“Stand up straight!” “Don’t slouch!” We’ve all likely heard those words from our mothers, or a loved one who tried to “encourage” us to improve our posture. It’s likely, however, that those words went in one ear and out the other.
When we’re younger, posture tends to be an after thought. Sure, we may see an older adult hunched over a walker and straighten our spine a little, thinking I’ll never look like that when I’m older. Then one day we wake up and realize we are older. And on top of that, we discover that posture is not the easiest (or most comfortable) thing to correct overnight.
Why Should We Care About Our Posture?
As long as we don’t have a hunchback, it’s okay that we don’t stand as tall as we once did, right?
Wrong!
When we allow ourselves to live our lives with poor posture, we fail to realize the impact that is having on our bodies. It’s not just that we don’t look good with bad posture, it’s that it becomes more difficult for our lungs to expand, we decrease our ability to see because the motion in our neck is decreased, which contributes to decreased balance and increased risk of falls and injuries.
Kyphosis (more commonly known as the “hunchback” posture) has been found to cause pain, decreased mobility, and even increased mortality.1
What Causes Poor Posture?
Remember the song that goes, “…Your knee bone is connected to your shin bone…” ? While that song may seem like a silly way to teach kids about bones, the message is important- the body is connected!
It’s not just that the knee bone is connected to the shin bone, but also that the muscles of the body are connected as well, which allow or force the bones of the body to perform in certain ways, which can create movement or lack thereof, depending on how we strengthen, stretch, and nurture our bodies.
The muscles tend to work in “slings.” Take the upper body for example. The chest muscles are in the front of the body, and our upper back muscles are (of course) in the back of the body. If the muscles of the upper back are not doing their job of pulling back our shoulder blades and keeping us upright, then muscles of the chest can’t do their job of opening up the chest. We can imagine how this would contribute to poor posture. As the shoulders round forward, the muscles of the back get weaker and weaker, and the muscles of the chest get tighter and tighter, so we get “stuck” in this rounded shoulder posture.
As we get older, we lose muscle mass, which contributes to increasingly poor posture.
Also, new advances in technology seem to encourage poor posture. Now more than ever, many of us our on computers, phones, and/or tablets that increase our time sitting with rounded shoulders and craning our necks forward.
What Causes a Hunchback?
Research has shown that the primary cause of a hunchback (AKA Kyphosis) is osteoporosis.1
Osteoporosis is a significant decline in bone quality and density. It is estimated that 50% of postmenopausal women have osteoporosis. 2
While not all older adults have osteoporosis, a normal part of aging is decreased bone density.
Osteoporosis can lead to an increased risk of fractures, especially in the vertebrae. When a fracture in the vertebrae occurs (commonly called a “compression fracture”) over time the vertebrae slides down the spine, which causes the upper back (known as the “thoracic spine”) to form a c-shaped curve.1
The second most common cause of a hunchback is sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle mass which occurs with aging. With weaker muscles, we are less able to support our bones correctly, making it very difficult to combat the hunchback.
Will Doing “Posture Exercises” Prevent a Hunchback?
The best way to avoid having a hunchback, is preventing it from happening in the first place. 3
However, it’s not just “posture exercises” that are needed. It’s important to address muscle imbalances (ie imbalance in the “slings”), increase our core and upper back strength, and improve bone density through using load.3
It is possible to prevent this condition from happening, so it’s very important that we focus our efforts on the proper exercises, as well as increase our awareness of our posture while we’re at the computer, driving, grocery shopping, etc.
Additionally, if we want to prevent a hunchback, it’s also important to look at our nutrition and current medications.
What Does Nutrition Have to Do with My Posture?
Nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and protein are all very important to bone health. Protein, as most of us know, is also essential to building muscle.
When we use our muscles, those muscles pull on our bones, which stimulates bone growth. Therefore, having enough protein intake, and building strong muscles help us increase our bone strength.
Studies have found that about 40% of older adults aren’t getting the recommended amount of protein per day (.8 g/kg of body mass). Furthermore, the research is trending towards increasing that recommendation for older adults to double that amount!1
Knowing how much protein your body needs versus how much you are consuming may seem like a chore, but it’s very important to your overall health, strength, and (possibly) even appearance.
See my article about nutrition for tips on where to start if you need help with your nutritional intake. Or, you could find a registered dietitian in your area to help you with a customized plan.
How Do My Medications Impact My Posture?
One of our best ways to prevent a hunchback is to prevent osteoporosis.
Medications such as steroids (like Prednisolone, Hydrocortisone), proton pump inhibitors (like Prevacid, Prilosec, and Nexium), and some antidepressants, can increase the risk of developing osteoporosis.
Talk with your doctor about the medications you are currently on, and what you can do about any risk for osteoporosis due to medications.
Five Exercises to Help Prevent a Hunchback:
(Here’s the video link if you want to do the workout with me: https://youtu.be/oA0UqtbNEJ4)
1. Shoulder Blade Pinches
This exercise not only helps strengthen our rhomboids, but also helps to open our chest (pectoralis muscles). Tight pectoralis muscles can cause rounded shoulders.
This exercise will help combat the muscle imbalance between the tight muscles in front and the weak muscles in our back.
1. Stand up tall (if you want some feedback, stand with your back to a doorway), with feet hip distance apart.
2. Moving your shoulder blades only (people try to move their arms to achieve this movement, which defeats the purpose), pinch shoulder blades together.
3. Hold for three seconds.
4. Relax.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for 10 reps. Take a 30 second rest. Perform 3 sets total.
2. Bird Dogs
A bird dog is an exercise that looks simple, but is actually quite challenging.
When we perform this exercise, we are strengthening (pictured above from left to right) rectus abdominis, glutes, and erector spinae muscles.
So with just one exercise, we are working our core, increasing back strength, and aiming to correct muscle imbalances.
1. Get on to your hands and knees (hands should be in line with shoulders, and knees should be in line with your hips).
2. Make sure your back is flat and your abdominals are braced.
3. Reach your right hand forward and your left foot backward at the same time. Do not allow your hips to drop to one side or the other, make sure your back stays flat.
4. Hold for a count of 5.
5. Return your right hand and left foot to the starting position.
6. Repeat 10 times.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 with the left hand and right foot.
8. Perform 3 sets of 10 on each side.
**Modification: If you are unable to do your hand and foot at the same time, start with kicking just your foot back, maintaining the hip and back position, then switch sides. You can also perform with just one hand reaching forward, then repeating on the other side. Over time, you can work up to hand and foot together.**
3. Bent Over Rows
As you can see from all the muscles being worked in this one exercise, the bent over row provides us with great bang for our buck.
By performing this exercise, we are working to increase our back strength, and helping to overcome the muscle imbalance that tends to exist between the front and back of the body.
1. Grab one dumbbell in each hand.
2. Stand upright with feet hip distance apart, keep a slight bend in both knees.
3. Tip forward at the hip (**DO NOT ROUND YOUR BACK! YOUR BACK SHOULD BE FLAT- Movement only comes from the hip!)
4. You should be holding your dumbbells around knee height, and your palms should be facing towards the back of the room.
5. Maintaining your tipped forward position, bring your dumbbells towards your belly by bending your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
6. Return your dumbbells to knee height.
7. Repeat 10 times.
8. Rest for 30 seconds after you’ve completed 10 repetitions.
9. Perform 3 sets of 10 total.
4. Dumbbell Squats
Although working our legs may seem like an odd thing to do to improve our posture, this exercise increases our load on our spine through use of weights.
1. Grab one dumbbell in each hand.
2. Stand upright with feet wider than hip distance apart.
3. Bring your weights up to shoulder height by bending your elbows.
4. Keeping your back straight, push your hips backwards as if you were going to sit in a chair, and bend your knees to achieve a squat position.
** You want to make sure your hips are pushing backwards, rather than your knees coming forward. Your knees should be in line with your second toe (i.e. not falling in or out)**
5. Squeeze your buttocks as you return to a standing position.
6. Repeat 10 times.
7. Rest for 30 seconds after you’ve completed 10 repetitions.
8. Perform 3 sets of 10 total.
5. Chin Tucks
Many of us have what therapists call a “forward head” posture. Ideally, our ears should line up over our shoulders. Another way to think about it is our heads should actually touch our headrest when we are driving.
For most of us, our ears are in front of our shoulders, and we don’t naturally touch our headrest when driving. Technology has contributed to worsening the forward head posture as well. We crane our necks forward to look at a screen, or we allow our chins to drop down to watch something on our tablet while we sit on the couch.
This causes an imbalance between the muscles in our neck. Some muscles weaken, while other muscles tighten. Chin tucks help us to strengthen some of the muscles that have weakened (see picture above), while actually stretching some of our tightened muscles.
If you have never attempted a chin tuck before, I would do this exercise lying on your back with a pillow under your head. The pillow will provide you some feedback. Otherwise, you can do this exercise seated or standing.
1. Make an “L” with your thumb and index finger
2. Turn your hand so your thumb is pointing towards your chest.
3. Place your thumb on the notch at the top of your breastbone.
4. Bring your chin forward so it’s touching your index finger (if it’s not already).
5. Pull your chin away from your index finger.
**I tell people to imagine someone is trying to kiss you and you don’t want them to. The important thing is to pull your chin straight back (like you’re making a double chin), rather than lift it up and away from your finger (like you’re looking up to the ceiling).**
6. Hold for 5 seconds.
7. Return your chin to starting position.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 10 times.
8. Rest for 30 seconds after you’ve completed 10 repetitions.
9. Perform 3 sets of 10 total.
You can really never do “enough” chin tucks! Make sure you repeat this throughout your day!
I hope you enjoyed this article, and utilize it to prevent hunchback through identifying all of your risk factors, and completing these exercises regularly (Try to do them at least 3x per week!).
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Until next time, have the strength to live life to the fullest!
Sources:
- https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/2018-08-17/older-adults-heres-what-causes-hunchback-and-how-to-prevent-it
- Guccione, A. A. (2012). Geriatric physical therapy (3rd ed.). La Vergne, TN, MO: Elsevier.
- https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/best-exercises-prevent-dreaded-hunchback/
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