Posture correction training methods

Effective posture correction is essentially a dynamic adjustment process that combines "releasing tense muscle groups + strengthening weak muscle groups + rebuilding daily movement patterns". There is no one-size-fits-all movement, and there is no unified template that applies to everyone. All correction programs that are divorced from personal muscle status and daily habits are basically ineffective and may even cause sports injuries.

A while ago I met a post-00s girl who works in Internet operations. She has round shoulders and a hunched back. She has almost become a "folded person". She followed the online tutorials and practiced YTWL for two months. Her trapezius muscles became more and more swollen with practice, and her neck was so stiff that it was difficult to turn her head. When she came to see me, she was still aggrieved, saying that other people's practices had worked but it had the opposite effect on her. I touched her pectoralis minor, and when I pressed it she jumped up in pain - her upper chest and upper trapezius muscles were as tight as a knotted rubber band. When she came up, she violently exercised her back muscles, which was equivalent to pulling out the muscles that had shrunk to their shortest length. It was strange that it didn't hurt.

Interestingly, the sports rehabilitation circle currently has no unified conclusion on what to do as the first step in correction. Most domestic offline rehabilitation institutions follow the path of "relaxation first". Regardless of whether you have round shoulders or high or low shoulders, you first use foam rollers, fascia scalpels or even acupuncture to loosen tense muscles and rub away adhesion trigger points, and then do strength training. This method is good for tight muscles. For people who already have pain when moving and whose flexibility is severely limited, the results are really quick. I once had a programmer client who had been sitting for so long that it hurt to raise his arms. He first performed pectoralis minor muscle release three times, and then practiced the lucky cat movements for a week, and 80% of the discomfort around his shoulders was eliminated.

However, the "function first" school popular in Europe and the United States in recent years does not agree with this idea. They believe that specialized relaxation is "treating the symptoms" and it is better to directly adjust the force generation mode in dynamic movements. For example, people with rounded shoulders do not need to roll a foam roller first, but directly take a 0.5kg light dumbbell and do alternating thoracic rotation while walking slowly. After 15 minutes of walking, you can naturally find the feeling of exerting force in your back. It can also avoid that the muscle strength cannot keep up after relaxation and return to its original shape after two days. I have tried this method myself on several clients who are afraid of pain. As long as I can find the right sense of force, the effect is actually not much different from releasing it first and then practicing it. It is just that someone has to keep an eye on it, otherwise it is easy to turn the waist and injure the lumbar spine.

Don’t think that just practicing the movements is enough. Many people have corrected them for more than half a year without any effect. The problem lies in the small daily movements. I had been playing field ball for three years before, and my right shoulder was used to exerting force. The height difference between the shoulder height and the shoulder height was almost two centimeters. At first, I rolled my right trapezius muscles and trained my left back every day, but I did not see any improvement after two months of hard work. Later, I accidentally took a walking video and discovered that when I walked, my left core did not exert any force at all, and the center of gravity was entirely on my right leg, which was equivalent to the distortion of the lower body being directly transmitted to the upper body. Later, every time I went to the gym, I added a set of unilateral farmer's walks. I carried a 10kg kettlebell in my left hand and walked 20 meters at a constant speed for four sets. I also used my left hand to carry heavy objects when I went to the supermarket. Within three months, my shoulders were almost flat.

Speaking of this, I have to raise a question that many people avoid talking about: not all posture problems can be corrected through training. I previously received a consultation from a high school student. The child's scoliosis has reached 22 degrees. The parents were still asking if they could follow the online tutorials to practice corrective exercises. I directly advised them to go to the orthopedics department and see a doctor to take an X-ray of the entire spine. In this situation where there have been organic changes, if you do core exercises blindly and forcefully break the posture, it may increase the compression of the vertebral body, and even affect the nerves in severe cases. Nowadays, many bloggers on the Internet, in order to sell courses, boast that posture correction is omnipotent, such as "correcting scoliosis in 7 days" and "saying goodbye to XO legs in 10 days" are really not alarmist. Just listen to these words. If you already have long-term low back pain, shoulder pain or leg numbness, it is more important to go to the hospital to check for pathological problems first, and then discuss corrective training.

Actually, if you ask me, posture correction does not require you to spend an hour or two in the gym every day. When you take the subway, don't lean on the railing. Put your weight evenly on your two feet. When you are browsing your phone, hold your phone up to your eye level. Don't lower your head and look at it with a sullen face. When you are sitting in the office, get up and turn your shoulders and tuck your chin twice every half hour. These small movements of a few seconds are much more effective than two hours of sudden training on weekends. I have a client who is a teacher. Every day when she stands in class, she deliberately tightens her core. The top of her head feels like there is a thread gently tugging on her. Within a month, the pain in her waist that was hurting every day is gone. The students all say that she looks much more energetic than before.

After all, what we want to correct is never a posture that "stands as standard as a model", but a physical state that makes you comfortable, pain-free, and unrestricted in movement, right?