Good Posture is Hot

Video: 5 Minute Posture Workout Circuit

—————-> Watch the posture circuit workout video here

These exercises are going to help re-align your body to be stronger, more injury resistant, and give you that awesome posture that commands respect.

Lets get real, you can't ever be a rockstar if your posture sucks.  A person with a great body and bad posture is just… it's totally inconsistant.

Remember when LL Cool J said he has to have wicked abs because they match his Ferrari and his Rolex?  That's the way posture is for someone who is fit.

Dr. K drops 5 exercises on you for a daily 5 minute posture circuit. 

Lets take a look:

1.) Middle Trap – I call these "T's" because they look like you are making your body a "T" with your arms. 

These are my absolute favorite – they teach you to pull your shoulders back. 

I actually like to have people do them thumbs up but it hits the middle traps both ways. 

2.) Lower Trap – I call these "Y's" cause you make a "Y", like YMCA. 

The lower traps pull the shoulder down, just where it needs to be for overhead kettlebell pressing.

The middle and lower traps pull the shoulders back and down, and fixe that computer posture, dumpy and weak forward shoulder thing.

3.) Bridge with Adductor Squeeze – Now you know I'm a fan of hip extension movements. 

The bridge actually hits the exact same muscles as the kettlebell swing, it's just a regressed version.

So depending on where you are at, and what gear you have available, you could do bridging or you could do kettlebell swings.

Besides hip extension being awesome for athletics, if you suck at hip extension you're probably going to have that over arched lower back that makes your belly look bigger and fatter.

4.) Pushup complex – Ummmmm, because pushups are the awesomeness.

5.) Abdominal vacuum – This one is practicing diaphragmatic breathing – essentially the most efficient way to breathe (you get more air). 

Most people breath into their chest and shoulders (shallow breathing) instead of down into their stomach.  If you breath into your shoulders and chest, it tightens up the upper trap (that's the one we don't want to hit) and pulls everything forward into that shoulder injury position.

It's basically fetal position – you cover everything up. 

These are all things that are great if you are trying to protect your vital organs from getting hit in the face with a baseball, but they all suck if you are working out.

If you optimize your breathing, your whole upper body has the opportunity to move correctly.

—————-> Watch Dr. K's Posture Workout Circuit Video Here

If you take a look at the fight or flight response, what you get is bad form (shoulders up and forward) bad posture (rounding forward spine) and bad breathing (shallow, up in the chest, and fast)… and the appropriate hormonal response.  It's a response to run away at all cost (and the cost is storing fat). 

You know all of the late night info-mercials promising to lower your cortisol production with a magic pill? 

It turns out that magic pills don't work…  but better movement, posture and form does.

You know how you've always heard that smiling releases dopamine, making you happy?  That being happy -> smiling, but also smiling -> being happy.

It's the same with the rest of your body.

The "bad" fat storing hormonal cascade of cortisol and adrenaline pull you into bad posture, bad breathing, and…  bad posture, bad breathing and bad form pull you into that bad hormonal cascade.  It's a downward spiral of fat storing badness.

On the flipside, better movement, better form, better breathing and better posture pull you into a healthy and favorable hormonal environment.  It's an upward spiral of athleticism and leanness.

Ok, so this is way too much information for one blog, and at the same time it's just barely scratching the surface.

So in the meantime, every day take five minutes to work on your shoulders, your breathing, and your hip extension.  It makes a huge difference in the way your body moves and the results you get.

—————-> Click here to watch the 5 min posture workout circuit

By Josh Hillis, fat loss expert, author, level 2 kettlebell instructor, personal trainer