The Posture Fix
Simple Cues for a Stronger Core
Do you ever find that your back feels tight or uncomfortable when you stand for a long time? Maybe you feel like your neck and/or shoulders are tight and you're constantly moving them around trying to relieve the tension? Maybe you even get tension headaches? Is all of this worse after having a baby? Me too. You’re not alone!
The duties that come with being a mom are not friends with our posture. From constantly holding a baby (or little kid) and nursing, to carrying a diaper bag and always reaching down to hold little hands, the responsibilities that come with being a mom are always reinforcing that forward head, rounded shoulders, sway back posture and it can get very uncomfortable!
The good news? You can manage it and make a few simple changes throughout your day to help yourself feel more comfortable.
Understanding Postpartum Posture: Swayback vs. Anterior Pelvic Tilt
Two of the most common postural patterns in moms are swayback and anterior pelvic tilt. You may even move between the two! Understanding them is the first step to fixing them.
What is Swayback Posture?
Swayback posture is when your pelvis is tucked under, hips get shoved forward and your ribs are back. This usually comes along with excessive rounding of your upper back and forward head posture. It puts a lot of pressure on your low back and essentially compresses it, which is why it feels tight and uncomfortable.
This posture happens when our glutes and low abs have turned off. Your deep hip rotators (deep butt muscles) and upper abs turn on and start clenching for stability, which shoves your hips forward. The upper back is strained because it is excessively rounding, which pushes your head forward and rounds your shoulders. This makes you super tight in your pecs (chest muscles) and your neck muscles. This also puts a lot of pressure down on your pelvic floor or out on a diastasis recti!
What is Anterior Pelvic Tilt (APT)?
The anterior pelvic tilt posture is when your pelvis tips forward and your back arches and butt sticks out. It usually comes with your ribs flaring forward as well. This creates a lot of tightness in your low back muscles and quads/hip flexors (front of your hip and thigh), turns off your glutes, hamstrings and abs. This is also seen a lot during pregnancy because of the way the pelvis has to move to accommodate for mom’s growing belly.
4 Foundational Fixes for a Stronger Postpartum Body
Regardless of which posture you find yourself in, there is going to be an element of compression in your spine in at least one area. There are a few simple things you can do on a daily basis to help correct your posture and elongate your spine, and it doesn’t even involve doing a structured workout! As you are working through these tips think "lengthen your spine".
1. Unclench your glutes and untuck your pelvis!
Yes, you heard me. I know, you’re told to engage your glutes for stability. The truth is, clenching your glutes when you are simply standing around, walking, etc. is actually not strengthening your glutes. It is engaging more of those deep hip rotators (deep butt muscles) - don’t worry, we’ll dive into these in greater detail in later - and it tucks your pelvis under and actually ends up turning your glutes and abs OFF. It also rounds and compresses your low back. So when you’re brushing your teeth, standing in the kitchen making the kids’ meals, check in with your glutes. Are they on? If so, let them relax! Unclench and untuck!
2. Engage your low abs
Connect with your deep core - your transverse abdominis. These are your low abs that stabilize your pelvis from the front and provide stability for your spine. You can find them by placing your fingers just inside your hip bones on the front, and think about flattening and pulling your hip bones together. If you got it, your lower belly should flatten, not pop up. It's not a crunching motion that gets it. Think “pubic bone to belly button (slightly)” and “lengthen your spine”.
3. Stack your rib cage over your pelvis
Your rib cage and pelvis are like 2 cans of soup. Think about stacking the two cans of soup on top of each other. This will not only help with your posture, but it will also help with your good diaphragmatic breathing pattern. Remember my last blog post on Reconnecting Your Breath? The diaphragm and pelvic floor work together to manage pressure, so the pelvis and rib cage need to be stacked, or else you can’t achieve that 360 breath. Stacking your rib cage and pelvis will help lengthen your entire spine and when you get it, it will feel like so much tension lifted off of your spine.
4. Tuck your chin and lift the crown of your head
Go ahead and grab your ponytail (or pretend you have one) and lift up to lift the crown of your head. This will help you do a slight chin tuck and you should feel lengthening throughout your neck and upper back.
A Stronger Foundation Starts with Posture
Posture is super important for helping your body feel better and building that strong foundation! The overall theme of all of these tips is to feel length in your body, particularly your spine. If you are feeling like your spine is crunched or compressed, work on these tips to find length and see how much better it feels! Your standing posture shouldn't be just hanging on your joints and ligaments. You should be making your muscles work to support your body! Particularly your abs and the deep neck flexors under your chin (think chin tuck).
Thinking about your posture and making these subtle changes will help, even if you don’t do a structured workout. Yes, dedicated exercises for posture are so helpful and they are great to include in your daily or weekly routines, but let’s be honest, that is not always feasible. And really, I find that the people who do less structured exercises and spend more time intentionally making these changes throughout the day see more progress and feel better. This is one of the first steps to build on your breathing to help you build a strong foundation.
It doesn't have to be perfect - there is no such thing as perfect posture. But any improvement will help. Even I am constantly fighting my swayback posture after my second baby!
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