoliotic posture. With this disease, there is a disturbance in the sagittal plane, lateral curvature is observed with a violation of the overall symmetry of the body.

Treatment of posture is necessary, because due to the pathology, improper functioning of the internal organs begins, osteochondrosis quickly develops, and the patient has difficulty breathing.

Essence of Man

It is actually difficult to decide on a definition for a person. And many are interested in what role is assigned to him in life: to become a part of nature, a divine creation, a representative of society, or something else. Each researcher of this issue always has his own priorities.

Anthropologists tend to say that the biological evolution of the human species, if there was one, has ended. And the key characteristics of our body are stable and will remain so for a long time. But this does not mean that no changes occur to us at the mental level. People change under the influence of historical factors. Representatives of different eras are unique and inimitable in their essence.

And if it is impossible to create a general definition of the essence that synthesizes the key concepts and achievements of philosophy, no one is surprised by the crisis of science in the human question.

Treatment options

You can get rid of stooping in adulthood by strengthening the muscular corset of the back, stretching the pectoral muscles, and improving the condition of the gluteal muscles. An important role is also played by changing the furniture that a person constantly uses. This could be a table of suitable height, a computer chair, a workstation, a change of mattress and pillow. You can straighten your back only comprehensively. The main methods are:

• Swimming.
• Manual therapy.
• Physiotherapy.
• Correction using corsets.
• Massage.
• Physiotherapy.
• Wearing corsets according to an individual scheme.

Swimming helps to slow down the pathological process, the spine to take a natural position, and evenly distribute the load across all departments. Breaststroke and freestyle exercises help correct your posture; they effectively relax the abdominal and chest muscles and strengthen your back.

A course of visit to a chiropractor is prescribed, who conducts massage sessions using different methods of influence to correct the incorrect position of the vertebrae. The patient may experience discomfort or pain. To consolidate the effect obtained, physical therapy is prescribed.

Exercises to correct posture

Corrective exercises, which are classified as therapeutic exercises, will help correct your posture. They can be performed even at home, but only if the change in the position of the spine is not caused by pathological processes. The complex includes the following approaches:

• Hold a medium-length towel or belt by both ends. Hold them in front of you as a starting position. Then gradually raise the limbs behind the head and hold them for a short time, and then return them back. The elbows cannot be bent, the shoulders are lowered as much as possible.
• Extend your arms in different directions parallel to the floor so that your shoulder blades are brought together. Then cross them over the chest as you exhale. This exercise is also called “scissors” by some.
• Raise your arms straight high above your head. As you inhale, your shoulders reach toward your ears, and as you exhale, they lower to their original position. The elbows are slightly bent to make it easier to perform.
• Lie on your stomach and put your hands behind your back, clasping them, your pelvis pressed tightly to the floor, your legs joined together. The head is turned and lies on the right ear. As you exhale, the upper part rises, the arms stretch back. Hold for 5 seconds, then return to the starting position.
• Stand on the mat on all fours, knees exactly under the hip joints, hands under the shoulders. As you exhale, your back arches outward, your head goes down, and as you inhale, it returns to its original position.

There is no quick fix for stooped posture, regardless of whether a man or woman is doing the exercises. The approach to solving the problem should be comprehensive and include lifestyle correction. To straighten your back at home, you need to completely reconsider all the factors that influence its deformation.

How to straighten hunched shoulders

A. Schwarzenegger in the famous film “ Pumping Iron ” (1977) assures that his amazing figure is solely the result of the competent development of all muscles. He stated that if he was going to increase any muscle by at least 1 cm, then he would have to increase other muscles. He also added that he would never focus on increasing or decreasing only one muscle, since harmony must be maintained in everything. This is rightly noted. This philosophy should be expanded and applied to other areas of training, especially shoulder training.

According to one scientific review published in the June 2010 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the shoulders are the area most susceptible to injury during weight training. Most likely, the fact is that most athletes devote their attention to exercises such as the bench press. They are known to strengthen the activity of the muscles that internally rotate the shoulders, such as the subscapularis. However, in doing so, unfortunately, they almost completely ignore the muscles that rotate the shoulders outward.

As you know, the subscapularis muscle is the most important muscle that takes part in turning the shoulder inward. Bench presses are one exercise that uses this rotation. In February 2002, a study was conducted in which 20 professional powerlifters were invited. As a result of this study, it was observed that the most significant anatomical characteristic related to athletic performance of athletes is the thickness of the subscapularis muscle.

But the whole point is that excessive development of this muscle leads not only to increased performance of powerlifters, but also to the development of a structural imbalance, which leads to excessive injuries.

Although most powerlifters and other strength athletes agree that muscle imbalances can lead to serious shoulder problems, they lack the skills to combat these problems. At the end of the workout, they perform special light exercises for the muscles of the shoulder girdle. However, this is clearly not enough to eliminate this imbalance. Targeting these small muscles late in the training process is certainly a very successful idea, but it's more complicated than that.

The fact is that exercises for the muscles of the shoulder girdle are only one aspect of the correction/prevention of structural shoulder imbalance. Slouched shoulders can cause sprains and strains in the minimus and infraspinatus muscles. This increases the risk that rotator cuff impingement syndrome may occur. To straighten hunched shoulders, you need to do exercises for the muscles that pull the shoulder blades together (for example, the rhomboids) and lower them (for example, the lower trapezius). For this reason, it is advisable to perform an exercise such as face pull. When performing this exercise, the shoulder blades are brought together, and then the shoulder is rotated outward. Naturally, you should not limit yourself to just this exercise.

One of the most important principles of developing a training program is based on the fact that exercises for large muscle groups are performed at the very beginning of the workout. For example, an athlete decides to do pull-ups after biceps curls or perform a set of exercises for the forearms. It is important to note that in this case, the accumulated fatigue associated with working small muscle groups will lead to a sharp decrease in efficiency in subsequent training of the powerful latissimus muscles.

Also, if the rhomboid muscles are tired at the beginning of the training process, it will be much more difficult to maintain rational technique when performing front squats or lifting various weights, for example, barbell cleans.

In order to fully develop the muscles of the shoulder girdle, it is necessary to engage in numerous types of exercises. The fact is that, thanks to the hinged structure, the shoulder joint receives a very wide range of motion. That is why very effective techniques for this purpose are three-sets and supersets.

Taking into account the above points, let's consider an example of training that will ensure the correction of structural imbalances, which can be carried out in the final stage of training. It would also be useful to add that if there is a significant imbalance in all exercises, a couple of additional approaches can be added.

A1. Straight arm raises with dumbbells forward, lying with your chest on an inclined bench at 30 degrees, 3x10-12, 3011, rest 10 seconds A2. External rotations of the shoulder section of the arm with a dumbbell, supported by the elbow on the knee, 3×10-12, 3010, rest 10 seconds A3. External rotation of the shoulder section of the arm on a low block at an angle at the elbow of 30 degrees, 3×10-12, 3010, rest 60 seconds

This protocol must be performed 6 times in a row. After this, the athlete can begin to perform other exercises for the shoulder muscles. You should also consider that there are many other exercises that can help improve shoulder health. For example, the long head of the biceps, which attaches to a growth above the shoulder joint, is a very common area of ​​discomfort for people complaining of shoulder pain. Therefore, an assessment of the balance of the shoulder muscle structure should consist of an analysis of several muscle groups, even though there may be no relationship between these muscles and the shoulder joint.

In conclusion, structural balance exercises should be performed by all athletes. As for bodybuilders, the importance of these exercises cannot be overstated. Without a doubt, even at the peak of his fame, Schwarzenegger would have lost even in modern pro tournaments. But it is important to consider the following point: Arnold inspired a huge number of women and men to train using weights. At the same time, he gave excellent advice on training, which has not lost its relevance to this day.

Igor May 31, 2013

Efficiency

Stooping occurs for congenital and acquired reasons. If the curvature is caused by abnormalities in the development of the spine or hereditary diseases, then exposure to physical exercise will not bring noticeable results.

The use of exercises to correct stoop in children and adults is effective if it is acquired for physical and psychological reasons:

1. Spending a long time at the table in the wrong position, passion for computers and mobile phones at the age of 6 - 7 years.
2. Uneven distribution of the load on the spine (if you wear an uncomfortable heavy backpack not on your back, but on your shoulder).
3. Lack of physical activity (exercises, training in the gym, jogging outdoors, sports games).
4. Self-doubt, shyness in adolescence.
5. Tall, burdened with life's problems in adulthood.

Complete elimination of stooped posture in a short period of time is possible in childhood, when the natural curves of the spine are either still forming, or the process is at the completion stage. Adults will spend much more time and effort on treatment.

Diagnostics

Before starting treatment for stoop, it is necessary to establish a diagnosis and determine the angle of curvature of the ridge. In addition, the doctor checks the motor capabilities of the limbs, the functioning of the bladder, and intestines, which can be impaired by compression of the spinal cord. The following methods are used for this:

• X-ray – allows you to obtain an image with a general and lateral projection to understand the degree of curvature of bone structures.
• MRI - a study is performed if pinched nerve endings are suspected.
• CT scan – an image is taken if it is necessary not only to correct stoop in adults, but also to restore nerve impulses.

To determine the condition of the spine, the patient is recommended to do a number of exercises. A series of neurological tests, muscle strength and sensitivity are also carried out. Which doctor should I contact? A vertebrologist and an orthopedist can help correct stooping in an adult and determine the cause.

Self-detection of stoop

It is possible to eliminate a slouched back at home only in the initial stages, when the problem is caused by improper sitting at the table or lack of exercise. The following test will help you assess the condition of your spine:

• A child or an adult needs to stand with their back against the wall.
• The feet are placed together, the heels and sacrum are pressed tightly to the surface.
• You should try to insert your palm between your lower back and the wall. Normally, it should move freely; if posture is impaired, the space disappears.
• Assessment of the condition of the thoracic spine and how far the shoulder blades lag behind.
• If the back of the head is not pressed completely, and the head is shifted forward, this indicates a pronounced stoop, which should be eliminated.

You can also check your posture using a mirror. This requires the help of another person. You need to stand in front of the mirror in a familiar position, after which marks are made on the surface with chalk in key places: ankles, knee joints, elbows, shoulders, earlobes. Normally, they should all be on the same line.

You can even diagnose stooping yourself at home.

Exercises for stooping for those over 50 years old

There is also an effective program for those over 50. Problems with posture in old age occur with other diseases. For example, for problems with internal organs. A simple warm-up, simple movements for stooping at home and exercises without much effort are suitable. A special complex is aimed at strengthening the back muscles.

Top 5 exercises worth trying:

1. Forward facing bends. You need to rest your hands and bend forward. The movement can be performed from a wall, chair or window sill. First do 3 sets, and then you can work your way up to 10.
2. In a prone position, do body lifts first with arms outstretched, and then leg raises.
3. Sit on your knees and take your feet. Try stretching and bringing your shoulder blades together.
4. Back bending in a position on all fours. Leg raises are performed in the same position.
5. Lying on a towel roll. First, it needs to be placed in the area on the back, which is located under the navel. Then under the shoulder blades.

When dealing with spinal disease in old age, it is necessary to take an integrated approach. Nutrition should consist of eating foods that are low in calories. After consulting a doctor, you should start wearing a special corset.

With regular exercise, your health and well-being will noticeably improve. I hope you find this article helpful. See you soon, friends!

Slouched shoulders and other posture disorders: unpleasant consequences

In addition to the fact that poor posture looks unattractive, ignoring the correct body position while sitting and walking can cause a host of physical discomforts, which include:

• weakness and atrophy of certain muscles;
• constant headaches;
• fatigue due to impaired blood flow;
• back pain;
• pinched nerves;
• breathing disorders.

To prevent or eliminate the appearance of slouch in the shoulders, you need to learn how to relax overstrained muscles and strengthen weakened ones. To do this, try the exercises described below.

To prevent or eliminate the appearance of slouch in the shoulders, you need to learn how to relax overstrained muscles and strengthen weakened ones.