3 Stretches for Perfect Posture

By: Matt Wren, PT, MSPT, Cert. DN

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Shoulders are not earrings; they do not belong lifted up toward your head. However, poor posture is an easy habit to fall into.

It does not solely occur with workday habits, but more often when we are away from the work environment. “Tech neck,” or when you have your head down, chin forward, and rounded shoulders, is typically related to how we manage our cell phones, tablets, and laptops while sitting on the couch at home or waiting in line at the coffee shop.

Physical or emotional stress can also cause us to lift our shoulders upward toward our earlobes. This excessive muscular activity compromises our posture by loading our neck and shoulder structures, which causes pain patterns that mimic a variety of shoulder or neck injuries.

Shoulders should be held back and downward into the back pockets.

  • The right shoulder belongs in the back left pocket.
  • The left shoulder belongs in the back right pocket.

Here are 3 stretches to help you pursue perfect posture and get your shoulders away from your ears.

Stretch your chest with the T-Y stretch

Take a yoga mat and roll it up. Lying on the floor on your back, take your rolled-up mat and position it along your spine letting your arms fall to the floor to make a letter T shape with the body. Relax and stretch for 15 seconds. Next, move the hands toward the head to make a letter Y shape with the body. Relax and stretch for 15 seconds. Repeat T and Y for 10 minutes. You should be able to do this with a chin tuck, shoulders held back on the floor, and with a flat lumbar spine. If you cannot, then there is work to do.

Strengthen the back

To improve strength, muscles must be loaded so that time under tension (TUT) is between 30-70 seconds. Holding a loaded muscle contraction for 5 seconds per 10 repetitions or 10 seconds for 5 repetitions meets the TUT criteria.

Sitting tall in a chair, hold a long pole, yardstick, or umbrella wider than hip width. Practice raising it overhead and behind the neck and shoulders. Practice this looking straight forward with a chin tuck. Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat 5 times.

Strengthen the back with a resistance band

Standing, hold a resistance band shoulder width apart and then pull the band wider into horizontal abduction, approximating a big hug position. Hold 5 seconds, then repeat 10 times.

Next, remain standing and hold your resistance band shoulder width apart. Rotate the band so it’s in a diagonal line, then pull the band wider into diagonal shoulder retraction. Hold 5 seconds, then repeat 10 times. Perform this diagonal shoulder retraction on both sides.

Conclusion

Good posture requires endurance, so endurance training is important as well. This can be as simple as standing tall taking a long walk. If your workday is sitting at a computer, maybe hunching over a bicycle is not the best choice to improve your posture endurance.

If you are unsure about managing this program yourself or just need some help getting started, schedule an evaluation with us today at www.shelteringarms.com/find-a-clinician/request-appointment or by calling (804) 764-1000.

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