Almost 30, Horrible Posture & Mobility

Training
1

I’ll try to make this as easy on the eyes as possible so you don’t have a wall of text to go through!

Background:
-29, male, haven’t lifted in years.
-internally rounded and slouched shoulders
-anterior pelvic tilt
-poor overhead shoulder mobility (looks like I’m saluting hitler when trying to get arms overhead)
-belly sticks out- I can see abs if I tense, it’s as though the muscles that held my gut in have completely relaxed and fallen asleep.
-major lower back arch.

Basically, I look like a pregnant male Nazi neanderthal.

I’ve read around and found different probable causes:

Tight pecs, weak rhomboids/ external rotators/rear delts, weak upper traps, tight lats & triceps, tight short head of bicep, poor t-spine mobility, tight hip flexors & quads, weak core (TVA, abs)

I’ve also found different tests to check each and ticked them off, so I know what the issues are, and what to do for each- whether it be soft tissue work, stretching, mobility drills, strengthening specific muscles, etc.

I just don’t know where to start. Should I stretch and foam roll only until my pecs/lats/hip flexors are flexible enough to allow me to safely overhead press/squat/chin up? Do I work on everything together? And if so- how would I organize it? I work 65 hours a week, and have a newborn, so time is a commodity, but I don’t want to put things off.

Any help for a guy that feels like he’s 59 instead of 29 would be great!

2

I’m sure others will chime in with good ideas and specifics, but I would establish a mobility routine. This would be several movements/stretches/foam roller/lax ball work that you could accomplish in 10-20 minutes. I would then do this every morning after waking up and before going to bed. Also once during the day for extra credit.

3

Agile 8 and Agile 11 were recommended to me for mobility training. I just started on them, but it seems to be popular and helped a lot of people.

4

Ok so I have a bit more time now. You said you know what to do as far as mobility, but I’ll add in my thoughts because I’ve had similar problems in the past.

Establish a routine, that addresses your major limitations first. If you already know several stretches, than use what works for you. If I were in your situation, I would so this every morning.

foam roll upper back, really focusing on extension
lax ball on my glutes
Couch stretch (single best thing I have found for anterior pelvic tilt)
lax ball on my pecs
then stretch 1 and 4 from

some band pull aparts and face pulls
planks

the lax ball work and stretches should be held 30s-2min depending on the time
reps for the pull aparts and face pulls can be a set or several of 20-25
the plank just for as long as you can. I would work up to 2 minutes over time.

As far as lifting, I don’t feel as qualified in that

5

Start doing something athletic

6

As with everything, consistency is king. For me, mobility is a prick. It feels like it’s months before I see the result of work I do today and I often have days where feel as if I’m made of stone.

7

I’ve made a list of what I can do, I’ve split it into soft tissue work, mobility work, stretches & a list of exercises.

-Should I stretch before or after mobility drills?

Soft tissue work (foam roller/ baseball) (10 minutes max)

-IT band
-Quads
-Hip flexors
-Adductors
-Hamstrings
-Glutes
-T-spine
-Lats
-Back of shoulder
-Pecs
-Calves & Peroneals

Stretches (30 secs x 2-3 sets) (15-16 minutes)

Pecs
Lats
Triceps
Quads
Hip flexors
3rd world squat

I have 2-3 different stretches for each muscle so might do 1 per set or just rotate daily. EG: couch stretch/ Bulgarian split squat stretch/ wall hip flexor stretch

8

Mobility work (1 set of 10 reps)

Upper body (5-6 minutes)
-Thoracic extension
-Thoracic windmills
-Side lying internal/external rotation
-Forearm wall slides @ 135degrees
-Back to wall shoulder flexion
-Wall slides
-Broomstick dislocations

Lower body (5-6 minutes)
-Kneeling glute mobility drill
-Wall hip flexor mobility drill
-Rocking frog stretch
-Lateral lunge
-Rollovers into v-sits
-Pike calf stretch
-Wall ankle mobility drill

“Workout” (just strengthening weaker muscles to aid in posture)

I’m unsure how to lay this out- I have an extensive list of exercises- should I just pick 1-2 from each category and do it daily? This is most likely what I’ll skip out if I’m short on time each day.

Weak upper back (rhomboids/rear delts/mid & lower traps)- Band pull aparts, face pulls, prone cobras, band external rotations, paused rows/bat wings.

Weak glutes- glute bridges/hip thrusts, db lunges, goblet squats

Weak core (TVA, abs, obliques)- plank & side plank, stomach vacuums, dead bugs, ab roller, hanging knee raises/reverse crunches)

9

google neanderthal no more

10

[quote]il10 wrote:
Mobility work (1 set of 10 reps)

Upper body (5-6 minutes)
-Thoracic extension
-Thoracic windmills
-Side lying internal/external rotation
-Forearm wall slides @ 135degrees
-Back to wall shoulder flexion
-Wall slides
-Broomstick dislocations

Lower body (5-6 minutes)
-Kneeling glute mobility drill
-Wall hip flexor mobility drill
-Rocking frog stretch
-Lateral lunge
-Rollovers into v-sits
-Pike calf stretch
-Wall ankle mobility drill

“Workout” (just strengthening weaker muscles to aid in posture)

I’m unsure how to lay this out- I have an extensive list of exercises- should I just pick 1-2 from each category and do it daily? This is most likely what I’ll skip out if I’m short on time each day.

Weak upper back (rhomboids/rear delts/mid & lower traps)- Band pull aparts, face pulls, prone cobras, band external rotations, paused rows/bat wings.

Weak glutes- glute bridges/hip thrusts, db lunges, goblet squats

Weak core (TVA, abs, obliques)- plank & side plank, stomach vacuums, dead bugs, ab roller, hanging knee raises/reverse crunches)[/quote]

This is very good if you’ll actually do it all. I’d static stretch after the mobility drills but before the activation work/ exercises. Skipping the “workout” portion would be a mistake, as that seems to be what makes mobility improvements “stick.” I’d also create a short list of the top 4 or 5 stretches or drills that you think you get the most out of and perform that 1 to 2 times a day in addition to this long list. Frequency helps a ton when you’re trying to improve mobility.

11

What do you do for a job? It sounds like this could be the root cause that should also be addressed.

Not suggesting you change jobs, just that there might be ways to minimise the damage.

12

I used to be a baggage screener at London heathrow (seated for 10 hours a day) for 3-4 years. Once I got home I would just slump in front of the PC/tv, so it really messed things up. I’ve also got shoulder impingement in my right shoulder because it was so internally rotated- I threw a ball and it just went- that’s from back in 2011.

Currently I live now in USA and work at a lumber yard, I move often because of the job but posture has set in the wrong way and won’t budge.

13

If you have the time do all of that, then that’s great! When doing the mobility work and stretches though focus on the feel of it and try to learn which of them work best for you. Overtime you can simply your mobility work as you find out what works and what is just ok.

Also make sure you do not leave out the strength and posture work after you do your mobility. If you are really trying to make a drastic change, you want to get the muscles used to working in their newfound range of motion.

14

havent lifted in years and you’re gonna somehow properly apply soft tissue work on yourself and correctly perform mobility drills???

heh… heh heh… hahahahahaha

15

Jarvan ???

I don’t know if I can do all of the drills on my list, time isn’t really on my side so I was hoping to get help narrowing it down…if it’s different for each person I can just start with them all and try to see what doesn’t help as much as others, knocking it off the list.

16

Won’t matter what exercise you do
if your posture is that fuked up and you haven’t trained in years. I wish it was that simple. Pick a couple mobility exercises and perform with generic template and voilaaa… Straight fuckin spine and years of neglect rectified.
On a serious note, I hope you do fix your postural imbalances. But from a professional stand point, i suggest you save yourself a lot of time and see a specialist.

17

And f&%$#& hell, read Charles Staley’s article on the front page man. It’s about you.

18

[quote]Jarvan wrote:
But from a professional stand point, i suggest you save yourself a lot of time and see a specialist.
[/quote]

This sounds like sensible advice to me. It sounds like your problems are severe enough that advice from “some guy online” probably isn’t going to cut it.

19

Thanks for the honest reply!