How to Improve Your Posture Through Exercise

Exercise can improve your posture.

Poor posture is not just a habit that you can fix by standing up straight and pulling your shoulders back. Improving your muscle strength through exercise has the added benefit of improving your posture. The stronger the muscles are in your core, the better posture you will have. Joining a gym and using the weight machines can help you improve your posture.

Instructions

1. Change how you stand. Stand up straight and pull your shoulders back, but don't hunch them up to your neck while doing it. Your shoulders and neck should be relaxed. Pretend you have a string attached to the front of your chest and it's pulling your body up at an angle towards the sky. Remember this position because you'll need to use it while exercising to improve your posture.

2. Strengthen your back. Try doing lateral pull downs, where you grasp the bar of the weight machine and pull it down toward your chest. Return the bar to its original position over your head. To do a lateral row, grasp the bar of the weight machine in front of you. Pull it toward you to your chest. Return the bar to its original position in front of you.

3. Improve the stability of your core by doing some abdominal and lower back exercises. Do abdominal crunches (pretend there is an apple between your chin and chest when you crunch and you'll feel more burn and save your neck from jarring pain). Do three sets of 15 repetitions and make sure you breathe through each rep.

   Use a back extension machine to strengthen your lower back. You should use enough weight to do three sets of 15 repetitions and feel tired but not exhausted.

4. Strengthen your chest. Do three sets of 15 repetitions on a chest press, incline press and/or decline press.

5. Don't ignore your legs. Take 15 minutes to do some lunges, use the leg press, do hamstring curls and leg extensions.

6. Do some cardiovascular exercise. You'll need to do 30 to 60 minutes of cardio three to five times a week to help you lose weight and improve your posture. Walking, running, jumping, elliptical or aerobics are all good options.

7. Eat right and drink lots of water. If you eat right, you'll feel better about yourself and be more inclined to improve your posture. Plus, healthy food will help you reshape your body and enhance all the exercising you're doing in the gym.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have never worked with weight machines before, always use a low weight to start out.

• Always consult your physician before beginning any exercise or weight program, especially if you have back problems or other pain.

References

• ExRx: Cable Pulldown