Tip One Exercise for a Strong Posture Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip One Exercise for a Strong Posture Build your upper back and neck with this unusual exercise You' ll stand straighter and lift heavier by Lee Boyce September 17, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags Back, Tips, Training Lots of people can muscle their way through weighted pull-ups that are only technically half-decent. They might be able to pull 500 pounds off the ground and they can row heavy weights attached to a cable for lots of reps. That's all great for cosmetic mass and skill-specific strength. But there's a reason why those same strong people tweak their necks when they look over their shoulder or throw out their backs when they're tying their shoe – it's very easy to become artificially strong, and it may even allow you to escape injury for a long time. But the truth is, big heavy lifts like squats and deadlifts – as important as they are – require a foundation. And if all the little things aren't doing their part to contribute to a compound movement, it'll catch up to you in the form of chronic pain or acute injury. The Back Plank In the case of the upper back and neck, attacking the deep neck flexors and extensors and actually zeroing in on the rhomboids, rear delts, mid traps, and teres minor is the way to really see change in your upper back and neck health, along with your posture. You may think you've got a strong neck and good postural muscle strength, but the back plank will make you realize in a hot second just how incredibly weak these groups are relative to other synergist muscles involved in your pull patterns. Sets of 15-second holds are more than enough to start noticing technical failure, especially if you carry a lot of size. Some coaching points: Keep the chest, chin, and fists as high towards the ceiling as possible. Protrude the neck to make the flexors work hard. Drive your elbows into the benches to raise the ribcage. Keep the hips up high. Don't let them fall or else the rear deltoids won't get hit as hard. To progress, move the benches a couple of inches farther apart to create a larger lever arm before adding any external loading. Even a small change in bench width will make a world of difference in the difficulty level of the move. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training The 6 Foundational Movement Patterns To build strength and muscle, as well as avoid injuries, you must train all six patterns. Does your program include them all? Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Dr John Rusin November 10 Training Bench Press 600 Pounds Want to break records on the bench press? Ignore stupid rules and follow these twelve steps instead. Bench Press, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Dave Tate July 28 Training Tip Two Drills to Correct Forward Head Posture It can wreck your training... and it makes you look weird. Try these simple drills to fix FHP. It Hurts Fix It, Mobility, Tips, Training Tom Morrison November 10 Training Tip The Zercher Shrug Stay upright and avoid bouncing to make this a very effective shrug variation. Exercise Coaching, Tips, Traps Christian Thibaudeau November 9