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Sorry guys, I know most of you know flexibility as the ability to flex, but in this thread I want to have answers regarding the other, less popular type.

There are tons of exercises that will strengthen your posterior chain, I think I have these down pretty well.

Walking with good posture, straight back, eyes forward feels uncomfortable though, it feels a lot more natural to walk slightly hunched, looking down. This feels lik a typical case of being inflexible, and flexibility is a complicated matter.

Does anyone have any good exercises I can do to make it feel more natural to walk with "good" posture?

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  • Do you have enough mobility in the hips, especially hip extension?
    – BKE
    Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 18:40
  • You can check out the stretches in this posture q/a. You may also like to lay on yoga foam roll.
    – BackInShapeBuddy
    Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 20:05
  • BKE: Not sure if it says anything, but I can quite comfortably squat down all the way, but I have to either sit on the front of my foot or lean back when going to the bottom.
    – Mårten
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 7:54
  • BackInShapeBuddy: I'll check it out, thanks.
    – Mårten
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 7:54
  • Hip extension is the opposite action of what you do in a squat. When you stand up, you need to extend in the hips, and in walking, you extend the leg even further. If the hip flexors are thight (restricting extension) you can not stand fully erect unless you compensate with the spine and neck. Try standing lunges and see what you feel in the front of the hip (of the leg which is extended to the back).
    – BKE
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 15:39

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Ok so 2 very basic nonfunctional postures are in short the "donald duck" (butt sticking out, or overextension of the thoracic spine) and the "pink panther" (vice versa, the butt tucking under). These are sort of antagonistic and the stretches to "fix" this depend on which of the 2 you're more inclined to.

One of the best resources on this topic imo is Elliot Hulse and his youtube channel of course, what I mention above is what he talks about all the time. I would recommend watching some of his videos (searching for posture on his channel is probable enough). Also Kelly Starrett is a great source although his stuff is a little more technical

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A few years ago, I stumbled upon someone who had written a book about pain management. I was intrigued, so, I picked up his book and readily use his exercises as part of my daily routine.

Pete Egoscue professes that body alignment of the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles is critically important for posture as well as pain management. He states that if any one of these body structures is out of “alignment” (from injury, overuse, etc.), then the result is most often pain and/or bad posture. As he puts it, bad posture is a result of your body trying to get your attention to alert you to a structural problem. And, if not corrected, it can lead to chronic pain.

The Egoscue method uses postural assessment, gait analysis, and functional testing to determine what body structures are “compensating” for others that are not working correctly. The end result of the analysis is a set of therapy exercises (here's an example) with the goal to correct the compensation. Some swear by his work, while others call it bunk. I'll let you decide.

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