English → Arabic transcript

Most people with forward head posture don't realize that a big reason they're stuck in that posture is because of a muscle that's not in their head or neck. And many would be surprised to hear that that muscle group is actually in your core, and it's your six-pack abs, otherwise known as your rectus abdominis. Now you may be wondering, how can my abs have anything to do with the position of my head and my posture? Aren't stronger abs better for good posture? And the answer is, it depends on the context and which abs we're talking about.

You see the six-pack abs attach on the front side of the lower ribs, and also all the way down to the base of the front side of our pelvis, right here, around our pubic symphysis. When these two areas approximate and come closer to each other, you can see the effect that would have on my head. And you can also see how that would feed into that classic presentation of forward shoulders alongside with that forward head posture. And unfortunately, this position then creates its own feedback loop. So what happens is, as this front ribcage stays compressed and tight, muscles on the front side of the neck, such as the SCM,

try to increase their leverage to help elevate the ribcage via compensation when we inhale. And now the head just keeps going more and more forward as muscles on the front side of the neck try to make up for a lack of proper diaphragmatic function and expansion of that front ribcage. Over time, this crunched position really feeds into an inability for us to open up the front side of our ribcage and decompress it with every single breath that we take. So we can't just put the six-pack abs in a lengthened position and try to stretch ourselves out all day long. That's not going to fix a lot of the big issue, which is a compressed front side of the ribcage, which is unable to open up with the 20,000 breaths we take every day.

So here's an exercise that will help us get length through the six-pack abs and also open up more space on the front side of the ribcage. Get about 6 to 12 inches away from the wall in this position, almost like a crab walk position. And then allow your head to tilt back very gently and rest the base of your skull sort of around like the very bottom portion of where a bald spot would be up against the wall right here. You don't want to be too far here or too far tilted back like this. It should be a nice neutral neck position with your eyes very gently up.

Unlock your elbows about 10% and then very gently push through the ground as you feel your sternum or breastbone elevate a little bit, not losing the position of your neck that you got earlier. If you do that right, you're going to feel this bone elevate without your low ribs excessively flaring too much. You'll also feel a little bit of muscles in the backside of your shoulders engaged, but not much at all. Now, here's the key. You're going to exhale with an open mouth and relaxed jaw for about five seconds, sighing the air out like this. At the end of that exhale, you're going to pause, close your mouth, and then after a two to three second pause, inhale very gently and silently through your nose.

If you do that right, you're going to feel this sternum area open up with air. That's you decompressing that space. Make sure your neck is never engaged when you inhale. Some people may benefit from splitting up the inhale into three little mini inhales or sections of an inhale, meaning inhale, pause, do the second third of the inhale, pause, and then the last third. And then repeat this for two to three sets of eight to ten slow breath cycles. As a final note, some people may benefit to get more length through their six pack abs by getting into a straight leg position, but for others, they don't have the mobility to go here, so staying here is fine.