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Stooping is ugly: the shoulders are rounded, the growth becomes visually smaller, in girls the chest seems to sag, the tummy sticks out. And it seems to be nothing, it's only a matter of appearance, but poor posture is also harmful to health, deforming internal organs, worsening the functioning of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
There are many reasons for this disease: congenital, acquired, physical and psychological. But do not worry, in most cases, everything can be corrected by exercises from stoop, and even at home.
Checking the condition of the spine
The easiest test is to stand near the wall. If there is a plinth under the wall, stand at the door or find another option. Press against a vertical surface so that your heels, calves, buttocks, shoulder blades, and back of your head touch it at the same time.
- If it works out, and you can fix it like that for at least a minute, then everything is not too critical, and to correct your posture you just need to do special exercises and learn to control yourself.
- If you are unable to touch any part of your body, or if it causes obvious pain, it is better to consult a doctor, perhaps take an x-ray and choose a special treatment to straighten the spine.
Why does stoop occur at all and what to do about it?
In this paragraph, we will not touch on congenital causes: if a person has different leg lengths, the structure of the intervertebral discs is disturbed, abnormal muscle development - this cannot be corrected by exercises, or they are too specific. Let's talk about an acquired disease.
In childhood
In children, stoop usually appears after 6-7 years, when the thoracic spine is finally formed. The reason is long hours spent with a tablet or phone in hand, when the child leans towards the screen, or wearing a heavy backpack on one shoulder.
If you do not notice anything, the child may develop kyphosis or scoliosis, but at this age everything is easily corrected: the joints and vertebrae are flexible, and a daily 20-minute exercise is enough to strengthen the muscles.
However, sometimes the reasons are psychological. It is useless to shout “Don’t slouch!” If the reason is fear, insecurity, emotional tightness. In this case, in order to remove stoop, it is better to do gymnastics together, or to understand the causes of internal tightness.
In adolescence
The young body begins to grow rapidly, and sometimes the bones develop faster than the muscles. That is why a teenager should be given for swimming or attached to some kind of sport, this will help to make the figure harmonious.
Sometimes children are embarrassed by their high growth, and can not stop hunching over, as if trying to be smaller. It is solved psychologically. The body is still growing, and if you take it in time, everything is fixable.
In adults
Here the problem, most often, is in a sedentary lifestyle or work, where you need to bend over a table, machine tool, appliances, etc. How to fix a stooped back? Charging, special exercises for stoop, and constant monitoring.
- It is often more comfortable for a man to work out in the gym, where he pumps up the muscles so that they keep the spine straight.
- The girl, most likely, will do home gymnastics. Women are by nature more flexible, go to yoga with pleasure, try to keep their posture so that the tummy does not stick out, and the breasts seem more attractive.
- In older people, posture problems often occur in the background of other diseases of the spine or internal organs, and most often, general treatment is required. But a gentle warm-up, sipping and simple exercises without strain can relieve pain and allow you to straighten up.
Top 5 exercises for any age
In fact, almost all movements that are aimed at strengthening the spinal muscles and deflecting the spine will be effective. You can create your own complex to eliminate stoop back, or perform daily proposed by us.
Forward facing bends
This is a simple warm-up exercise and is great even for the elderly. The point is to lean on your hands, take a big step and slowly bend forward. Start doing this from the wall, then you can do it with a chair, leaning on the back. Stretch open your shoulder blades. Do 8-10 sets.
From a prone position
So we correct not only problems with posture, but also with intervertebral discs and clamps. Lie on the mat on your stomach, stretch your arms forward, tighten your legs and do the “Boat” (Superman), bending at the waist and raising your palms and feet.
For those over 50, raising their legs can be difficult, in which case it is worth trying to do a backbend with a chair. Place a chair in front of you, lie on your stomach so that your hands are on both sides of it, approximately in the middle of the seat. Bending, raise your hands, put on a chair and stretch. Fix the body for a few seconds, and return to the starting position.
sitting on my knees
The most effective stoop exercises are sometimes very simple. Sit on the floor on your knees, grab your feet with your hands and try to stretch, starting from your shoulders. Bring the shoulder blades, bend, lower your hands below. You can return to the starting position, or just sway while sitting like this.
Standing on all fours
One option is the "Cat" exercise. Bend as if you are trying to crawl under a low obstacle. We start forward, bend the chest, then move the body a little forward and bend already in the lower back, raising the chest. Now the same thing - back.
The second version of gymnastics against stoop - in the same position we raise the straight leg up and throw back the head, stretch. We change the leg. 6-8 times is enough for a start, then we increase the repetitions.
With a stick
Not everyone has gymnastic sticks, but it doesn’t matter. For example, a mop handle, a vacuum cleaner pipe, a piece of a water pipe, or something similar will do. Lay it behind your back and holding it with bent elbows, make turns from side to side.
By the way, one of the reasons why a person stoops is a simple forgetfulness to keep his back straight. If you don’t know how to stop slouching, sit with this stick in front of the TV or even at the computer, and as soon as you try to bend, it will put pressure on the spine. Typing is not very convenient, but watching TV shows or using the mouse is fine. This will help you get used to the correct posture.
You can, of course, buy a retainer or a posture corset, but a stick is much cheaper.
Finally, we’ll tell you about another way to learn to walk straight without slouching: put an old notebook (or book, if you don’t mind) on your head and walk around the house like that. Drop it - so, without noticing it, slouch. Try to keep the correct position.
Try to check what will happen if you make this set of exercises your daily exercise. Many people note that after a couple of weeks they began to stoop much less, and after a month the back became noticeably stronger.
Watch the video to do the exercises correctly, start small, and control the sensations. Soon you will become much more flexible, and it will become easier to keep your back straight. Stoop can and should be corrected at any age!