4 Virtues for doing Exercises to Improve Posture
There are some things to keep in mind to maximize the benefits of doing exercises to improve posture. A lot of people might get frustrated when they try to improve their posture, but if you make these virtues part of your practice, you will reduce risk of injury, increase effectiveness, and be happier about your practice. In this article, I’ll present four virtues that really help make the most of your time and energy.
- Patience: When you first start exercising, you’ll see an immediate improvement in posture. That’s because your muscles develop quickly as a response to the exercises. But once your muscles develop adequately, any other gains will be slow. Your tendons and ligaments adapt very slowly. So after your first surge in improvements, your posture will appear to stay the same. But as long as you are doing the exercises correctly, it will be improving. Only slowly. Stick with it and keep up the good work. It will pay off.
- Modesty: Don’t overdo it. We’re talking about something that is very important to you: your spine. And your tendons. These are not things you just want to mess around with. You are not Superman. You are not Stretch Armstrong. Your tendons and ligaments can only stretch 4% past their length without damage. You only want to apply a gentle stretch to your tendons and ligaments. If at any time you see your muscles start to twitch (which indicates the myotatic reflex), that is far enough! Your tendons are telling your muscles to fire to avoid overstretching them.
- Awareness: Doing some exercises mindlessly (like when you watch TV while you run on the treadmill) is still burning calories. But it does nothing to help you with the habits you live on a daily basis. How you walk, how you sit, and how you lie down are all important. If you don’t pay attention to your body when you are moving with specific purpose (exercise), you probably won’t notice when you’re sitting in an uncomfortable and damaging position.
- Grace: Perform the exercises with grace. The exercises reflect who you want to be. How you stand is very much a reflection of how you feel. Perform the exercises with purpose and intention, and make each movement as graceful as possible.
I hope you like these four virtues. They can dramatically help you improve posture exercises. May they bring to your posture practice a sense of purpose and ease.
Tag: exercises to improve posture
Category: Posture Exercises