Exercises to improve posture

[LeighB]

For a few years now i had this hunchback ( my school bag being too heavy :P ) and i went to the doctors a couple of months ago and he said i should go to the gym to increase my fitness and strengthen my back muscles .

well Ive been doing that for about 5 weeks now and ive yet to see my hunchback get any different , has anyone got any specific exercises to get rid of my hunchback?

[Fish Of Doom]

arm rotations in both directions every day?

[LeighB]

didnt know that could help with the back lol , ive being doin more of the execise machines that focus on the back. the problem is my doctor couldnt tell me any exercises whatsoever to do for my back i had to find it all out myself

[Fish Of Doom]

then your doctor is an idiot.

a hunched back could mean many things, among them atrophied back muscles (because of lack of use) or a badly curved spine.

in the case of atrophied muscles, it happens when they're not used a lot (bear in mind the back has many different muscles, so working some of them might not necessarily mean addressing your specific problem). you often see this in old people who can barely stand, because as their bodies begin to age, natural deterioration of the physique means that they're active less and less, which exacerbates the problem, while people of even greater age who are at least lightly active have much healthier bodies (and that's not even counting those who do health-related activities like yoga, pilates or the health side of tai chi).
if you can't bring your hands much farther behind your shoulders (ideally a good range of motion should mean that with your arms horizontal and extended to the sides, you should be able to move them in just under a 45 degree angle backwards), it might mean that your upper back is lacking in strength.

arm rotations (or more precisely, making big ass circles with your hands along the whole range of motion of your shoulder), will work the muscles that control the movement of your shoulder blades and shoulder joints, and will help you with flexibility and to prevent atrophy due to disuse, and quite possibly helping with your back.

also, change your doctor, and preferably see a sports physician, who will likely be extremely more qualified to advice you about posture (since it's extremely important for sports-related health) and how to correct it.

[Pitfighter]

Here's a detailed explanation of hunchback and exercises.

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/heal_that_hunchback

I've had upper back and shoulder issues for a while. So I can relate. These have really helped my upper back I don't have perfect posture yet, a lot of that is habit as much as anything else. But this did get rid of my hunch back.

For a while I didn't have health insurance so I couldn't afford expert advice. Family docs don't always know about a lot of things not necessarily cuz they are bad doctors but they have to keep up with a lot of things generally so they may not have the answers however if they can't refer you to a decent specialist they aren't really worth keeping as doctors. If you can, get another doctor at least one who can refer you to a specialist when they can't find solutions for you.

[Kuma]

Overhead squats.

[shuyun3]

if the problem is anatomical and is pronounced go get professional help (not sure if you'd need a therapist or a chiropractor but ask around).

But for exercise to improve posture, tai chi is good. It's used for therapy for posture and balance for old folks

[LeighB]

well the doctor checked my back and explained to me is was of a lack of back muscle strength and that i should do back exercises .
he also said that running can help as its all the muscles in the body and he said join clubs for after college aswell.
but he did seem quite an idiot has i'd try to explain things but would jump to conclusions which really irritated me .
im booking another doctors appointment in a couple of days because i have this pain in my forearm - which he also said was due to lack of exercise but thats not true becuase i think it might be golfers elbow or tennis elbow as it hurts when i try to lift things like i was doin bicep curls.

[GaryT85]

http://www.monkeysee.com/play/5292-Exercises%2Dfor%2DPosture%2DPull%2DShoulders%2DBac k%2D

have a look at that vid, really useful, simple exercises.

then look at the rest of the vids below it from the same guy. all very interesting vids, definitely worth the time :cool: