Is it possible to really improve posture - how?

[Poppysball]

I’ve always been rather round shouldered. I am conscious of it when I see photos of myself. I have suffered with back pain on and off for years and I have rheumatoid arthritis although this is well controlled.

I have a desk job where, despite having a great chair and an adjustable desk, i often find I am leaning over and sitting for far too long without realising.

Tonight I started a new class focussing on strengthening the core. The teacher made me pull up my back sit up straight and it felt great, like a lovely stretch. However my default stance is not like that, it’s more of a slump with round shoulders. To have that really straight tall back all the time i think would take a conscious effort and I just think I normally forget and default to slump pose.

I would love to have better posture. My core is so weak and I’m getting a bit of a tummy.

I do think I’ve always been like it though so is it just the way I am made or is it actually possible to change this? I’m 44 and really want to improve my strength and fitness this year.

What are the best things to do to help with poor posture?

Thanks for any advice.

Yes it is possible. The main limiting factor will be your work posture: you can’t out-exercise the effects of being hunched over for hours.
Strengthen: core and muscles between shoulder blades (rhomboids and middle and lower traps). Ideally also deep neck flexors.
Stretch: pecs, hip flexors, upper trapezius (traps)

That would be a good start. You may find some manual therapy helpful or deep tissue massage.

Loads of exercises on YouTube. A foam roller for thoracic extension exercises would be a good investment.

Good luck!

OP you absolutely can improve your posture but it will be more of a long term project rather than just remembering from time to time "sit up straight". Rather you will need to systematically stretch certain muscles that have shrunk and tightened (such as as across your chest) which can pull your shoulders forward /round, and strengthen others (such as across your upper back, and your abs). You've obviously had a taster of this today in your class. Something like yoga or Pilates on a regular basis can make an enormous difference. I'm very late 40s and started yoga classes twice a week, six months ago. My posture has improved out of all recognition, and my tummy is now flat (for the first time in my life!) I might also add that my almost permanent back ache has gone.

So OP It is totally doable but it will take time and commitment. Go for it!

Thank you moreismore. If I do a search on youtube what shall I loom for; core exercises, posture exercises?

I don’t really know what to do about work as I have had a workstation assessment, I have a very good chair and a desk that I can sit or stand at. But when I sit at my desk I never feel like I can sit dead straight backed and do my work. It’s like I get so engrossed in it that I lean forward or slump without even realising.
I don’t use the desk in the standing position that often so perhaps I should do that more..

Agree, definitely doable. I know a musician who achieved it (needed to stand up straighter for better lung capacity) through Alexander Technique. Also nice if you're lazy as it's gentle manual therapy and it feels like someone else is doing the work You are supposed to practise though!

Pilates has improved my posture to the extent that I’m
2” taller than I thought I was.

Regular classes will go a long way to improving your posture.

I hear my Pilates teacher in my head saying 'Roll your shoulders up, back and down' and 'Zip up your skinny jeans!' ie engage your core, if I'm slouching
I live in fear of acquiring that 'dowager's hump' effect my late mother suffered from, so that's a motivation for me.

Good luck, OP, you have nowt to lose but your slouch!

Wow Daisy that’s amazing and so encouraging, well done. So is it the stretching type classes that will help with it more so than the general fitness/cardio classes?
I have done pilates before but the teacher was rubbish and never came round to check on us and I don’t think I was doing it right. She used to talk about being in neutral position but I don’t think I ever was!

What else can I do in general to help? For example I tend to sit on sofa with my feet up or curl up in a ball😄. What’s the best way to sit whilst watching tv?

If you can, go to a proper Pilates studio (the kind that has reformers and well as mat classes) and small group teaching. You’ll get much more out of the classes.

OP as it happens I also took up running at the same time as the yoga, but without a doubt it's the yoga that has improved my posture. It is a combination of improved flexibility and better strength. For instance my lower back ache was partly caused by tight hamstrings, which had the effect of pulling down on my pelvis/ lumbar area. My aching upper back (between my shoulders blades) was because of tightness across my pecs/ chest and weak, overstretched back muscles.

Now I am stronger in my back and core (yes the dreaded core) I just feel i can hold myself in the good posture without it being a (conscious) effort anymore. I was at a course today and I just noticed about an hour in how I was sitting straight, square (I mean equally from left to right side ), relaxed and comfortable in the chair, which a year ago I would have been slumping, fidgeting and starting to get achey.

Yoga definitely works on your flexibility and your strength (all those planks and downward dogs!) Find a good instructor, one that is really really hot on your technique and corrects/ guides you into the right positions. It's no point doing it, if you are not doing it right.

If you want to get fit and strong this year yoga and running are the perfect combination . And I am a good 5 years older than you, so it is NOT too late!

Sit on a gym ball to watch tv!! But ideally sit square to what you’re watching/who you’re talking to.

If you search ‘stretch’ or ‘strengthen’ and the muscles I mentioned lots should come up.

Yoga has definitely helped my posture.

Ask for standing desk at work, many of them also have shelf for a keyboard wan you then won't slouch and drop your shoulders