Help with Kyphosis (round shoulders)

[Over the Hill]

This question is mainly aimed at the experienced strength training people out there.
I train in a mixture of martial arts and fitness work including weights training and have been for many years. I train in something nearly everyday.
Ive been told recently that my posture is very poor, kyphotic. Round shoulders.
In analysing what Im doing, Ive been trying to keep my weights training balanced, working both the back and chest equally etc etc.

Ive come to realise that 90% of the time in my martial arts training, I have round shoulders, which is correct for my fighting training, but poor posture for normal day to day work.
Ive been told I look like a gorilla ready for a fight all the time!!

I was wondering if any other people had similar problems and any ideas or specific training thoughts as to how to improve posture?

[socratic]

I've got horrific posture and I've been thinking about how to correct this myself. I would guess that rounded, forward posture would come from a few things, but I figure the main ones would be a lack of flexibility in the chest mucles and a lack of strength in the shoulder/back muscles, literally pulling your shoulders forward. My guess on how to counter it would be to ramp up your rows and back work (esp. pulling exercises) whilst trying to stretch out one's chest as much as possible. You'd have to wait for some of the more experienced posters to come along before you get pro advice, but this is sort of what I'm planning to focus on for my posture.

[Sakmongkol]

It suggests lax trap muscles and tight pec minors. Possibly too much bench and not enough rows.

Its possible that you are suffering from too much internal rotation, I would reccomend that you learn to "set the scapulae" in the correct position i.e. drawing them back and across. When they are set performing exercises on the traps, external roatotors and rear delts. Such as BORs, band pull aparts and face pulls.

This is basically stuff I was told from a PT a couple of days and stuff Emevas mentioned. I have a similiar problem but also instability and pain in the shoulder joints.

[Nihonto]

What do you do for a living? Do you spend hours at a computer? That's what destroyed my posture. I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I now sit on one of those exercise balls - forces you to sit straight.

[rucass]

Some sort of yoga and joint mobility movements, and chin ups.

[Teh El Macho]

http://www.exrx.net/Kinesiology/Post...#anchor7497566


http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improv...acic-mobility/

[Emevas]

If you do any sort of striking, you're doing way more pushing than pulling during your training (all the punching), and as such, that could be contributing towards your imbalance.

Rear delt work is your friend.