The Prone Cobra is an excellent exercise for the posture, it improves the strength of the postural muscles in the back and helps bring the body into balance away from poor posture and potential pain.   The Prone Cobra exercise is beneficial after training the abs because it helps to create balance in the body by working the extensor musculature after fatiguing the muscles that flex the body.   It is also a great exercise to do at the end of a back workout to get more mileage out of the workout.   The exercise targets the muscles in the back that can become lengthened and weak due to holding poor posture in repetitive lifestyle situations and following unbalanced training programmes, both of which may lead to permanent postural imbalances, once these muscles become weak and out of balance with the rest of the body a change in posture normally follows.

Examples that can lead to a poor posture

Lack of exercise

Being overweight or obese

Sedentary lifestyle

Stress

Bad work practises

Picking up objects with a round back

Driving long distances

Performing exercises using the wrong technique

These are just a few examples from many every day activities that can put you at risk of developing a poor posture.   Many sports can also cause bad postures, as many are one side dominant and repetitive.    

You only have to look around to see people's poor postures with their round backs and forward head and shoulders to appreciate how common this problem is, by paying attention and being aware of postural issues and performing preventative exercises a future of pain and injury can be avoided and aesthetics can be greatly enhanced.

Performing the Prone Cobra

•  Keep chin tucked.

•  Toes should remain on the ground.

•  If you have excessive lumbar lordosis (large curve in the low back when standing), the gluteus maximus (backside) muscles should be squeezed together throughout the set.

•  As extension of the trunk is initiated, you should be simultaneously bringing the shoulder blades together coupled with external rotation of the arms (palms facing away from the body with thumbs pointing up towards the ceiling).

•  The extended position should be held for a total of 3 minutes, hold for as long as possible without losing technique.   This may need to be broken down into less time followed by a brief rest until 3 minutes total time as been reached in the extended position.

If your posture isn't as good as it should be then this exercise could be done everyday preferably at the end of the day or the workout.   If the Prone Cobra exercise were to be performed before the workout or at the beginning of the day then the postural muscles would be in an even more of a weakened state making poor posture likely to persist and giving the potential for injury when doing the task in question.

Always remember to be aware of posture!