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Answer:
There are a lot
of good exercises that you can do to help with
your posture, most of them relating to the core
(your midsection) and your back. These are the
areas most people need to improve on and are
the major cause of slouching posture.
For the back,
I would recommend exercises such as hyperextensions,
deadlifts, seated cable rows and bent-over rows.
The first two
exercises will work on the strength of your
lower back while the last two will work more
on the upper and mid back.
The rowing movements
should be done with a moderate weight, keeping
your lower back arched and tight and concentrating
on squeezing the shoulder blades together behind
you at the contraction of the rep. This squeezing
will help strengthen the muscles that pull your
shoulders back, helping to correct the slouching.
Working your rear
delts (located at the backs of the shoulders)
can also help with bringing the shoulders back.
Doing bent-over laterals will accomplish this.
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Working your abdominals
is very important as these are the muscles that
help to support your spinal column and torso.
If they are week, you body will have a tendency
to hump over and slouch because of lack of support.
The main exercise
used to target the abdominals is the crunch.
For information on how to do crunches more effectively,
click
here.
The best exercise
I would recommend for strengthening your postural
midsection muscles, however, is the Dumbell
Side-To-Side.
Here are instructions
on how to do it:
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Sit
on a flat bench so your legs are perpendicular
to the bench (not straddling it).
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Set
a dumbell on end right beside you on one
side (start with a fairly light dumbell
until you get the movement down and get
stronger at it).
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Take
a a breath and hold it just before you do
this movement.
-
Make
sure your legs stay pointing directly forward
throughout the movement.
-
Keeping
your lower back arched, your abs tight and
your chest high, turn to the side and pick
up the dumbell with two hands.
-
Keeping
the dumbell in close to your body, turn
180 degrees to the other side and set the
dumbell down on end again, releasing the
tension in your abs and releasing your breath.
-
Repeat
the action back to the other side for 6
to 8 reps. Do 2 or 3 sets of this.
-
As
you develop strength in this exercise, increase
the weight of the dumbell you are using.
This movement
works the transverse abdominus muscles, which
are your body's natural weight belt. It keeps
your midsection tight and strong and is one
of the best exercises for improving posture
because of the increase in spinal support
you get from improving the transverse abdominus
muscles
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Remember, posture
is not just a matter of strengthening muscles.
It's also a matter of keeping tabs on your
body position throughout the day and taking
steps to correct it when you notice your posture
is poor.
Since you've
already noticed that you slouch when you walk,
focus on not slouching when you walk. Even
if it takes some effort at first, you will
teach your body to maintain this position
when you concentrate on doing it consistently.
Maintaining
posture also applies to sitting in a chair.
I'm sure everyone has been told to "sit
up straight" at some point in their lives.
By keeping an eye on how you sit, you can
also teach yourself to always sit up straight.
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