POSTURAL TRAINING FOR TEENS
There are growing concerns amongst parents for their child's posture as they spend more time sitting and in front of their computers and tablets. Bad postural habits do not happen overnight and are hard to spot especially since parents see their children everyday. There is a growing need to restore positive postural habits through correct posture training.
Work on forward shoulders and slouch forward positions
Increase upper and lower back strength
Reset the position of the neck
Restore upright standing position
Learn Exercises and Stretches that can be done at home
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO CORRECT YOUR TEEN'S POSTURE?
Correcting your Teen's posture by simply reminding them to sit straight during dinner or stand straight when they are waiting for a school bus will do little to improve their posture. Correcting a Teen's posture needs the following considerations:
CORRECTING BAD HABITS THAT LEAD TO BAD POSTURE
Bad posture simply does not happen overnight. Bad posture is a result of repetitive movement habits that have been performed over and over again throughout the years. Like adults, sitting slouched over at the desk for hours at a time while studying or spending too much time playing games on their smartphones, have taught their bodies to move in a compensated position. This posture is then carried over and maintained when they engage in sporting activities further solidifying the posture making it more difficult to get out of. Posture correction for Teens will take time and patience.
BUILDING MIND BODY AWARENESS FOR YOUR TEEN
Throughout the hundreds of hours we spend with teens, we can safely say that Teens lack the mind body connection and often unaware of how their bodies are positioned in relation to their surroundings. While a coach can instruct a teen to "suppress and retract their shoulder blades", they are often unable to activate the right muscles to create that movement making self correction difficult. Part of our training involves awakening up the connection between the teen's central nervous system and the targeted group of postural muscles even before any strengthening exercises are done.
STRENGTHENING MUSCLES WITH RESISTANCE TRAINIG
No! It is not true that weight training will stun growth in teens. In fact, there are many benefits of weight training that teens stand to benefit from if done under the right supervision. Muscles love resistance and they need to be subjected to external forces to grow and remain healthy. Postural muscles are the same. Without proper external stimulus, postural muscles will not be able to have the strength and ability to hold and maintain proper posture. Resistance training can be prescribed to teens once they are able to understand instructions from the coach and is an important component of the postural training cycle.