Fitness

OUT OF THE OR fitness

Rotation for Better Posture

By miguel j. ortiz

There are many things people do to try and improve their posture, most of which are more reminders than actual actions.

Common themes include standing up straight, rolling your shoulders back or lift your head up. And, although these reminders are helpful considering our day-to-day lives involve a lot of sitting, they don’t promote the actual behavior of creating better posture. The best thing we can do are movements that will influence quality change and ensure stabilization creating the quality posture we are looking for. Without practicing rotation with stabilization, the body won’t be able to maintain the posture were looking for. Here are three moves that will help lengthen the body and help stabilize the core to help improve posture.

The first move is an elevated pigeon and lean. This movement starts from the base of the hips as it loosens up the glutes and lower back. When doing this movement, you want to try and bring the opposite shoulder to the opposite knee which begins a light rotation all the way from your lower back to your shoulders. The idea is lengthening before you begin to strengthen. We can’t improve our posture until we have started to open up our back. This is a great exercise to start doing that. I recommend doing about 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per side, holding the stretch for about 3-5 seconds once you’re in your deepest range of motion.

The second move is a half kneeling rotation and reach. This is where flexibility and strength begin to meet. This movement challenges your shoulder blades and stabilization. Being in a half kneeling position gives the lower extremities an added stretch while helping to stabilize the hips – making it easier to rotate. The idea is to press into the ground to stabilize the upper body while reaching to the ceiling with the opposite arm. This provides great rotation to help open up the core and strengthens the spine, shoulder blades and upper back simultaneously. We also want to make sure our head is following our top hand which helps loosen up the cervical spine or neck. I recommend doing 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per side.

Our last movement is a half kneeling torso rotation. This exercise brings everything together as it challenges hip and core stabilization, while going through the torso rotation needed to dial in upper body posture. Sometimes I will have clients go through this exact drill against a wall to help with stability because many people will bend instead of rotate and that completely changes the movement. Whatever you do, try not to bend. Stay as upright as possible and allow the free moving arm to guide you through the rotation. This will strengthen your core as well as your shoulders, allowing the back to open up to help build better posture. Do 2-3 sets with 6-8 reps per side.

Have fun with your movements and take your time developing stronger ranges of motion daily.

- Miguel J. Ortiz is a personal trainer in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a Master Trainer for Pain-Free Performance and a Certified Nutritional Consultant with more than a decade of professional experience. He can be found on Instagram at @migueljortiz. You can find videos of the exercises mentioned in this column at tinyurl.com/ORTfitness.