Improve Your Posture Mini Guide 2

Table of Contents

Can Your Poor Posture Cause Back Pain? 3

What is Good Posture? 3

10 Tips to Improve Your Posture 7

How to Roll Out on the Chirp Wheel+ 9

How to Utilize the Deep Tissue Chirp Wheel+ 11

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Improve Your Posture Mini Guide

Can Your Poor Posture Cause Back Pain?

Why do you even need good posture? Who cares right? Wrong.
Your body cares. When you let yourself have bad posture2,
your core muscles become weak. When that happens, your
other muscles compensate for your weak core, leading to neck
and shoulder tension, pain, injury, digestion issues, breathing
difficulties, fatigue, restricted movement, headaches, and joint
problems. Good posture keeps bones and joints in the right
alignment and decreases your chances of abnormal wearing of
ligaments and tendons. Poor posture increases your chances
of degenerative arthritis and joint pain. Good posture reduces
the stress on spinal joints and minimizes the chances of injury.
Poor posture increases stress and tension. Good posture allows
muscles to work like they are supposed to (more efficiently),
which prevents muscle fatigue. Poor posture causes fatigue. Good
posture helps prevent muscle strain, overuse, and pain. Poor
posture causes muscle strain, overuse, and pain. Good posture
protects you from having a bad back. Are you convinced yet?

What Is Good Posture?

In order to fix your posture, you have to know what good posture
is. That’s just basic logic.
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Here’s the right way to sit:

Keep your feet on the floor or on a footrest if they don’t
reach the floor.
Don’t cross your legs, and do keep your ankles in front of
your knees.
Leave a small gap between the back of your knees and
the front of your chair.
Your knees should never be above the level of your hips.
Adjust your chair so that it supports your low- and
mid-back.
Relax your shoulders. Just don’t slouch them forward.
Get up and move. Don’t be in the same position for
too long.
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Here’s the right way to stand:

Keep most of your weight on the balls of your feet.
Always keep your knees slightly bent.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Let your arms hang down the sides of your body, naturally.
Keep your shoulders pulled backward.
Tuck your stomach in, keeping your pelvis tilted slightly
back.
Your head and earlobes should be in line with your
shoulders. Don’t push your head forward, backward, or to
the side.
If you must stand for a long time, shift your weight from
your toes to your heels or from one foot to the other. Try
not to stay in the same position for too long.
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Here’s the right way to lie down:

Sleep with one pillow under you head that is the right
height to keep your spine aligned.
Avoid sleeping on your stomach because it causes your
spine to bend unnaturally.
Sleep on your side or on your back. If you sleep on your
side, put a pillow between your knees. If you sleep on your
back, put a pillow under your knees.
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10 Tips to Improve Your Posture

1. Be more aware of your incorrect posture. The first step
to fix your poor posture is to be conscious of it at all times.
The hard part is, having poor posture is like being addicted
to a drug and the more you do it the harder it is to stop
and the more you don’t want to stop. So just know, poor
posture is bad, just like drugs are bad. Once you’re aware
that you’re slouching, imagine a balloon inside of you, lifting
you from the earth. Thinking about being light will help you
get over the pain that comes when you first start trying to
have good posture again.

2. Use a posture corrector. Using an upper back or lower

back posture corrector will help you remember to keep
good posture. It’s like a nicotine patch; it can help you quit
bad posture.

3. Adjust your work desk and chair to the proper height.

If you have to lean over your desk, the height of your chair
might be too high. Adjust it so you don’t have to slouch
over your desk. Make sure your chair has good lumbar
support. And remember, leaning back at a 135 degree angle
puts less strain on your back than leaning forward at a 70
degree angle or sitting at a 90 degree angle.

4. Learn to be flexible. Stretching will help relieve points

of discomfort caused by bad posture and will make it easier
for you to reeducate your back into the right position.
When we have poor posture, our muscles become extra
tight. Stretching will loosen up your body and get you ready
to perform strengthening exercises and keep better
posture for longer.
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5. Strengthen your core. The stronger your muscles are,

the easier it is to maintain good posture. Your core isn’t just
your abs. It is also the muscles in your back that help keep
your spine straight. Try planking. Time yourself to see how
long you can last.

6. Don’t look down at your phone all day. Over a long

period of time, looking down to text or scroll on Instagram
will put strain on your back and neck. Lift your phone up
while you browse to save your posture and to save you
from back and neck pain.

7. Don’t recline your car chair. Keep your seat as far

forward as you can so that you don’t slouch into your
steering wheel. It’s the little things like this that really make
a difference in the end.

8. Don’t wear heels if you don’t have to. Heels push the
base of your spine forward, which causes your back to
over-arch. This is one reason why you can’t wait to take off
those stilettos when you get home at the end of the night.

9. Do posture correcting exercises. There are a lot of

different posture correcting exercises. Most of them involve
moving in the opposite direction that your bad posture
is forcing you to move. If you have a hunchback, do the
yoga cat and cow pose. If you stick your butt out too much,
tilt your pelvis backward and forward for posture
correction. These exercises stretch your muscles back into
their original place.

10. Take breaks. Take breaks at work to get up and move

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around or to sit down if you’ve been standing for a long

time. Use the Chirp Wheel+ to open up your chest and
reverse the damage from slouching.

Bonus Tip: How to Use the Chirp Wheel to Correct Your

Posture

How to Roll Out on the Chirp Wheel+

1. Sit on the ground with your knees bent and feet firmly on
the ground. Place the Chirp Wheel+ against your back, and
while holding onto the wheel, gently lie back. Relax. Stay in
this position until you feel ready to move on.

2. Rest your upper back on top of the wheel with it

between your shoulder blades. Still holding onto the wheel
for support, raise glutes off the floor. Relax. Stay in this
position until you feel ready to move on.
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3. Begin to roll back and forth on

the wheel by bending and
straightening your legs and
walking yourself forward and
backwards. It will be a forward-
backward motion. For a deeper
stretch, lower the back of your
head towards the ground and
drop your arms to the floor.
Relax. Roll out on the wheel for 3
to 5 minutes.

4. If it is difficult for you to sit on

the ground or if using the wheels
on the ground is too much
pressure, you can use the wheel
against the wall for less pressure
and easier maneuvering.
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How to Utilize the Deep Tissue Chirp Wheel+

1. You can also use the Deep Tissue Chirp Wheel+ as a
posture corrector or like a foam roller on your hips and
legs.

2. The Deep Tissue Chirp Wheel+ is small enough to fit in
the small of your back when you’re sitting down. Sitting with
the wheel between you and your chair will help you sit up
straight by reinforcing the natural curvature in your spine
while pushing your shoulders back.

3. To use the Deep Tissue Chirp Wheel+ on your legs and

hips, simply sit on the floor and place the wheel under the
part of your body, such as your thigh, that is tight. Massage
it with the wheel. Roll your body back and forth over the
wheel.