Come Out With Your Hands Stuck to the Doorframe
Three easy stretches to stave off the posture police

By Ami Walsh

Besides annoying your parents, carrying on with poor posture can actually harm your shoulders, especially if you start bulking up before you straighten up. "Strengthen a joint that's not properly aligned," says chiropractor Tim Brown, a doctor for the Association of Surfing Professionals Tour, "and you end up feeding an imbalance. Now there's more stress on the joint, because the strength is in the wrong place."

Our tendency to favor a dominant side in activities both recreational and vocational only magnifies our muscular and skeletal imbalances. Simple nine-to-five tasks promote slouching: Gravity tugs at our vulnerable joints every time we hunker over a keyboard, grip a steering wheel, tip an ear to the phone. "It's only a matter of time until those mechanics voice themselves in pain, spasms, dysfunction, and fatigue," says Brown.

To get back in whack, first check your posture: Lie on the floor with a towel under your neck for support and have a friend slide a hand under each shoulder blade. Your dominant side will sit higher off the floor. The remedy is to reduce tension in the muscles pulling your shoulder forward, which means stretching. Brown suggests warming up with a tweak on the wall push-up: Stand a few feet from the wall, stretch out your arms, zombie-like, and fall into it, bending your arms to absorb the shock. Then snap yourself back into a standing position. Do 12 before each stretching session. How often? Brown would have us doing the following doorway stretches five or six times a day, six days a week, but he concedes that even once a day will help correct imbalances.

Rolls-Royce Stretch
Standing centered in the doorway, grasp the frame with both hands at shoulder level (slightly higher if you're pretty flexible). Mimicking a Rolls-Royce hood ornament, relax your shoulders and thrust your chest forward, keeping your arms slightly bent. Avoid arching your lower back. Standing on your tiptoes will intensify the stretch. Hold for ten seconds.

Fastball Stretch
Still in the doorway, facing out, hold onto the frame with your left hand at shoulder level, and keep a 90-degree bend at the elbow. Take a small step forward with your right foot and then twist your shoulder slightly away from your fixed hand. Be sure to keep your head up. Hold for ten seconds; then switch arms and repeat.

One-Arm Overhead Stretch
Stand in a doorway and grab the top molding with your right hand (if you can't reach, hold the side of the doorway as high as your arm extends). Take a small step forward with your left foot and twist slightly to your left, using the doorjamb as an anchor. Hold for ten seconds; then switch arms and repeat.

Photographs by Mark Mainguy