You may not think too much about your posture, but, in today’s society, it’s easy to find yourself in habitually bad postural positions. We sit all day with our backs rounded over and our heads looking up at a computer screen or down looking at a device. Poor posture can lead to numerous problems as we get older. Muscles that are in shortened positions for long periods of time become tight, which will prevent our joints from being able to return to their ideal stretched position. In example, when in a forward rounded position, the muscles in the front of our bodies become tight and make it difficult to stand up with a neutral spine.

Tight hip flexors will pull and tip the pelvis forward which can create low back pressure and pain.

Tight chest muscles may cause the spine to round forward which then create a posture that forces an increased curve in the neck when trying to look forward or up. This, in turn, can create neck pressure and pain.

The rounded posture can also put more pressure on the diaphragm making it more challenging to breathe.

To prevent or counteract these postural deviations, like most aspects of fitness, is very personal depending on your strengths and weaknesses. Stretch this. Strengthen that. However, I’m going to let you in on a simple solution. Sit talls.

Sit on the edge of your chair avoiding touching the chair back. Sit tall and then imagine I offered you $50,000 to sit 2″ taller. As you try to stretch your spine up, pushing the top of your head further toward the ceiling, you engage your core muscles. This will help strengthen your weaker postural muscles, such as your abs and upper back. It can also help stretch tight, front torso muscles. Sit talls can also be performed as stand talls, trying to stand as tall as you can.

Of course, even if you build strength and flexibility, you then need to create the habit of holding good posture. I tell clients to set their watches to chime on the hour and, when it goes off, check your posture and make sure you are sitting or standing as tall as you can. Hold it. You’ll forget after a while, then the chime goes off again. You correct your posture again and bit by bit you create a habit of holding better posture.

Recently, I was asked by a fitness professional and health and fitness writer friend of mine (Linda Melone) to explain some of the challenges of doing home workouts. I thought that this would be something I could add a little more depth to here.

Working out at home seems like a perfect solution for many people. There are no crowds, no travel, only music that you like, etc., which is true of course, however, it’s never that simple. Here’s a partial list and explanation of some of the drawbacks of trying to work out at home.

1. You bought the equipment, but don’t really know what to do with it. Not having a well-constructed program will cause you to pause and to pause is to put off, possibly indefinitely. Hire a certified personal trainer to create an individualized program that you can follow.
2. You bought the equipment, but people often think they will get the workout in when they get a break in their daily routine. Unfortunately, things come up (Phone calls, chores, kids, pets, etc.) and the workout never happens. Don’t assume the window of opportunity will magically appear. Schedule your workouts ahead of time and stick to the schedule. Treat it as an appointment that you must keep.
3. You think you will simply follow a program you found on the internet. Well, the challenge here is that the program is not specifically for your needs/wants and, while it might be difficult to do, it may be completely inappropriate for you and your goals. It could also be dangerous or just plain pointless. I found this wall-sit workout online. The only sane reason for possibly doing it would be if your old high school rival challenged you to a “sit off”. Then, well, maybe there’s a reason for doing it. What’s the answer? Once again, hire a certified personal trainer to create an individualized program that you can follow. 
4. You bought an exercise video to use at home. Just because someone produced a video, doesn’t mean they know what they are doing. Even some fitness celebrities are grossly misinformed. Also, as with videos from the internet, it may be completely inappropriate for you. If you want to use a video, at least get a recommendation from a certified personal trainer.
5. Sticking to a program at home can be challenging. At a club you develop friendships that help to keep you accountable. At home, it’s just you reporting to you. To stay on track, use a calendar to check of the days you completed your workout. Reward yourself when you reach a certain goal, such as after 20 workouts you reward yourself with a massage.
6. Another reason people don’t stick with their program is that they become bored and/or they plateau. The biggest culprit here is doing the same program without change. Of course it becomes boring and less productive. Every 4-6 weeks, rehire your personal trainer to create a new workout for you with new exercises and new progressions. This will help keep you interested and the gains will keep coming.

Home workouts can and do work for many people. If you want to be successful at it, start by engaging a certified personal trainer to create a program based on your own individual needs and goals. (This can be with whatever equipment you may have, just body weight, or they may recommend specific equipment you should have.), create a workout schedule and stick to it, and have the trainer come back to revamp your program every 4-6 weeks.

Good luck.