How to Fix Bad Posture At Work
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The best thing you can do to alleviate the muscular woes of working at a desk all day is to (shocker!) move more.
To do that, start a “change of position” schedule, according to Kastan. For every 45 minutes of work you do sitting down, get up and move in some form. That can be a quick walk around the block, doing a few quick posture correcting exercises (see below for a list of our favorites), or merely standing by your desk to read emails if you can’t afford the break.
“It’s difficult to avoid sitting for prolonged periods when so much of our work has evolved to being forward facing at the computer, but taking a few minutes for a posture break can help combat some of the long term effects,” Kastan says.
How to Fix Bad Posture at Home
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Incorporating regular static stretches into your everyday life will help stretch and lengthen muscles that can become tight as a result of excessive sitting and computer or phone use.
Consider adding these stretches to your routine after a shower or a walk, when your muscles are warmed up.
Cat-Cow
How to Do It:
Get on all fours with your wrists aligned below your shoulders and your knees aligned below your hips. Keep your toes tucked under. Inhale, relaxing your belly so it moves toward the floor, and gently arching your back, tilting your tailbone and chin toward the ceiling. Exhale, gently rounding your spine, drawing your chin to your chest, and untucking your toes.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 3 to 4 sets of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
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Crescent Lunge
How to Do It:
Place one knee down on the ground and the other foot planted in front of you in a lunge.Push your hips forward and squeeze the glute of the back leg.For an extra stretch, raise the arm of the same side of the back leg and lean slightly inward to open up the hip even more.Pause for a few seconds, and repeat on the other side.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 2 sets of 10 reps on each side.
World’s Greatest Stretch
How to Do It:
From plank position, bring your right foot up to place it outside your hand. Squeeze left glute and then drop your right elbow toward the ground, feeling the stretch on the back of the thigh.Twist back through the center and continue to rotate your torso to bring your right arm straight up to the ceiling, following your hand with your eyes.Return the palm to plank position and repeat on the opposite side.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 2 sets of 10 reps on each side.
Squat with Thoracic Rotation
How to Do It:
Begin standing with feet at hips-width. Bend knees to lower down into a deep squat.At the bottom of the movement, open your arms out wide, twisting your torso to the right as you lift your right arm straight up, following your hand with your eyes.Come back through the center to twist to the left side, raising your left hand up toward the ceiling.Repeat, switching sides.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 2 sets of 10 reps on each side.
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Bird Dog
How to Do It:
From an all fours position, tuck your right toes under and extend your right leg behind you. Slowly lift your leg off the floor no higher than hip height. Bracing your core, slowly reach your left arm forward no higher than shoulder height and turn your palm inward so your thumb points toward the ceiling. Hold for no more than 7 to 8 seconds, keeping your hips and shoulders level. Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Shoulder CARs
How to Do It:
Stand up tall, with your feet hip-width apart. Raise one arm straight up with your palm facing in.As you reach the top point (with your arm extended straight up), turn your palm away from yourself, as much as mobility allows.Keep moving your arm through the range of motion until you reach the starting point.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 2 sets of 10 controlled reps on each side, then switch arms.
T-Spine Mobility in Child’s Pose
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From all fours, sit back onto your heels as in child’s pose. Place one hand behind your head with your elbow pointing toward the floor. Rotate your chest until your elbow points to the ceiling. Lower back to the starting position. Do 6 to 10 reps, then switch sides.
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How to Fix Bad Posture At the Gym
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The best thing you can do to avoid injuries and keep making gains is to warm up properly before every workout. If you typically skip a warmup, think about it this way: if you don’t create the time now, you’ll be forced to make time to heal later if you injure yourself. Here’s a few exercises you can do to prep your body for activity.
Thoracic Extension on Foam Roller
How to Do It:
Put the foam roller on the floor, then get down on the ground and press your mid back into the tool so it’s perpendicular with your body.Raise your arms and join your hands behind your head. Tuck in your elbows.Using the foam roller as a hinge, extend your back through the limits of your mobility.Hold for 3 seconds, then return to the start.
Sets and Reps: Repeat for 10 total reps.
External Rotation Lift-Offs
How to Do It:
You’ll need a yoga block for this drill in a face-down position on the floor. You’ll be in a ‘W’ position here, with your arms out at your sides and your elbows bent. Placing the yoga block underneath one elbow.Rotate that arm up to raise it off the block. Hold for 3 seconds.
Sets and Reps: Repeat for 10 reps, then switch the block to the other arm for 10 reps.
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Shoulders-Elevated Single-Leg Hip Thrust
How to Do It:
Lie with your upper back resting on a bench and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Lift your left foot off the ground, then raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. At the top of the rep your left thigh should be perpendicular to the floor. Hold for a count and then slowly return to the starting position. Don’t let your left foot touch the ground between reps.
Sets and Reps: Aim for 1 set of 8 reps per side.
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