How can I stop "hunching" my back

[steader]

Hi, can anyone suggest how I can sort my upper back out please?

Basically, I find I lean forward a lot, kind of hunch my back. I do quite a bit of fitness during the week which is 4 x 2 hour visits to the gym a week, with squash, running and mountain biking in between. But no matter how I try I can't figure out an excercise to straighten my back out.

Its easy to say sit correctly when in the office, but this just gets forgotten about and I never get into a rythym of preventing slouching.

Any thing else I can do? Worth visiting some sort of specialist if they exist maybe?

Thanks

[EliteLift]

I would recomend stretching thorughly at least once a day. Bad posture can be a result of many things, lack of flexibility and/or strength are usually the mian reasons, but it could very well be that you have established bad habbit over a long peroid of time.

try thinking to yourself every time you stand up that theres a rod going through your body keeping you completely striaght.
always be aware of how you are standing and you will eventually make that a habbit.

oh and yes their are specialists around. my dad and i both went to one years ago because we both had weak posture. as long as you can stand striaght without pain from lack of flexibility i would say just be aware of how your standing and go from their.

[F_Mac]

I have a similar problem, basically my shoulders round forward a bit. Sounds like the same thing you have going on.

There are a couple of things I would try before going to a specialist. The first being, as already mentioned, just being conscious about it and actively pulling your shoulders back when you are standing, sitting, etc. It will feel odd at first but after you do it for a while it will become second nature.

Another reason for slouching is having tight pectoral muscles which basically pull your shoulders forward. Stretching will help with this.

Do pullups.

[trainerty]

Originally Posted by pierini

Do pullups.

Absolutely, I like chinups better just because my shoulders don't like the stress of pullups.

Tony Gentilcore wrote a pretty good article outlining good postural tips. I think its called debunk computer guy or something like that (at t-nation.com)

You already see a big assymtry going on. Doing more pulls than pushing exercises will help greatly to rebuild "scapula retraction".

Stuart McGill's book Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance is a MUST read for anyone seriously training. He really gets into posture corrections in and out of the gym.

Good luck getting a handle on that posture

[bodyshop20]

Try rear shoulder exercises to strenghen the posture of the upper back.
But if you keep sloughing you will end up how you are for life.
So make the point of getting a lower chair at office so you dont have to lean forward to much