Everyone has those things they don’t like about themselves. Feet that are too big or too small, a face that is too round or too long, etc. It’s easy to find flaws when we look in the mirror. Hands down, the thing that bothers me most about myself is my posture--something you’d think I could improve. I’ve tried various things over the years to help correct the problem, but so far, no luck. It all started in grade school. I was the tallest of all of my friends, and I remember sitting at the lunch table, I always felt like I was looking above their heads. So I would start slouching down to be eye-level with my small friends, and that’s how the horrible posture began….. I’ve found that there are only two times when I have good posture: one is while I’m running (although I’m not sure why) and the other is when I’m consciously focusing on standing up straight. Looking at pictures of myself, I’m usually shocked at how hunched over I look. I wonder why people don’t tell me that I need to stand up straight. But I think my family and friends are so used to seeing me this way, they don’t even notice. One of my fitness goals for this year has been to start a regular, challenging strength training program. I was hoping that increasing the strength in my back and shoulders would help improve my posture, because does help a lot of people. Check out Exercises to Improve Your Posture if you’re looking for exercise ideas. I’ve seen other improvements in my body as a result of strength training regularly, but posture has not been one of them. Do you have suggestions for improving my posture? Do I need to take a yoga class? Try other new exercises? Accept that I’ll never stand up straight again? What has worked for you? |
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