{"id":5180,"date":"2022-03-14T12:24:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T18:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strengthsenseiinc.com\/?p=5180"},"modified":"2022-03-14T12:24:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T18:24:24","slug":"6-tips-to-square-round-shoulders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strengthsenseiinc.com\/2022\/03\/14\/6-tips-to-square-round-shoulders\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips to Square Round Shoulders"},"content":{"rendered":"
6 Tips to Square Round Shoulders<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Proven ways to correct this common postural fault<\/em><\/h4>\n
by Paul Gagn\u00e9<\/p>\n
Strength Coach and Posturologist<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When you think of poor posture, the first image that often comes to mind is round shoulders. Rather than the confident, upright posture characterized by military soldiers, round shoulders present a sunken chest, drop shoulders, and a protruding chin. Throw in a pocket protector, and you have the stereotypical computer nerd.<\/p>\n
To be clear, round shoulders presents an exaggerated curvature of the upper portion of the spine and excessive forward position of the shoulders and often the head. For those involved in sports that have an aesthetic component, such as gymnastics and figure skating, round shoulders are bad news.<\/p>\n
During the Olympics last month, the ice dancing teams I worked with won gold, bronze, 8th<\/sup>, 9th<\/sup>, 10th<\/sup>, and 13th<\/sup>. Much of their early training focused on correcting issues such as round shoulders. Not only will postural issues affect their balance, but they will affect the overall presentation of their performance and be reflected in the judges\u2019 scorecards. But it\u2019s not just ice dancers who need to worry about their posture.<\/p>\n
Round shoulders also impairs flexibility, which disrupts normal functioning of the muscles and increases the risk of shoulder instability and dislocation. Do you like to lift weights? Consider that a review in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/em> found that the most commonly injured area during resistance training was the shoulder.<\/p>\n
Another problem with round shoulders is that it can affect breathing. Yes, breathing.<\/p>\n
The sunken chest associated with round shoulders compresses the diaphragm, affecting its function such as by creating a \u201cmetaboreflex response\u201d that restricts blood flow to the limbs. The metaboreflex response explains the \u201cheavy legs\u201d feeling you get when you try to sprint and haven\u2019t sprinted in a while. For detailed information about how to train the diaphragm to increase muscular endurance and aerobic capacity, refer to my Breathe Better webinar, available through StrengthSensei.com<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n