How to get rid of rounded back/hunch

[lucas7]

Just wanted to know of some good exercise of somebody who knows what there talking about...

I need to pull my shoulders back and get me chest out more to look more upright and fit looking instead of a little bit of a hunched

I am 6'3 and 200 pounds decent base

Im not sure if i need to do abs more or something like seated cable rows or work side delts or behind head military press ?????

[auslifta]

Exercise wont change the curvature of your spine, if thats whats wrong. deadlifts can help your posture with strengthened spinal erectus. try doing yoga or pilates

[TOkidd]

As auslifta said, if this is a spinal condition, you should see a doctor - surgery may be the only way to fix it. If it's a posture problem, the first thing I'd say is that you need to make a conscious effort to stand up straight, head up, shoulders back. There are no exercises to pull your shoulders back, but there are many exercises to develop your shoulders' muscularity - dumbell press, front dumbell raises, upright rows, lateral raises and shrugs are just a few. To develop your chest, flat bench press, incline bench press, and dumbell flys are the basic three exercises. I prefer to use dumbells, but a lot of people do them with the long bar. You might also want to consider developing your upper and lower back muscles. Chin-ups are the core exercise in any back routine. I alternate wide-grip chins with narrow-grip chins every week. Barbell rows and dumbell rows are two more indispensible exercises for the upper and middle back. And as auslifta mentioned, deadlifts will strengthen your lower back and possibly improve your posture. He also mentioned yoga - as a practitioner, I can attest to it being an excellent way to learn deep stretching, muscular co-ordination, and even improve strength and muscular endurance. It's also a great form of "physical" meditation, where your focus on the various poses allows you do disengage yourself from all other distractions and focus entirely on your breathing and posture.
There are plenty of exercise routines available on this section of the board, so if you feel your condition is not related to spinal curvature, look around for a good beginner's program that emphasizes basic movements like bench press, deadlift, squat, barbell row, etc.

hope this helps,

TOkidd

[lucas7]

Thanks for your input guys, I think its just due to the fact i was so skinny and tall from 12 to 23 years old but since i been going to the gym hard for 1.5 year packed on 23kg and looking alot more solid but i think i am stuck with a bad curve in the spine

i guess all i can do is work certain muscles to create an illusion of it not looking so bad

And yeas i do all the good basic exercises and am always trying to perfect and reassess my form

military press, Wide and narrow pull ups, long bar rows, bent over rows, deadlift, squats (ass to the grass), decline barbell press, dumbell incline press

[DeniZen]

This is kinda from left field, but Yoga make a big impact on my posture. After a few weeks I was walking more erect, head high, shoulders back, chin up...and kinda felt a little taller..lol Most of the Yoga home dvds are really long and boring. So I modified Tony Horton's 90 minute P90X Yoga program into a 20 minute session I do 3x week. Its pretty brutal but worth it. I will post the program if anybody really cares.

[lifter65]

it sounds like you train way to much of your mirror muscles, if not spinal problem you CAN fix it, in your training you need to LOWER your pushing exercises, remember more is not always better, what you need to do is have a ratio of 3:1 or even 4:1 of pulling(back) : pushing(chest) exercises, when training your back focus on really contracting your shoulder blades together, most people dont and their missing out, and always remember use mostly compound exercises

[lucas7]

DeniZen i would be interested in that yoga workout if you have the time to post it thanks mate

lifter65 I have never cared about mirror muscles i consider my biceps, triceps, forearms and chest the least important at my stage i have been focusing on legs and back i will maybe try training back 2 times a week and chest and shoulders once a week

[lifter65]

i use an upper/lower split and i did have the same problem as you man, im telling you from EXPERIENCE that you need to really raise the volume for pulling and your problem will be fixed in time

[DeniZen]

DeniZen i would be interested in that yoga workout if you have the time to post it thanks mate

lifter65 I have never cared about mirror muscles i consider my biceps, triceps, forearms and chest the least important at my stage i have been focusing on legs and back i will maybe try training back 2 times a week and chest and shoulders once a week

Here you go Lucas. Sorry for the delay but I've never written it down until now, which is good cuz some friends have been asking about it. Your ass never touches the ground with this sequence, so no sitting cross legged and meditating lol. It looks complicated but its very simple once you understand the progression. And of course technique is everything. It might take you 35-40 minutes the first 10 or 15 times, but after mastery 20 minutes no problem. I left out all of the details about each move. The details of all the moves are available on the internet, but feel free to ask any questions. Warrior One is where the intensity starts to expose posture and flexibility issues.


Five long deep breathes for every move...this provides the pace throughout

Prayer Stance (standing)
Standing Side Stretch Right
Prayer
Standing Side Stretch Left

Prayer
Plank (I don’t pause here for breathing, just do 5 pushups throughout the workout)
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Plank

Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Right
Plank

Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Left
Plank

Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Right
Warrior One Right
Runners Pose Right
Plank

Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Left
Warrior One Left
Runners Pose Left
Plank


Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Right
Warrior One Right
Warrior Two Right
Warrior One Right
Runners Pose Right
Plank

Prayer
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Runners Pose Left
Warrior One Left
Warrior Two Left
Warrior One Left
Runners Pose Left
Plank
Prayer - DONE

[PK-V]

bro you have rounded shoulders going on from what I can interpret from your post

you need you drop the bench press cos your probably using a lot of shoulders and this is causing over development of the anterior deltoids

you need to work on your mid/upper back with a combo of different exercises and also work on stretching out your chest/anterior delts 3-4 times a week

[asianbro]

bro you have rounded shoulders going on from what I can interpret from your post

you need you drop the bench press cos your probably using a lot of shoulders and this is causing over development of the anterior deltoids

you need to work on your mid/upper back with a combo of different exercises and also work on stretching out your chest/anterior delts 3-4 times a week

Would you say that then switching to decline bench press would stop the using the anterior deltoids,
I am in the same dam position where my shoulders anterior deltoids are rolled forward

[lifter65]

Would you say that then switching to decline bench press would stop the using the anterior deltoids,
I am in the same dam position where my shoulders anterior deltoids are rolled forward

dude, a tight chest without training back can pull you forward to, its already been said train the mirror muscles to a minimum compared to your posterior muscles

[pebble]

Don't forget lats cauyse internal rotation due to their insertion point in the medial side of the humerus. Try to avoid targeting them as much when you are focusing on your back. And make sure to stretch them.

[asianbro]

dude, a tight chest without training back can pull you forward to, its already been said train the mirror muscles to a minimum compared to your posterior muscles

Cheers Mate, Just a bit fed up that no one actually tells this sort of things to beginners, When i started about 3 years ago, Well it was on and off traing, but as you could imagine i was just mainly concentrating on muscles which look good, but negelected this.

Only recently i realised that this has also caused my poor posteure.

[asianbro]

Don't forget lats cauyse internal rotation due to their insertion point in the medial side of the humerus. Try to avoid targeting them as much when you are focusing on your back. And make sure to stretch them.

I thought having strong poweful lats help with the posteure, (combined with good rear delts)

Can you elaborate you point for me pleas, (sorry for being dumb)

[pebble]

I thought having strong poweful lats help with the posteure, (combined with good rear delts)

Can you elaborate you point for me pleas, (sorry for being dumb)

Due to to the lats anterior medial insertion on the humerus it cause an internal rotation of the humerus at the glenohumeral joint. So because the lats attach to the front of the inside of the upper arm they pull the front of the arm into the midline (left to right and front to back) of the body. This causes internal rotation or rounded shoulders as most people refer to it.

Pretty much keep working your back like you normally would, but don't think exercise that primarily target your lats are going to help fix the problem. Stretching is one of the biggest factors for fixing rounded shoulders if you do not have dysfunctional scapulas. Without seeing pictures its really impossible to even give any real advice on how you may be able to approach this problem.

[brad1986]

Just wanted to know of some good exercise of somebody who knows what there talking about...

I need to pull my shoulders back and get me chest out more to look more upright and fit looking instead of a little bit of a hunched

I am 6'3 and 200 pounds decent base

Im not sure if i need to do abs more or something like seated cable rows or work side delts or behind head military press ?????

stretch your chest. strengthn your middle and low traps and rhomboids and posterior delts. Do light activation exersises everyday for these areasbefore you start your workout. make sure your strtching chest before and after each workout too. This is exactly how to correct that postural deviation

[brad1986]

Don't forget lats cauyse internal rotation due to their insertion point in the medial side of the humerus. Try to avoid targeting them as much when you are focusing on your back. And make sure to stretch them.

100% true!! tight lats will throw off rotator cuff alignment. but actually rounding of the shoulders comes from tightness in the pecs and anteroir delts