Let’s talk about how to fix swayback posture. I mean, it doesn’t take a posture specialist to look at my stance in that picture and cringe! Are you cringing? I thought so.
This is called swayback posture – when the hips are baling forward, the shoulders are back, and we don’t see that straight line from the side. It’s a fairly common posture problem that causes tension and pain in the neck, shoulders, and overall body.
What is the culprit? Weakened hip muscles. We need to strengthen those hips flexors, so they stay pulled back in their proper place and bring alignment back into the body. To do this, I’m going to teach an exercise with 2 variations: one sitting and one laying down. Try them both and see which one is a better fit for you.
First, the sitting version (which is actually a little more difficult than the laying down one.):
- Sit tall with a neutral pelvis position. Place your hands palms up on your thighs. Feet should be parallel, about fist width apart with your shoulders rolled back.
- Lift both heels off the ground, then lift one leg at a time from the hip flexor muscles. (watch the video for the demonstration!)
- Don’t round your back or lean back or bring your chest towards your knee.
- Do about 10x per leg
Ok, now it’s time for the second variation in a laying down position:
- Lay down with palms out at a 45 degree angle. Your knees should be bent, feet and knees about hip width apart. Keep your head fully relaxed on the ground and your pelvis in a neutral position.
- Lift both heels off of the ground. Lift one leg off the ground, just a couple inches, using the hip flexor muscles. Don’t lift it too high or you will be using different muscles (see my example in the video.)
- Keep the pelvis still!
- Do about 20x per leg.
Both of these would be a great choice for strengthening your hip flexor muscles and helping correct swayback. Of course there are SO MANY more options, and we could talk about those in a 1:1 Posture Therapy session. Click here to learn more and schedule with me!
