There Are Certain Exercises Which Can Enhance Your Posture.

Are you concerned about losing good posture?

Since the dawn of computer technology, people show the tell-tale signs of losing good posture at such a young age.

Why does that happen?

Apart from computing, there are so many activities that we do forward of our bodies. This often requires bending and curving the back forward. Subsequently, chest muscles become tight and back muscles overstretched in the upper body. The reason why hip and lower back problems develop is because of muscles like quads and hamstrings that tighten up.Now, before you do these exercises I strongly recommend that you see a health practitioner first to make sure that there are no serious conditions to deal with.

Now it's time to take yourself and the other people that surround you seriously. Have a friend take photos of you standing front-on and another side-on to the camera. While standing, don't make an effort to straighten up -what we are trying to determine here is what your real posture looks like. When you examine the pics, front-on, draw a line from your nose, right down through the centre of your body to the floor (a plumb-line); and another (side-on) from your ear, down the side of your body again to the floor.

These are the things that you need to make a note of:

* How is your head positioned? Leaning too far forward or maybe on one side?

* How about your shoulders? Are they tipped forward as well? Or is one side lower than the other side?

* Where are the hips? Are they level, or perhaps one is higher or maybe they thrust forward too much?

* Now check on your back. Is it curved forward and flat?

* And what about your feet? Is it sloping outwards or inwards? If it is sloping either way, try to have it checked with a podiatrist.

How can you remedy this? Here we have three simple exercises for posture improvement.

1. For your head & upper back: While standing straight, pull your shoulder-blades downwards for immediate relief from neck strain and shoulder muscle pains. Do these everyday for as many times as you like and your posture will improve eventually.

2. For your lower back: Stretch your hamstrings by throwing your leg up on a chair and leaning forward with your two hands on both sides of the it. Having tight hamstrings means you can't move your head forward within 1/3 meter from the knee.

3. For Your Core Strength: Called the “Hundreds”: Lie on your back on the floor, raise your head and shoulder blades so it is not touching the floor. Then raise your legs at an angle of 45 degrees. With your arms straight, pump it up and down until you reach to a count of 100.

And do the oldest trick in the book, take care of your body. Be consciously aware of how you are sitting (on your sit bones) and not lolling too much. Walk tall with your head up, not looking down at the ground. If you keep on doing these exercises, your posture will improve eventually. You're going to look good and feel great inside and out.

Pamela White is a qualified and experienced Pilates exercises and posture exercises tips and techniques to help you feel great and improve your posture.