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Spring 2013 Exercise Tip
Improving Posture

illustration of posture poses

Various forms of standing posture

This month it’s time to pay attention to some of the most important muscles in the body—those of the mid and upper back (i.e. rhomboids). These are the muscles that need to be engaged to ensure proper posture.  They are typically the muscles where people are weak and need pulling exercises to get them stronger. My simple homework assignment for you, particularly if you sit a lot at work, is to engage in more horizontal rowing.  This can be done with a simple seated row, as performed in the following video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O97PTbRAzk

I wrote about the importance of this exercise in November, 2006 (http://pcconditioning.com/archive_exercise/exercises_nov06.php).  Take a look back to get caught up. Make sure to squeeze and depress your shoulder blades, pulling them back and down.  Think about your elbows doing the pulling to engage proper rhomboid activation.  

photo of kids playing video games

Worse posture than their grandparents already?illustration of back muscles

(Muscles that play a role toward optimizing posture)

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