Improve Your Posture One Muscle at a Time

Do you feel achy between your shoulder blades? Does the pain in your neck radiate up into your head giving you a throbbing headache?

Could it be your posture? Poor posture not only makes us look older, it makes us feel older too. With prolonged poor posture, some muscles respond by becoming short & tight. Other muscles become weak & overstretched. The result is pain.

When the vertebrae of your neck are stacked properly on top of one another, it is practically effortless for the musculature of your neck & upper back to hold up your head & maintain correct posture. This is the goal.

The following article lists specific exercises that if done consistently, will help you regain the health of each muscle involved, thereby improving your posture, eliminating your pain & helping you to look & feel younger.

Suboccipital Muscles

When your neck is craned forward, you must tilt your head upwards to be able to see where you’re going.

As a result, the small muscles between your neck & head (your Suboccipital muscles) become tight, shortened & overworked. These muscles begin to hurt & eventually send pain referral up into your head & thus you experience a headache.

A great exercise to relieve your Suboccipital muscles:

• Place your heels & buttocks against a wall
• Take a deep breath to raise your rib cage
• Rest your back & head against the wall
• Tuck your chin so that you’re staring directly forward
• Try to keep your arms & shoulders relaxed
• Relax against the wall while maintaining posture for 30 seconds
• Step away from the wall & maintain posture for as long as possible
• Do this everyday & before you sit down at the computer

With prolonged head forward posture, your SCM will become shortened & tight. Eventually, your SCM will actually pull your head forward making it difficult for you to bring your head back into correct posture.

The SCM Pincer Exercise

• Lay your head on the pillow & turn it to one side
• Lift your head off the pillow & your SCM will be obviously standing out
• Grasp the muscle then rest your head back on the pillow
• Self-massage, gently pinching up & down the length of the muscle
• Do this each night when you first get into bed for both sides

With prolonged poor posture, your chest (Pectoral) muscles become tight & short, giving you rounded, internally-rotated shoulders.

• Stand adjacent to a door jam
• Tuck in your chin / Shoulders back & down
• Hold your upper arm parallel to the floor
• Anchor your elbow & your palm against the door jam
• Take a step forward until you feel a gentle stretch in your Pectoral muscles. Hold for 60 seconds. Repeat for other side
• If this stretch causes you shoulder pain or discomfort, slide your elbow down until the stretch is comfortable.

On the other hand, stretching the Pectoralis Minor is difficult. You’ll need the help of your Massage Therapist, Physiotherapist or Personal Trainer to gain an effective stretch on this muscle.

Infraspinatus Muscle

If your shoulders are always rounded & internally-rotated, the Infraspinatus muscle (the muscle on the back of your shoulder blade) is constantly “on stretch”. As a result, it becomes lengthened & weak. When compromised, this muscle becomes very sore & often sending pain referral up into the neck & down the arm.

Infraspinatus Strengthening

• If you are using a therapeutic band:
• Tie one end to the door knob
• Stand perpendicular to the door
• If you are using a pulley-machine:
• Make sure the pulley-machine is on the lowest weight
• Handle should be positioned at half mast
• Stand perpendicular to the weight stack
• Tuck in your chin / Shoulders back & down
• Hold your elbow into your side
• Externally rotate your arm & pull the pulley away from you
• Slowly return the pulley to its former position - repeat 15 times

Infraspinatus Stretching

• Tuck in your chin
• Ensure your shoulder stays down
• Bring your arm across your chest & pull, holding it above the elbow
• Point your thumb toward the floor

Rhomboid & Lower Trapezius Muscles

With the overuse of the Mid & Upper Trapezius, the Rhomboid & Lower Trapezius become weak with lack of use. In order to relieve the painful, overused Mid & Upper Trapezius, the Rhomboids & Lower Trapezius must become stronger.

Rhomboid Strengthening - Scapular Scrunches

• Each night after brushing your teeth, look into the mirror
• Tuck in your chin / Shoulders back & down
• Squeeze shoulder blades together – repeat 20 times
• Try not to involve your arms – only your shoulder blades
• Watch your shoulders in the mirror to ensure they stay down
• If you allow your shoulders to ride up, you're actually using your Mid & Upper Trapezius instead of your Rhomboids, thus exacerbating the problem

Lower Trapezius Strengthening - The Wall Slide

• Press your buttocks, back & head against a wall
• Bend your elbows at 90 degrees & press your arms into the wall
• Elbows pointing to floor / hands at shoulder level / palms forward
• Keep your knuckles against the wall & slide your arms upward
• Repeat 10 times - work your way up to 20 times

No one body is the same as another - bone structure dimensions differ vastly requiring the muscles, tendons & ligaments to be different lengths & attach at slightly varying angles. To gain the most success from the above exercises, make an appointment with your physiotherapist, massage therapist or personal trainer & ask them to lead you through an inaugural session & make the appropriate modifications unique to you.

- Sylvia Leong RMT CPT

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