Walk Proud Divas
“Inhale Confidence Exhale Doubt”
Ever notice as you walk past a mirror or in a window front while window shopping and start to check yourself out and suddenly notice how horrible your posture is? Like..WOW! That’s me??? And then suddenly pull back your shoulders and suck in? Haha Its so true!
Why do we do this?
Sitting, Slouching, STRESSING, texting…are just a few things that cause us to round the shoulders forward and develop horrible posture.
Also, if you have a lot of high intensity moves in your weekly workouts like: Burpees, push-ups, Kettle Bell swings..you know the ones we LOVE!! Haha They pull the upper body muscles forward and we tend not to focus on strengthening the back muscles as much as we should.
Not only when we have bad posture, it causes other aches and pains in the body, but it also gives a vibe of: No or LOW Self Esteem ~Confidence ~Courage ~Poise ~Boldness.
As beautiful Strong Divas….we need to know our worth and walk around shining like diamonds. Even if we are having a rough day or week…don’t let that take over.
Training the mind is SO much more challenging than training the body. That’s for sure!! However that is a whole other blog! haha
Reshape those Shoulders
Lets go over some fun moves to help strengthen your “posture muscles” to be Posture Perfect!
Exercise #1
Pull ups or Lat Pull down
I know I know… we hate pull ups…BUT they truly help develop the best back muscles and help assist in pulling the shoulders back. Besides, you feel like a bad ass diva doing pull ups. Most of us cannot do them. AND…that’s OK!!! Use a pull up machine in your gym. If you don’t have that available, Use the Lat pull down machine. (see Pic)
- Any Lat pull down machine, wide grip, chest out, abs in, keep shoulders down.
- As you pull back, think about those back muscles and squeeze tight. 2 count hold
Exercise #2
High Pulls using TRX Or Cable
Rear deltoid training is SUPER important and again most of us do not add isolated exercises for those little guys back there to our weekly routine!
- Start position. Lean back slightly and keep abs in tight.
- keep shoulders down and focus on the back the shoulders
Pull the TRX handles or cable (light weight) to nose level but be sure to keep shoulders down and elbows out wide. Pull your belly in and bend knees slightly. Focus on the back of your shoulders. This exercise is meant to be down with slow controlled movement. about 2 counts on the pull and release.
#3 Side Plank
Yes! Side plank. IT is a core (muffin top move) But it also strengthens our shoulders.
While in side plank…Keep your elbow under your shoulder, lift the bottom hip high, stack or stagger feet, lock out knees, suck in belly and open your shoulders. Boobs out and shoulder blades pinched back. IF you don’t open your chest up and lift bottom hip your neck will take over and we don’t want that kind of pain!
Hold each side to fatigue. Push past those last few seconds when you wanna give up!
*modification: side plank with the stability straps (TRX)
Posture Circuit:
- 20 reps of all 3 exercises in a row.
- Rest 30 seconds then,
- 15 reps & rest,
- 12 reps & rest and last set:
- 10 reps of all 3 moves
*Focus and think about what muscle you are working. Mind/Body Connection
*Try to add these moves 2x a week
Bottom Line Divas:
Walk with Pride, Smile, Hold your shoulders back, suck in and take on the world like your own it.
Have a Magical day Divas
Ciao xoxo
