how to fix nerd neck

"Stand up straight!" Growing up, my grandmother and mother hounded my sister and I (Alex). We were constantly reminded to stick our chests out. My sister spent years getting accustomed to walking with an arm bent behind her back, grabbing the opposite elbow to force her chest up.

For me, I tried the "get out of jail free" card, saying that my years of competitive swimming rounded my shoulders and that I couldn't do anything about it. Ironically, my swimming career was cut short due to shoulder tendonitis – something perhaps better posture could have avoided.

Bad posture is more than just slouching your shoulders. Poor posture is seen with forward posture, hunchback, a protruding abdomen, a curved pelvic stance, or standing with your weight in one hip.

The way to combat poor posture is by strengthening your muscles, ligaments, and joints.

Take swimming as an example, a sport that I did competitively for over a decade. All my years of butterfly and breaststroke built up my front deltoid and pectoral muscles.

With the focus of these forward, internal muscles, my upper back and shoulders, particularly the thoracic muscles, lacked strength and lengthened. With my tight shoulders, my whole body rounded forward.

Everyone, not just athletes, benefits from good posture. Posture isn't simply a static, standing-up-straight or sitting-up-straight pose. It's dynamic, and you need good form during your workouts and sports.

Correcting for posture issues should be a first step and daily exercise for anyone trying to get healthy.

Sports performance and posture are therefore interlinked. While studies cannot definitively say if injuries are caused by posture (there are too many factors to run a controlled study like this), research does link poor posture to reduced lung capacity, decreased range of motion, muscular imbalances, ligament tightness, and inefficient muscle gains and movements.

Luckily, having good posture is like creating a good habit. With time, you can realign your body.

You're here to learn how to fix forward head, and according to our research and experience, these are the best exercises. They will do the following:

• Fix forward head and slouched shoulders
• Increase range of motion (especially in your shoulders)
• Reduce tightness (especially in your chest)

The goal of these exercises, stretches, and yoga positions are to bring your back, shoulders, and neck into a neutral position. Don't do anything that is painful. However, it's normal for the exercises to feel uncomfortable at first.

While completing these exercises and stretches, it's critical to keep your body in line, especially your head and shoulders. Flex your glutes and core while pulling your shoulder blades together to maintain proper posture.

Best Stretches to Fix Forward Head Posture

Stretch 1 – Chin Tuck:
Tuck your chin and engage the your neck to move your head back toward neutral position.

Stretch 2 – Seated Neck Stretch:
Sit on the floor, extend your left arm, and place your left hand on the floor next to you. Tilt your head to the right and use your right hand to apply pressure and deepen the stretch. Then, switch sides.

Best Stretches to Fix Slumped Shoulder Posture

Stretch 1 – X Rotation On The Floor:
Lay on your stomach with your arms and legs in the shape of an X. Engage your back and entire posterior chain to lift your right hand up over your head. Feel the stretch in your left pectoral muscles and tilt your head up to look at your thumb.

Stretch 2 – Arms Behind Back:
According to Harvard Health, this stretch is especially useful as we age. Clasp your hands behind your back and pinch your shoulder blades together. Then lift your hands outward. It's a bonus hamstring stretch if you bend over into a forward fold.

Stretch 3 – Corner Stretch:
Find a corner in your house, place your hands on the perpendicular walls at chest height, and lean into it.

If you're like me and exercise regularly, you'll carry a lot of tension in your chest muscles. According to an article on ACEFitness.com, these are the best exercises to loosen up chest muscles.

How To Fix Forward Head Posture – 3 Easy Exercises

Luckily, having good posture is like creating a good habit. With time, you can realign your body. We share three effective and dynamic exercises with resistance bands in the video below.

We recommend doing these three exercises, shown in the below video, every night before bed. Keep the resistance band on your nightstand if that helps create the habit.

Exercise 1 – Shoulder Overhead Extension:
This can be done with a resistance band or towel. Keep light tension and move within a comfortable range of motion. Remember to flex your glutes and core to stay in alignment. Perform 10 reps.

Exercise 2 – Lat Pull-Downs:
With a light resistance band or towel, focus on pinching your shoulder blades together (activating your rhomboids and traps). You'll feel this in your lats and a stretch in your chest. Perform 20 reps.

Exercise 3 – Band Pull-Aparts:
With a light resistance band, start with your thumbs straight in the center of your body but rotate them outwards to point behind you as you pull. Make sure your shoulders remain pulled back and not slouching forward.

While this can all be done in under 3-minutes a day, remember to make each rep quality and keep it slow and consistent.

Bonus Exercise – Bent Over Rows:
This is another great back strengthening exercise that we borrowed from our free, 8-week Resistance Band Workout Routine.

There are a number of key factors that you must implement to have a healthy posture. First, let's talk about the thing we should be spending eight hours a day doing.

1. How To Fix Forward Head Posture While Sleeping

You shouldn't have back or neck pain when you wake up in the morning. If you do, you need to optimize your mattress, sleeping position, and pillow.

Everyone is different, but the general consensus is that sleeping on your back on a medium-firm mattress is ideal. Additionally, make sure your head isn't propped up on a tall pillow.

We talk more about optimizing sleep posture and this mattress in our article titled, 'Is Your Mattress Causing Back Pain?'

Years ago I tried to fix my forward head posture by sleeping without a pillow. It didn't work because my 8-12 pound head rolled around all night and I woke up with a sore neck. Find a pillow that supports the natural bend in your neck, and prevents your head from rolling around.

A rather thin memory foam pillow will work well. I also like the support from a MyPillow, and I modified mine so that I had optimal neck support and limited side to side head movement.

2. Improve Workplace Ergonomics

Work is another necessary activity that takes up a large portion of our day. Whether you're at a sitting desk or a standing desk, your arms should be at a 90-degree angle and the top of your screen should be eye level.

If you are sitting, lumbar support will prevent slouching. We highly, I repeat, HIGHLY recommend using a standing desk. You'll increase productivity and reduce aches and pains in your back.

If you are serious about learning how to fix forward head posture, read our article titled 'Should I Get A Standing Desk?'

3. Level Up Your Driving Posture

I used to drive 20-30 hours a week for my corporate job. I drove a brand new 2017 Ford Fusion and the lumbar support and seat height was not posture friendly.

You may need to add lumbar support to your seat to improve driving posture. I created this video to help you adjust and improve driving posture.

4. Experiment With A Posture Corrector

This conclusion was drawn from a study on the "young population." The average age of subjects was 33.7 years old.

"The use of computing devices, especially mobile telephones, and the increase in the flexion of the cervical spine indicate that cervical vertebral problems will increase even in younger people in the future. Also, ergonomic devices must also be developed."

We experimented with the UPRIGHT GO 2 posture correctors and our transformation was dramatic. We conducted a 2-week experiment and summarized our significant transformation in a data-driven UPRIGHT GO 2 posture trainer review.

A 56% improvement in forward head posture was measured, and our before and after photos were shocking as well.

5. Move More

A sedentary lifestyle is a dangerous one. Our bodies were made to move. In addition to exercising daily, find ways to get your lungs pumping and your blood flowing.

In this TedEd talk, 'The Benefits of Good Posture,' the researchers share that changing postures and constantly moving is healthier than standing still in perfect posture.

If you need a device to nudge you into moving more frequently, the Apple Watch Series 3 as served this purpose for us.

Closing

Correcting any problems with posture is critical to a healthy lifestyle. Whether you're an athlete or simply someone exercising to improve your health, good posture sets the proper foundation and form while preventing future injury.

I have questions. What do I do?

Ask away in the comments below, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible and add your recommendations to this article accordingly.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your comment!

how to fix nerd neck

Source: https://www.ryanandalex.com/how-to-fix-forward-head-posture/

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