Fucked Up Posture due to Desk Job. Is there a solution?

[withwonderingawe]

@forevereternal Thanks

I will add the band pull. I do face pull. What upper track work you suggest? I do shrugs.

The neck excercises you mentioned are the same. I am doing them from last 2 week.

 

[forevereternal]

@withwonderingawe I figured the neck stuff would be about the same so that works out.

Basically, shrugs work your traps vertically, but you're wanting to work them horizontally. T-bar rows/chest supported rows both done with high elbows (elbows out about even with shoulders), face pulls, band pull apart, and inverted rows/Australian pull-ups are about all I know for that sort of movement, but those aughta get you more than a bit of mileage. The point is to retract your scapula and pull your shoulder blades together. Focus on leading with your elbows to hit it properly.

 

[endrew]

@withwonderingawe Pull-ups and deadlift fix like 90% of this.

 

[aliaconnors]

@endrew And rows and face pulls

 

[faithinmysavior]

@endrew Any sources you can reference? Curious as I have a similar issue and already do the above, but possibly not enough

 

[withwonderingawe]

@faithinmysavior I don't think doing them just corrects the posture. I have the same ezperiencce

 

[endrew]

@faithinmysavior Just going off personal experience here, and my (admittedly imperfect) memory of muscle anatomy.

If you want to pull your skeleton in a certain direction, you need to work the muscles that will do that.

Deadlift works the flutes and hamstrings, which stabilize and straighten the lower back and core. I’ve been hitting that hard lately myself and can feel how it has improved standing and sitting posture in the lower spine.

Pull-ups, if you retract your scapula and get your grip width right, work the muscles around the upper spine and upper back, which coordinate upper back posture.

Now that I think more on it, my posture noticeably improved when I started doing kettlebell cleans and snatches, that upward lifting motion similarly targets the upper back.

Looking over OPs list, and his pictures again, I think he’s well on his way. The basics are covered and he’s clearly made a lot of progress and improved. Another year or two and he’s going to be decently ripped.

 

[stephen333]

@withwonderingawe Your posture is not that bad, but keep in mind it is something you always have to actively work on to see improvements for.

You kinda need to tuck in your chin more and push your neck backwards. Shoulder rotation seems fine, and your traps are somewhat big so it is normal to give that look. Look up YWLT exercise on YouTube, it helped me a lot.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@stephen333 This is my chin tuck form

https://imgur.com/a/fTCpvyO

I have started doing them from last week.

So you mean only neck is somewhat wrong other thing are fine.

I have tried YWLT, there problem is there is no progression path. If I am lifting weight I know it will increase and it's visible, but for this excercise it become monotonous and there is no improvement I see so I end up giving up

 

[stephen333]

@withwonderingawe Yea, you definitely need to get on that chin tuck. Back of the neck seems tight as hell. In regards to those exercises, it was okay for me not having super hard progression. My main thing was doing them very often and teaching my body some proprioception, which in turn becomes better habits.

 

[coltonclark]

@withwonderingawe I know this is the BWF sub, but I really hope you're taking ergonomics into consideration. What you're describing is a very common desk jockey issue, and while working on posture and doing strength training will absolutely be of benefit, if you have a crappy ergonomics set up, you'll most likely continue to have issues.

This ergonomic desk configuration guide from the Mayo Clinic is a pretty standard example of how most doctors suggest your desk should look like.

After an extended time typing, if you're feeling it in your shoulders, I'd guess that you're probably a forward-leaner. Constantly bent forward and probably scrunching your shoulders while pressing your face towards your screen. If you've been doing this all of your working-life, it's probably muscle memory at this point. Increasing muscle strength won't necessarily force you into having better posture, it is very much an awareness exercise. Having proper ergonomics will help making correct posture positioning feel more natural.

There are some gadgets out there that you put behind your shoulder blades that buzz or beep when they detect bad posture. Most of the reviews on them seem very mediocre, but that's the sort of mentality you need to program into yourself. Be aware of your posture and self correct. As soon as you start feeling tightness or other signs of fatigue, stand up, do stretches, walk around. Sit back down with the correct posture and positioning and try to maintain it. You're attempting to change a habit and create a new one. It'll take time before it becomes second nature.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@coltonclark The problem is, I start with this setup ends up slouching when work becomes deep.

 

[setmefree7474]

@withwonderingawe The muscles in the upper part of your back along the spine have weakened. You'll have to strengthen them. One thing that will help is to pull your shoulders back. Right now they slouch forward a little. Not a lot. But you'll notice a difference by trying that as a start. Exercises that require you to pull your shoulders back to be performed properly are the ones that work on isolating the muscles around the shoulders, like front, lateral, and rear deltoid raises. You could also do face pulls.

Cobra position would be a good stretch. A good yoga instructor would get your posture straightened out. It's good to work with an instructor for things like this because, as you can see, a lot of people here don't even recognize that your posture could be improved. That's because we have very poor posture in general in the West. If you have never seen or felt what it's like to have good posture or what muscles you'll need to develop if they've atrophied then it's going to be difficult to do it on your own. Not impossible, but you will have to be extremely sensitive to your own body. Strengthening these areas can cause a lot of soreness and the potential for repetitive stress is there.

Good luck! The fact that you noticed is a great start!

 

[ruthiem]

@setmefree7474

The muscles in the upper part of your back along the spine have weakened. You'll have to strengthen them. One thing that will help is to pull your shoulders back. Right now they slouch forward a little. Not a lot. But you'll notice a difference by trying that as a start. Exercises that require you to pull your shoulders back to be performed properly are the ones that work on isolating the muscles around the shoulders, like front, lateral, and rear deltoid raises. You could also do face pulls.

can you elaborate on this? my posture basically looks like this dudes and I've been working on it for like, the past 6 months. getting the shoulders back and neck straight consistently seems impossible.

 

[net]

@ruthiem Similar, here!

 

[setmefree7474]

@ruthiem It's why I recommend yoga. There are some things that require working with another person. There are good videos on YouTube that show you the proper form for those shoulder exercises. You'll see they require excellent posture and help strengthen those areas useful for maintaining good posture. But if you are having trouble on your own, get someone to help. I recommend yoga because it's a little less expensive than a trainer and any good instructor will have great posture and can help you with yours.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@setmefree7474

There is a yoga instructor near my house. I will ask him about posture correction.

 

[jadorarie]

@withwonderingawe Seems like a lot of work and stretching when I’m sure something like the RR does a decent job of combating strength (and thus posture) issues while also increasing body awareness. Of course, avoiding sitting down (for example) will also help.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@jadorarie I have started using a standing desk.
What is RR?

 

[jadorarie]

@withwonderingawe The subs recommended routine: https://reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/s/OgYV32Lhpk