Posture isn’t the be-all and end-all. This isn’t a complete guide, just a quick take on my pet peeve: some fitness pros place way too much emphasis on posture, sometimes harming clients. There are times, too, when we should pay a bit more attention.
In the photo, the shoulder blades look like they’re “making out.” A perceptive clinician might point to overactive rhomboids (scapular squeezing in), a downwardly rotated position, or even be distracted by the room’s color. But I’m not someone who believes static posture alone tells the whole story. While posture can provide useful clues, the industry often labels people dysfunctional the moment a posture cue appears.
I’ve seen coaches pull out the corrective-exercise toolkit before they’ve even assessed the person. The idea that a slight kyphosis or a rotated shoulder automatically signals a doomed path is too simplistic. The truth is you don’t need to sell someone 62 weeks of corrective work before you’ve even tested movement and load. Static posture is information, not judgment. No one is a failure because of how they look standing still. Good or bad posture depends on the load and the task at hand. As Alex Kraszewski notes, posture helps determine available motion and where load goes; the task should drive the appropriate range of posture.
What I want to see changes with is how someone looks during a challenging lift versus when they’re simply sitting. This is especially true for overhead athletes and people who stand a lot or lift heavy things for a living. If someone comes in with shoulder pain and their shoulder blades sit in a more retracted and downwardly rotated position, there can be merit in encouraging more protraction to move toward a neutral position—though this isn’t universal.
Neutral scapular position is roughly when the upper back allows a balanced range, with the shoulder blades resting in a moderate alignment rather than jammed in a fixed posture.
If a person stays stuck in a downwardly rotated position, they’ll often have trouble achieving sufficient upward rotation, which matters for shoulder health and performance. That said, you should assess both load and movement because scapular position can improve with light intervention or even on its own.
If it doesn’t, and shoulder pain persists, here are some drills I like:
– Deadbug with reach: This drill helps strengthen the anterior core and improve control of the pelvis and spine as you reach upward while you extend the legs. Exhale fully on each rep.
– Deadbug with loaded reach: Add a small load (medicine ball, dumbbell, kettlebell, etc.) to increase awareness of protraction.
– Quadruped band protraction – off a foam roller: A drill I learned from a colleague; focus on protracting the shoulder blades while maintaining a solid core.
– Forearm wall slides – off a foam roller: With a foam roller against the wall and forearms on the roller, protract forward and slide up the wall while keeping the rib cage stable and avoiding excess arching. Reset at the bottom and repeat.
The overarching idea is to address ribcage and thorax position, since the shoulder blades move with the thoracic spine. Proper movement and load, not a fixed posture, should guide training and rehab.
