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FIX Hunched Posture & Perfect Balance in 90 Sec
- chelsie462
- 14 hours ago
- 9 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in September 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/IFxAZaUhhfY
Brad: So Mike, did you know that if you have a hunched-over posture and your spine is as crooked as a politician's, that your balance is also greatly influenced by this?
Mike: No. Brad, I did not know that. But I'm willing to bet you're going to explain to everyone how.
Brad: Well, that's correct. However, this is a family show, and there'll be no betting or gambling. So, let's keep that straight.
Mike: I want to run the table.
Brad: Yeah, let's go on with the program.
Mike: So what are we talking about today, Brad?
Brad: Well, as I mentioned, slouched-over posture has a lot to do with your balance, putting you at higher risk for falls if you have that type of posture. But now I actually want to demonstrate it so it's very clear. Can you stand forward just a little bit, Mike? We're going to do a simple single-leg balance test. Okay, very common in the therapy world. Mike is standing with good posture, balancing on one leg. I'm just going to nudge him a little bit, see how his balance is. He's off a little bit when I do some nudging. Now, can you put your leg down?
Brad: We're going to reset. I want you to face that way so that we get a good view of your slouch posture. Assume a slouch posture, head forward, kyphotic, or slouched back. Now we're going to perform the exact same test on one leg. And now I'm going to do some bumping here. And Mike is having a much harder time balancing. He actually had to grab the table.
Mike No. Maybe.
Brad: Be honest with them, Mike. Was it harder to stand this straight up or hunched over with the perturbations or the bumping?
Mike: It was much more challenging because my center of gravity was not straight underneath my legs. It was shifted forward, making my balance a lot harder to keep.
Brad: Yeah, and you know, any therapist is aware of this, but now you are aware of this. So when we can straighten our body up, get rid of the hunched posture, you're going to be more mobile, less at risk for falls, and life will be better. Okay, let's get to it. There are two degrees. I'm going to show you a simple exercise in 90 seconds on how to correct this. But we need to determine if you're slouched are you severely slouched? In other words, you cannot straighten up because you're already tightened up because you've been doing it for so many years. Or is it something, if you think about it, you can actively change your posture to good posture? So the test is, oh, bring the camera over here. There we go. I've done this before. I'll do it again. Butt up against the wall. Feet about a foot away from the wall, shoulders back against the wall. And if you can pull your shoulders back, tuck your chin in, and touch your head, that means you're just mildly slouched. You can correct it actively.
Brad: There will be some people who will put their butt up against the wall back here. They will not be able to pull their shoulders back, and with keeping their chin down, will not be able to touch the wall because their body is so tight and contracted from years of being slouched. That takes a different approach. They're very simple, but similar. You'll see what I mean in just a second. We're going to rearrange things so we can show you. Okay, so if you're mildly slouched, in other words, you can get yourself up tall, good posture against the wall, we're going to show you that routine first. And then if you're severe, we'll show you that routine next. There are three stretches. Each one is done for 20 seconds once you learn it. And then there's a balance exercise at the end, equaling 90 seconds total. It's going to take more than 90 because we have to explain each technique a little bit. They're not hard. These are all done. You do not have to purchase any equipment. You do need a door, you do need a wall, and everything else will take care of itself. So what we need to do is stretch the muscles out here, get the head in, and we're going to use a doorway for this. Open the door naturally; otherwise, it won't work. Mike is going to demonstrate it. Arms up here. We call this the "W" form and posture. Now make sure you do not tuck your head forward. It's imperative that you have a straight line and be aware of that while you do that stretch. Go ahead, Mike. Give a little more detail.
Mike: All you do is place them on here. If you're tight, you may be way out here outside of the doorframe. Try to lean into it. This is going to stretch your pecs in the front of your shoulder muscles, which often get tight from being forward rounded like that. Hold this for roughly how long? 20 seconds, are we doing?
Brad: Right up to 20 seconds, you can go pressure on, pressure off. Now this is one of those things, every time you walk through a doorway, you can do it. You don't have to spend 20 seconds; you can even spend two or three seconds and do that, you know, five or ten times a day. It all adds up. It's a nice way to integrate it into your life without changing things. Now we're going to go to the wall stretch. Now that was a passive stretch, stretching things out. This exercise actually strengthens the muscles on the backside. So they pull your shoulders back, and it becomes a muscle memory activity to correct your posture so you don't have to think about it. But here, the same thing as the test. Pull the shoulders back, chin tucked in. Very critical. Get the head to touch. And now we're just going to go back like this and do "W"'s. Now I personally, my left side is a little bit tighter, and I have to work hard to get my left elbow and hand to touch, and I still do it. I'm pushing it to the wall with my right hand.
Brad: So I'm strengthening. You can feel the muscles between your shoulder blades working after you do this about five times. If you haven't done it, they may feel like they're going to cramp. If they do, simply relax, stretch them out a little bit, go back to it, and then actually give it a break and come back later in the day and do it. And let's go on to the last thing. Okay, now you're going to actually do a retest, which is also good practice for balance. You're going to stand, monitor, and really change your posture. So it's good. And actually do a single-leg balance test. You're going to hold that for 15 seconds, see if you need to continue to get help from the wall or your foot, or if you can hold it for 15 seconds and then do the other leg. Monitor the posture. Everything is looking good.
Brad: And if you do this twice a day, every day, after one week, you will notice you're going to have better balance. If on the first day you found you had to touch and really assist your balance by touching, I bet you, by the seventh day, you're going to touch much less. If not at all, you'll probably be able to stand and your balance will be much better, you'll be more confident, and it works. Okay, now, if you're one of the people who are really contracted tight, you cannot get back flat up against the wall. We do the same thing, except that we use the floor for using gravity to help relax and stretch. So if you're lying down, and I've had this with a lot of people where I have them lie down, they're in that head-forward posture, and I find out they can touch their head to the table or the floor. And sometimes it's not uncommon, they're so tight, they're stuck there.
Brad: Now we're going to do some stretches, but that becomes very uncomfortable very quickly. I'm talking within five to ten seconds. So in that case, you're going to take a pillow and put it there so that the person can relax. You may have to use two pillows, whatever it takes, to be relaxed so that you can rest your head on the pillow or pillows while getting the stretch. Mike, you want to go through the stretch? It's very similar to the wall.
Mike: I would like to say, say it, don't spray it, Brad.
Brad: Oh, wow. Woo, sorry.
Mike: So the first thing you're going to do is just simply work on chin tucks. That is a component of trying to push your chin into the pillow. You can leave the pillow here if you are very tight. And just let gravity kind of pull it down if you can.
Brad: Can you show them the wrong way that some people will do it? Yeah, they're trying to touch the head, and the chin comes up. That is not getting the cervical spine stretched out the way it should.
Mike: So you can do roughly ten repetitions or kind of hold it gently and work up to 20 seconds, if you're on a time constraint. Over time, if you feel like you can use fewer pillows to say I need two pillows, go down to one, eventually try to go down to the floor. You could see that my neck is in a much more neutral position. It is not flexed forward like this. And again, you can start with the chin tucks. Now, the next progression, if you need a pillow still, you can use it, but you're going to sort of do the "W" stretch like we did on the wall, just on the floor, so gravity is going to pull your arms down like this. You can just sit here. If you're very limited and tight, you can try keeping your elbows straight. I'm not touching your feet. So keep your elbows straight like this, and you may just feel stretched that way. To progress, you can go to a "W." If this is starting to feel good, you can remove the pillow, and if this still feels good, you can actually start going up and doing shoulder movements with this as well. If you cannot fully get flat or do this with the pillow, then just don't do this step yet.
Brad: That's right. And then after you get done with this, you're going to stand up and do the single leg. And we're not going to go through it in detail again, but stand up as tall as you can and try to balance again for those 15 seconds on each leg. Use the wall, countertop, or whatever to help your balance. There is one thing I want to mention is if you are contracted forward and you need to lie on the floor, carpeted floor, it's going to take longer. It just makes sense; there's no argument about that. That may take longer than the other people. But once you can do flat on the floor, simply do the exercises on the wall, and that's a good transition. That is really good progress once you get from there to there. And you'll notice it when you're doing your balance testing. Alright, Mike, we have another video that will help people out with this.
Mike: Yes, if you want to check out the next video, watch "Top 3 Exercises To Fix Neck Hump And Hunchback."
Brad: Anyway, have a great day.
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