Stand Tall, Stand Proud

Stand Tall, Stand Proud

Remember your mother telling you to sit or stand up straight and not to slouch? She was right. Once you decide to shape up, be conscious of the way you carry yourself. Not only will you look better with your shoulders straight and your head held high, you also can avoid problems of the shoulders and upper spine. The routine of checking and adjusting your posture can be a prelude to the new body awareness you will be developing along with your new workout program.
Rounded, hunched shoulders are said to be “protracted”; when they are pulled back,they are said to be “retracted.” Many people who hold down desk jobs and sit at a computer all daylapse into a state of “chronic protraction,” which is bad. Debbie Horn, a Boulder, Colorado, fitness instructor with a Master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Colorado, has developed a small program to help with posture and to ward off shoulder problems. She suggests setting a timer or stopwatch to go off every 15 or 30 minutes. When you hear the alarm, check your posture. If you are slouching,retract your shoulders—in other words, sit or stand up straight and pull your shoulders back. After a while, this readjustment will become automatic.