Posture Corrector Brace: My Journey to Better Posture
Between 2008 and 2012, I used to continuously receive comments from close friends, family members, and even teachers, such as:
“Put your back up straight.”
“You’re slouching again.”
“You’ve got a bit of a hunchback.”
I even remember starring in a music video in South London with CaroCaxi and having to consciously force my back up straight throughout because I didn’t want my naturally bad posture to show in the video.
After the video was released, a close friend chuckled and said, “I’ve never seen your back so straight!”
None of these comments were made out of malice, nor did they bother me—I knew they came from a place of love.
My poor posture was due to not knowing how to improve it, not having anyone around me who knew how to fix it, and doing activities that encouraged slouching, such as using my Blackberry phone, playing FIFA06 on the PS2, later playing Gears of War on the XBOX360, and sitting at a desk all day at Dunraven Secondary School.
After having bad posture throughout school, around 2011, I decided it was time to change it.
The problem was that I had no idea how to improve it or what to do. Everyone was quick to say I had poor posture, but I’d never been given a solution.
That’s when I discovered an advertisement for a posture corrector belt on Amazon. As a teenager, I invested £20-30, hoping it would solve my problem. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment—poorly fitting and ineffective, leading me to abandon it within weeks.
My only plan for fixing my posture was out the window.
Then, I stumbled onto the solution without realising it—I joined a gym and started strength training. I didn’t start working out to improve my posture; my motivation was more about filling free time and addressing some body image issues.
To my delight, my posture “accidentally” improved after months of consistently doing various back, glute, and hamstring exercises. Exercises like dumbbell rows, lat pulldowns, barbell deadlifts, barbell rows, and glute bridges really helped.
Before I knew it, my posture had dramatically improved.
Of course, I still catch myself slouching sometimes, which reminds me that slouching occasionally is normal—but having better overall posture feels much better.
If you can relate and potentially want to improve your posture, do not make the mistake I made and waste your money on a posture corrector brace—it does not help.
Speak soon,
Leo
P.S. The pictures below are from my time at Dunraven Secondary School.
