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Younger Taller Thinner By Cherilee Garofano, BA, CPT Do you or have you ever had neck or back pain? Did you know that about 70% of recurring back or neck pain is because of poor posture? Postural exercise can help. In addition to your regular exercise plan, postural exercise helps prevent pain and creates a good, strong foundation – a healthy spine. With the right core and back strengthening tips in your arsenal of exercises, you’ll stand taller, project confidence and look thinner too! |  | No slouch here
Poor posture can create a stiff neck, forward hunched shoulders, restricted breathing, backaches and headaches. But with good posture you can look 10 pounds lighter and 10 years younger. Perfect posture is the ability to stand in an anatomically correct position – ears are in line with your shoulders, hips, back of the knees and ankles.
Are you a ‘slouch’ potato?
Poor posture is mainly a result of weak muscles that don’t support the bones of the spine. Without regular exercise and attention to stand up tall, the body becomes muscularly imbalanced. The most common form of poor posture is the closed chest, rounded back, and forward head caused by hunching over a desk too long, driving, and other bad habits, including slouched sitting and sleeping on your front or with arms overhead. These positions cause the chest muscles to shorten and the back muscles get lengthened and become weak. Stretching the chest and strengthening the back are keys to correcting these postural imbalances. Most discomfort can be corrected, and better yet prevented, by building endurance and strength in your core. | | What does the core have to do with it?
The core, although synonymous with abdominal muscles, is actually the lower back and abdominal muscles. All of the muscles of the core work synergistically to achieve optimal function, posture, and back health. Instead of using external tools such as back or neck pillows and/or back weight belts, focus on strengthening our own natural weight belt, the transverse abdominus (a horizontal band of muscle underneath the belly button). This strengthens the abdominal muscles to help support the low back. What can be done?
For most people*, the majority of back pain can be prevented with 10 minutes of postural exercises daily. Additional pilates and yoga exercises can also be done to lengthen and strengthen the muscles in and around the spine. Give it a try. The benefits will be remarkable – improving vitality and keeping you pain free for all of life’s endeavours. Keep your chin up!
*This program is intended for people free of spinal deformities, slipped discs or subluxation. Do not continue if pain worsens. See a chiropractor for more information. | | Exercises | | | Rowing with band
(strengthens rear deltoid and rhomboids)
1 Sitting tall on top of a ball or chair, stretch arms out in front of you while holding the band taut in your hands shoulder width apart. 2 Slowly bend elbows, pull your shoulder blades together while pulling the strap apart.
3 Slowly release arms back in front of body while keeping the band taut. Keep arms at shoulder height at all times. Repeat 10 times. 
| | Rowing twist with band
(strengthens rear deltoid, latissimus dorsi and rhomboids)
1 Begin in rowing position. 2 Bend the right elbow as you twist your torso to the right led by the right shoulder blade. Turn as far as possible without moving the hips. Keep your bent arm at shoulder height and the straight arm in front of the shoulder as you twist. Repeat each side 15 times. Open chest stretch on ball
(stretches out pectorals, front deltoids, and biceps)
1 Sit on top of ball. 2 Slowly walk legs forward as you begin to lie back arching over ball with your low back supported by the middle of the ball. 3 Relax the whole body into a back bend; drop your arms to your sides. 4 Breathe into the front of the body and relax. Hold for 30 seconds. Come up slowly to avoid a head rush. 
| Supermans
(strengthens back muscles, erector spinae, gluteals and quadratus lumborum)
1 Lay face down on mat, arms at sides, palms facing thighs. 2 Pull your belly-button in towards the spine, lift arms off the ground and reach for your toes. The upper body will automatically come up off the ground so focus on opening the shoulders and chest. 3 Work up to lifting your legs off the mat at the same time. Start with holding for 10 seconds and build to up to 30 seconds.
|  Pikes on ball
(strengthens the abdominals, arms, pectorals, and deltoids)
1 Slowly walk out over the ball as if in a push up position so thighs are on the ball just above the knees. 2 Slowly walk hands forward until calves are resting on the ball just below the knees. 3 Push yourself up through the abdominals and chest muscles, begin to bend the knees and draw the ball up into the chest as you raise your hips up in the air as high as you can. 4 Move back to start by straightening the legs while maintaining a strong plank position. Do 15 reps from the calve position on the ball. 5 Work your way up to straightening your legs during the entire exercise. | | Superman graduation
1 Start in superman position. 2 This time stretch arms to the sides in a ‘T’ position at your shoulders. 3 Make a fist, point thumbs down to engage the upper back muscles, hold with legs up for 30 seconds. 
H&L
Cherilee Garofano, B.A., Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Pilates, Spin and Group Fitness Instructor is completing studies as a Holistic Nutritionist Practitioner. Owner of Envision Wellness, a corporate and in-home training company, www.envisionwellness.ca | | |
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