The Posture Strengthener That Many People Get Wrong - Here's How to Master It

Good posture should be integral to all other movements.

One example is this shoulder stretch above.  

I'm at a (more or less) 90-degree angle from the ground, using my core to protect my back and keep it straight.  From there, I can move my arms in a controlled manner to get a nice mobility exercise.  

I decided not to post the exericse, though, because I realized most people will struggle to do this correctly.  

Which is a blessing in disguise.  

Most people are going to either

(a) think about it (but not do it)

(b) do it, feel pain or weakness somewhere, then say "I can't." 

(c) do it wrong, hurt themselves, then back to (a) or (b).  

This is why it hurts:

If your back hurts when you bend over it's because ...  

• your hips are not as flexible as you think AND - 
• you're not engaging your core when you bend 
• your feet are not engaging on the floor 
• you're not bending your knees enough
• there's no external rotation in your legs 
• you're craning your neck up instead of keeping your spine in alignment

Why is it vital that you do this one particular exercise right?

Because it's the foundation for literally so many everyday movements.

Sitting posture - 

Walking and running - 

Squatting, and lifting - 

Skating - 

Jumping - 

It's the foundation for most sports.

Dance - 

Martial arts - 

Yoga - 

Tennis - 

Golf - 

Baseball - 

Fishing - 

(I had to look up "native fishing" because I didn't see any great photos of modern fishing with good posture.  I'll discuss more below.)  

Gymnastics/acrobatics - 

All of them use this posture!

It has potential energy.  You can rev it up before a dynamic movement.  It's a pause before you jump, swing, or stretch your leg to take a step. 

It's a pose of balance.  

Even if you're not an athlete, you need this if you plan to keep walking and moving into old age.  

It's a perfect opportunity to hone in on some basic posture skills.  

I call it the "lightning bolt."

If you have lower back pain, foot pain/plantar faciitis, knee or neck isues - you're not going to bend down far.

Feet are shoulder-width apart and ACTIVE.

You should be able to grip the ground.  There's a correlation between your big toe and your glutes.  It activates what's called the "posterior chain."  

Bend your knees as you do this. Now, when you grip, feel the line of tension go into your butt muscles - aka the glutes.

Think of your legs like screws driving into the ground.  There is something happening called external rotation.  Your knees spin toward the outside of your body.  This is what turns your glutes on.  So to speak.  ;) 

When you lack energy in this "chain," it looks like (to me anyway) if I gave you one good push, you'll fall over.  There's no grip with the ground!  There's no "lift-off" energy! 

Have you ever watched Olympic runners?  Have you noticed that when they go, their legs kind of look like wheels spinning?  That's the lift-off energy I'm talking about.  

Here are some examples of when the posterior chain (glutes and foot-gripping) are missing:

Here is someone with a good "lightning bolt" posture, but she's not going very deep. 

This is a great example of how to either start learning, recover from injury or pain, or to warm up before you go deeper.  

That's half of it.

The other half is the core.

Zip up the front abdominals. It feels like a zipper to me.

There's a line of muscles that goes from the perineum up the front of the body to the throat. Zip that up to keep your back/spine protected.

If you feel pain in the back, come up slightly and engage the core more.

When you don't "zip it up," your back rounds.  Not only does this look funky, but it will hurt you.  If not yet, it will eventually.  

Where a lot of people mess up is they miss out on the knee bend.  If your back isn't flexible, or you're just getting warmed up, BEND YOUR KNEES MORE.  This allows for more core and more foot/glute engagement.  It's a win-win:  no back pain, stronger core.  Just bend those knees and engage!  

Here are some examples of what it looks like when you don't use your core and the back rounds:  

If you're reeling in a catch, bend the knees, zip up the core and use that energy.  It's much stronger of a force than trying to do it all from your back or especially all from your shoulders.  

Even daily movements like cleaning, washing dishes, and vacuuming can benefit from the lightning bolt posture.  

If you're experiencing foot pain when bending? Lighten your foot grip and come up slightly.  Like I said before, you don't have to go deep to go far.  

Neck pain?  You're probably craning your neck:  

Bring the neck into alignment with the rest of the spine by lowering the chin slightly.  

Think - move slower. Pay attention to how each level feels. If it hurts, do less!

Even though I can go low in chair pose in yoga, I always start off higher. This way I can warm up through my feet and core. I can warm up my knees and glutes.

Once I'm warm, I'll go lower. (If I feel like it!) 

If you're experiencing pain or health issues in any of these areas, just do less! You don't have to go low to get something out of it.

It's a posture that everyone should train regularly to keep your body agile into old age.

Whether you practice it in a yoga pose, or jogging, start off slow and don't force anything. Allow your breath to guide your inner eye to check in with how it feels.

If you want to improve your performance in any sport, train this posture at least twice a week.  Ideally, check into it every day.  Just "sit" into it, feel into your feet, glutes, and core.  Make sure it doesn't hurt anywhere.  Bring your neck into alignment and relax your jaw.  Breathe. 

That's it!