Fix Forward Head Posture in 3 Simple Steps

Don’t worry dear reader, you won’t find any chin tucks in this article. I’m not in the business of sharing strategies that DON’T work.

Here’s the cold hard truth. There is no one exercise that will fix forward head posture. The body does not work like that. You can’t reverse chronic pain or postural problems by doing a few mindless reps of a simple exercise.

You need a plan. You need to understand WHY you’re doing WHAT you’re doing. Only then will your body make the adaptations you want. 

With this type of knowledge, the changes you make will last a lifetime because you’ll know how to maintain them. In this article, I will lay out the 3 steps that will finally get your upper body out of forward head posture. 

Step 1 - Learn how to fix forward head posture. 

The first step is education. You can’t fix a problem you don’t understand. So, what causes forward head posture? Lifestyle and weakness. 

This is the simple answer. There is of course nuance. Every body is different and we all have our unique ways of moving around the world. 

For the purposes of fixing your forward head posture, focusing on lifestyle and weakness will make a huge difference for most people. Let’s examine each of these. 

I’m sure you are not surprised to hear that lifestyle plays a role in your forward head posture. I am not the first person to tell you that. 

When you work behind a screen for long hours and for many years, your posture will adapt to this. But this is the reality of our modern day lifestyle. 

I am not going to be another person that preaches to you how bad this is. It is what it is. I am an attorney and create fitness content for a living. I do it too. How else am I going to pay the bills!? 

In fact, resenting this reality will only make it more challenging for you to change your posture. Your posture is just as much a representation of what is going on in your mind as much as your body. 

What do you think of when you think of someone who is depressed? How about someone who is happy and confident? 

There is more to posture than simply how you sit on your chair. As a thought experiment, look around your office to see how many people have a forward head posture. I am sure it won’t be everyone. 

But they all sit behind a desk like you do. Why don’t they have the same exact posture? If sitting behind a desk was so bad, why don’t all your co-workers have a forward head too?

It is because lifestyle is only part of the equation. There is also weakness, which brings us to the second cause of forward head posture. I am not referring to weakness in the traditional sense.

A buff strong dude can have a forward head posture while a smaller weaker woman might not. It is not general full-body strength that we are concerned about.

What I mean by weakness is limited strength and function in specific muscles that cause forward head posture. 

Step 2 - Strengthen Forward Head Posture Muscles 

If you search for it, the new Google AI Gemini will quickly list the muscles that contribute to a forward head posture. The only problem with AI is that it pulls information from what’s already on the internet. 

But what if the information on the internet is wrong. Not completely wrong but just misleading. Out of context and therefore not helpful. 

A theory that continues to perpetuate the corrective exercise internet world is that correcting forward head posture requires you to strengthen weak muscles and stretch overactive muscles. 

I promised I would not give you chin tucks. I will let Gemini and the rest of the fitness blogosphere push that exercise down your throat. 

I recommend a different approach. Don't worry knowing what the sternocleidomastoids or scalenes are (unless you really want to). 

Instead, do something much simpler but much more important - learn how to stand without a forward head posture. 

This is the first part of rebuilding your posture. You need to understand what a more healthy posture feels like. There are many exercises that help accomplish this goal but my favorite beginner exercise is the wall stand. 

Not only are you building strength in the right muscles with this exercise but you are teaching your nervous system how to stand up straighter. 

You might feel the work in your neck, shoulders, back or even the pelvis or hips. There is no right place to feel it. Your body will respond how it needs to when you place yourself in a balanced position for long enough. 

You can spend months, if not years, with the wall stand, and I recommend you do. But eventually you will want to bring this better posture into more challenging movements, like the row, for example. 

It is in times of stress and difficultly that you're most likely to revert back to your habitual forward head posture. 

The ability to maintain a strong posture when you do strength movements is the ultimate way to build a healthy posture for the long-term. Eventually, your nervous system begins to prefer the more optimal posture and uses it more in day-to-day life. 

The row is just one example. You can apply the same cue in many other strength movements, whether it be bodyweight exercises or weight training. To balance out the row, practice push ups with the same intention. 

Step 3 - Maintain Forward Head Posture Correction 

Once you understand the WHY (step 1) and the HOW (step 2), you need to MAINTAIN (step 3) by making sure you program exercises in your workouts that continue to challenge your upper body posture. 

Some version of a difficult pulling and pushing movement at least 1-2x a week will work. Just make sure you are progressively overloading (increasing the resistance every week or so). 

And of course, be diligent about your head position in those exercises. Never sacrifice more weight or intensity for poor posture. If you do, you will regress back to the posture you are trying to improve. 

In addition to the physical, don’t neglect the psychological. Posture is not just a physical phenomenon. Your movement and how your body feels is a product of what is going inside your head, and vice versa. 

You can do all the exercises in the world but if you don’t address your mental health, your posture will stay the same. 

It is also wise to integrate some level of awareness in your day-to-day as well. You don’t need to change your occupation or hobbies but if you play video games for 3 hours a day with a forward head, this might not help your cause. 

Once you start working on the right exercises, it should be easy to notice when your head is not in the best position. Do your best to adjust it without obsessing

How long does it take to fix forward head posture?

If you are diligent with your intervention, it should take about a month to see noticeable improvements. But what’s awesome is that you will able to see short-term benefits after your first time doing the wall stand. 

This is kind of a sneak peek of what is possible if you continue to build strength in a better posture. What you are looking to change took years to develop so it won’t happen overnight.

Your goal is to convince your nervous system that a head-back posture is better than a forward head posture. This will take some time but once your brain prefers the healthier posture, it will keep it for the long-term,