#1 Best Exercise To Fix Hunchback Posture

Transcription:

Hi! If you are watching for the first time,

which is your simple, efficient and science-based
guide to fitness.

A few years ago I put up a video on YouTube about
5 exercises to help improve hunchback posture

and it now has over 500,000 views.

There's one exercise that I wish I included
that I've since learned, and I think

it's the most effective exercise of all.

Before I tell you this exercise,

I'm gonna give you a quick overview of what
hunchback posture is:

Hunchback posture is when the upper back
rounds excessively,

which creates very high tension in the muscles
in your upper back, kinda like when you pull

a rubber band apart.

This high tension forces

not to be able to contract properly and also

creates a lot of tightness in what's supposed
to be a mobile area in the body.

Here are the muscles just to give you
a quick visual

the top muscle is the trapezius. This can
get very tight and overstretched.

We take that away, and you're left with
the lat muscle and the rhomboids.

If you take those away and keep on going down,
and you'll see al these muscles alongside your spine

which are collectively referred to as your
erector spinae or spinae muscles.

If you peel them all the way you'll see
all these little muscles alongside

your vertebral column. So as you can see
there are a lot of muscles

they're all along the upper back that
can get super tight

and you can feel very stiff.

And do you think a foam roller or upper
back foam roller is really gonna help

you relieve the tension in the muscles?
I don't think so.

However there is a tool, that I have right here
which is called a rad-roller

that I think can really help relieve the tension
in your upper back

and help improve your hunchback posture

and I'm going to show you how to use it,

and how I use it with my friends and
family and clients

a rad roller is like two rubber balls
stuck together,

and there are three different intensities,
there's

a green, the green's soft
and a blue, kinda medium hard,

and then you got the black which is stiff.
How it works, is I wanna start out

lying on the ground with your knees up

and I want you to put the rad roller in
the middle of your back so that it's

straddling your spine.

You're gonna lie back comfortably,
so your head is neutral and lying on the ground

you're going to slowly move up one or two inches

and then you're going to relax and hold that spot
for about 5-10 seconds.

You're gonna continue doing this all the way up
until you're at the top of your shoulder blades.

To make this more intense,
and as you progress,

when you are holding it on that spot,

for 5 to 10 seconds, you can lift your arms
up over your head

and then back down again.

You can even start doing snow angels
just with your arms,

to make it even more intense and to really
take into the muscle more effectively.

You can also drop down your knees
as well.

Finally, the most advanced way to do this
and what I'd recommend you work up to,

is to cross your arms over your chest,
almost like you are hiding yourself,

lift up your hips,

and then start rolling all across your
thoracic spine which is that

upper back area we're trying to loosen up.

And get more mobile. And there're a few more
tips I wanna mention as you're doing this.

The first, is to breath deeply through your belly.

If you don't breath deeply it's not gonna
help relieve the tension in your back so

breathing, again, through the belly,
into your belly is extremely important.

The second tip is to keep your ribcage down when
you are flexing your arms over your head.

And this is important because you are not

using your lower back, and flaring your ribs
for keeping your lower back in place

and trying to get the mobility and that
flexibility from your upper back.

Third, is to keep your head neutral,

you wanna try to avoid bending your head back
when you're on the ground,

you wanna try to keep it it neutral
in line with your spine

and also it makes it feel a bit more intense.

Fourth,

is that, this may be very intense and pretty
painful first time you do it

and my brother joked that is should
be renamed

the torture roller instead of the rad roller,
and it's the first time he tried it,

it can be very intense but the cool thing is
the more you do it, the easier it's gonna be,

you might notice some pretty dramatic improvements
within only a week.

The fifth tip is you try to wear tight fitting
clothing, or tucking your shirt

because if you don't, the clothing is gonna bunch
up as you roll up and down your back....

[Mamachillmusic]

WARNING: Okay so, anyone watching this please be careful, as someone with hunchback who believes in trying to help themselves I watched this video and then stupidly went online and purchased the blue Rad. It arrived the next day and i copied what Mark did in the video, only problem was I couldn't lay completely down once the Rad was underneath me, maybe its because as hunchbacks our bodies are so out of alignment? Anyhow it meant i was stuck with my top half floating and the Rad pressing uncomfortably into my lower half. I eventually managed to free myself from the position but not before seriously straining stomach and back muscles, getting an infection & having severe diarrhea, which then caused another infection and a hellava lot of pain. I've been unable to eat solids & had to live on soup & painkillers for the last fortnight. Docs say i'vet got to wait until the muscles heal and not do exercise or lift anything. I just wish i could go back and not be a Muppet by listening to people in Youtube videos, but i did, so let it be a warning to others. I'm sure the Rad may work for some, especially if your fit, but i wouldn't recommend trying this if you already have back problems or other illness. Stay Blessed X

[niwdooglliw]

I thought that it was important NOT to massage the back if you have a hunched posture, and that a roller should only be used to stretch the chest and ab.s. Your explanation of the anatomy of the upper back is the best on youtube!

[yahyajammeh]

This exercise gave me immediate results, wish I'd done it 10 years ago

[anand]

I find many many videos such as these having some moron, idiot or really stupid people 'disliking' the video! Is this from another physical trainer due to jealousy or fun click to just despise something useful!
The video has really helped understand the issue and hope more people use it for betterment of their physical 'life'! Thank you.

[imhellag]

Mine came in today and I laid on it like Marc above and i felt some of the most deep satisfying crunches in my spine. Stood up feeling nice :)

[searinwillow]

Thank you so much Mark. This was really the best $25 dollar ive ever spent. Really gets those unreachable stiff muscles along the spine. By far my favorite exercise to fix slouching.

[thekeysofrelief]

Just wooow!!
I love this great way in relieving my back myself
Thank you much for this

[p]

Thank you so much for this video and it works well for me. Though I did not got rod roller (not available in India), I tied 2 tennis ball with a tape and made it. Thank you...

[AbdulHamid-jwwb]

Thank you 🤩 for mentioning the peanuts, greetings to you from 🇸🇩 Sudan

[marianocarlinivisintainer]

Clear explanation and friendly attitude! :)

[hxhx]

thx for your video. i have been having back problems for some time .. just ordered my rad ball on ebay after seeing your video .. cant wait for the delivery. 

[riccardo]

At the age of 70, I'm curious to see if this can help me to change my slump over posture. I'm a singer and have bent over a word processor and piano for many years, but when I see myself in my videos I'm shocked at my bent posture . . . we'll see.

[kidadd]

Thanks for the video; I just made one of those peanuts out of tennis balls and like they way it works. I didn't know there was a professional version out there, I like the look of it and will get one.

One question, if you would. I've watched a ton of videos, read a lot of articles on fixing posture/kyphosis. Yet none of them seem to address one of my main difficulties, and I'm not sure if that's because I'm a special snowflake, or it just isn't addressed. Basically, standing up straight causes my back to strain painfully and begin to cramp up after only a short while. And it's been that way for a long, long time. I keep working at it, trying to build up my endurance to standing up straight, but progress, if there is any, is slow, and my back muscles, specifically the erector spinae it feels like, are often sore.

Related, and I think this illustrates the problem, but I recently tried the exercise where you sit straight against a wall...butt, back, shoulders, and the back of the head all touching the wall. I can't quite make my shoulders touch the wall, but anyway, my back muscles, again the erector spinae, begin to cramp almost right away. Do others experience this?

[meaganmillermm]

I have one of those but I bought it from Marshalls. My back feels amazing and I've only done this once 😂💖👍🏻

[queen_eldf]

Hi, thanks a lot for your videos about how to correct hunchback posture. They are very helpful! I have a quick question, do you think posture correcting devices with straps that pull your shoulder back when your wear them actually help reduce hunchback, or do they just become a clutch that don't really help you in the long run?

[rholdnr]

I would say the top tier is to use it as a fulcrum point while you do a modified crunch/sit-up.

[jonathanmurguia]

I know nothing about my hunchback problem but wouldn't this product make it worse? can someone reply to me how the product did and if it helped their hunchback posture.

[ambidexmed]

Medical student here.
How does the peanut massage on the extensors fix or help against thoracic flexion/kyphosis? Can you explain?

[vijayanangalia]

hello, I am 37 year old male and structural thoracic kyphosis please advise exercises to improve the posture

[notanfningain]

10 seconds! I've been holding for 2 mins; takes that long for my body to relax.