One thing my clients hear me talking about a lot is the importance of good posture when it comes to back health. But thanks to the prevalence of desk jobs and handheld devices, good posture is not something that comes particularly naturally to many people.  The good news, though, is that good posture can be learned (and bad habits broken!) – and doing so will make a world of difference to your back health over the longer term. 

How to develop better posture

Improving your posture involves more than stretching, it is about teaching your body to hold itself in a different way. And then to maintain this even when you’re not consciously thinking about it. 

This takes time and it takes patience. But the benefits of doing so are huge, including providing your spine with better support during everyday activities and improving your quality of life for longer. 

But posture training isn’t a standalone activity, it’s something that needs to be considered whenever you’re planning any kind of ...

A good lordosis stretch should lengthen the hip flexors, here is a good one to use that gets more than one of the hip flexors. Lordosis in an exaggerated curve in the lumbar (lower) part of the spine. It happens because the some of the muscle of your hip become tight and stiff. By using the right lordosis stretch can help a lot and with the right exercise you can begin to reduce how tight and stiff these muscles are.

Watch the video for correct technique points

Making sure you do this lordosis stretch is key a factor when correcting lordosis. There are many muscles around your hip that it affect and a change in posture can change the muscle that is being stretched. In a video before this one you learnt a stretch that is very similar. By lifting the foot from the floor you change the muscle that is being stretched.

How hard should I stretch?

As you do this lordosis stretch make sure you feel the stretch and not to the point that you are in lots of pain. Feeling too much pain when yo...

Hip flexibility is important for low back pain, Lordosis and building core strength & stability. It helps your body function properly and can reduce the risk of muscle imbalances and pain. Knowing how to improve your hip flexibility is therefore a key part of keeping your joints healthy.

The importance of flexible hips

For this blog I’m going to focus on its benefits for posture particularly, Lordosis.

1. Many tight muscles are protecting an unstable joint. In order to improve Lordosis, stretching is essential but together with the right exercises to stabilise the hip and spine.
2. If the muscles of your hips are stiff and tight they don’t absorb shock very well. This can make simple tasks like walking and running detrimental to your joint health. Not because they are bad in and of themselves but because they cause more shock.
3. As your joints become more stable and they are able to absorb more shock this reduces pressure on your low back and allows your lumbar spine to flatten.

What...

Maintain a better posture is essential for joint health and overall health. It reduces stress on the joint and surrounding tissues, helping you reduce risk of injury.

In this blog I’ll be sharing 15 everyday tips to help improve your posture. In the video you’ll learn 14 more tips to improve your posture with exercise.

Posture

Posture is both static and dynamic; static posture is how to hold yourself when sitting and standing. Dynamic posture is how to hold yourself as you move. Both are as important as each other and you’ll be healthier if you’re good as both.

Your spine

The spine is at the centre of your posture and it has 3 curves at your lower back, mid to upper back and neck. These curves need to be optimal in order to minimize the stresses to the spine. If any of these curves become exaggerated extra stress gets placed on that part.

3 posture deformities: Lordosis, scoliosis & kyphosis

All 3 postures affect a different part of the spine and all come their own muscle imbala...

Lumbar Lordosis is natural; it helps give your spine its natural S-shape. When this natural S curve becomes exaggerated it becomes the condition Lordosis. This can also affect your neck but for the purposes of this blog I want to talk about lumbar Lordosis.

In the video above I’ll explain what is the natural curve and what is exaggerated.

Benefits of your natural S-Curve

That S shape of your lumbar spine has many benefits;

1. Absorbs shock from the lower body
2. Helps maintain the natural S shape of your upper spine
3. Stabilises the vertebrae above

How to check for possible Lordosis

A simple way to check for exaggerated lumbar Lordosis is to lie on a flat surface and slide your hand on your lower back. If you have a lot of space between your hand and spine, does your abdomen also stick out? However this space could also be created due to muscle bulk of the gluteal group.

When to check with a doctor?

If the lordotic curve doesn’t corrects itself when you bend forward as if to touc...

Finding an effective Lordosis treatment plan is essential to managing and overcoming the condition. Here is a 3-step process I use in my 1-to-1 training and online training programs. But before moving on to the Lordosis treatment, a brief explanation will be done on the term Lordosis itself.

 Lordosis Explained

Lordosis happens to be an excessive curve in the lumber and cervical region. And I most cases, it poses excess pressure on the spine leading to pain and distress. Lordosis is viewed by many as a postural defect which can make an individual’s appearance unattractive causing such a person to lose self-confidence among others. But it is apparent that whenever there is an issue, there must be a cause. Therefore, a handful of reasons have been validated to bring about lordosis in people, and there are mostly medical conditions which include;

• Obesity
• Excessive visceral fat
• Pregnancy
• Osteoporosis – the fragility of the vertebra
• Spondylolisthesis – forward slipping of the lower
...