Watch What Happened When This Guy Spent 25 Days Trying to Fix His Bad Posture
Having noticed that his posture has seriously started to suffer due to being hunched over a computer for long stretches (something which many people can relate to since we all started working in our improvised home offices this year), YouTuber Brandon Jones tackles the issue in his newest video, setting himself a deadline of just 25 days.
On the advice of physiotherapist Ian Pirie, Jones begins a daily routine of range-of-motion exercises to increase shoulder mobility and build strength in his rhomboid and upper trap muscles, which should bring his scapula down and correct his tendency to round his shoulders forward, and improve vertical posture through his neck.
“One thing I’m trying to be mindful of in these workouts is making sure I’m targeting and engaging the right muscular groups with each exercise,” he says. “Because these are movement and bodyweight exercises, it’s easy to cheat the motion, in which case I won’t be correcting my posture, just wasting my time.”
One of the key moves in this workout is the wall slide, performed with his back against a wall, chin tucked down, his feet planted slightly out from the wall, and his chest pushed forward slightly. “As I go through the motions, my arms applying just a small amount of pressure against the wall, I can quickly feel my muscles activating, and I’m actually pretty tired after 5 to 8 reps.”
Jones targets his neck and traps with with weighted head extensions, which he improvises at home by lying face-down on a counter, and face pulls using a resistance band. He also incorporates dumbbell shrugs into his routine, to help build strength in his traps. Two weeks into the challenge, he is already beginning to see a difference in the way he sits and stands.
In addition to his exercises, Jones makes some adjustments to the way he works, including elevating his computer monitor so that his eyes aren’t facing down, and building new habits, like standing up when writing by hand, to encourage a more vertical posture. “If I notice my posture is sloppy when I wake up or after I get in from the cold, I’ll do a couple of wall slides to activate my neck and upper back, and reset my posture for the rest of the day,” he says.
After 25 days, Jones notices considerable improvement in his neck and shoulder placement—and he credits the wall slides with making the biggest difference.
“Our posture is actually incredibly malleable,” says Jones. “By just strengthening a few muscle groups, and altering some bad habits, it’s possible to see significant change in a very short amount of time.”
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