2.7 KiB
A 15 minutes bodyweight routine for posture and strength imbalances correction
Sitting in a chair in front of a computer for several hours on a daily basis has a negative impact on posture and on strength.
Some common postural issues are forward head posture, rounded shoulders, winged scapula and anterior pelvic tilt. It also causes many strength issues. For instance it is very common for the average Joe to have wrist pain by just doing Push-Ups or to be unable to do full ROM bodyweight Rows.
At the end, sitting for a long period of time on a daily basis has a negative impact on joint health, performance and aesthetics. The goods news is that the issues very concisely described can be prevented and corrected.
Here, a focus will be made on posture/strength imbalances correction. Prevention will not be mentioned (changing posture every 20 minutes and stuff like that). A routine will be proposed for posture/strength imbalanced correction and the purpose of each exercise will be explained. This is a routine that I have been using for several months with great results.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor in exercise science, a physio or anything like that. If you think that an exercise may not be suitable for you, don't do it and talk with your physio about it if necessary.
When sitting, almost all the joints are flexed. The consequences are usually the following:
- Tight anterior chain - Flexor muscles: neck flexors, anterior delt, chest, abs, hip flexors, quadriceps...
- Weak posterior chain - Extensor muscles: neck extensors, posterior delt, back, gluteus maximus, hamstrings...
- Weak lateral chain (this one is very often forgotten) - Abductor, adductor and rotator muscles: neck rotators, lateral delt, obliques, quadratus lomborum and plenty other deep muscles in the back, gluteus medius/minimus...
This is what the proposed routine will tackle.
The routine is divided in two main parts:
- Part I: joints circumduction/circle - To warm-up and wake-up the joints (~5 min)
- Part II: strengthening the weak muscles and stretching the tight muscles (~10 min)
The routine can be performed on a daily basis. It does not require any equipment (edit: excepted for the Passive Hang). It is up to you to remove some exercises if you think that it is necessary when you also have a planned training session. This routine is not supposed to be hard, this is not a standard training session.