Technique review

[Sakly]

Thanks Sascha. My natural posture is hunched. Particularly in the upper back. I cannot lay flat on my back with my head on the floor without being completely uncomfortable and unnatural. Propping a pillow under my head is a must. Working with PT to make changes there.

Uncomfortable and unnatural are two different stories.
First describes your subjective feeling. Latter describes the anatomical "should be" from a natural perspective without any issues on bone-, tissue- and muscular level.
Best case both match, so I have the opinion that problems should be addressed, even if one is of older age.

I’ll look at the video to focus on shoulders. I was curious if I was opening up the upper body too fast? Is that what you mean with the shoulders?

No, opening seems to be fine. For me this is also a blending over movement, not separated.
I really talk about shoulder stability during the drive. But as I wrote, probably it's only the video.

Much like the issue above I can’t sit on a floor with legs extended sitting in a 90 degree position. I will work on that with PT when healthy. They don’t want me stretching hamstrings until nerve pain subsides. They think it’s aggravating the nerve.

Same thing as for the upper back. Such limitations should be worked on, so good idea to get it done with PT.
All these problems relate to poor mobility of dorsal chain of muscles and tissues.

[Vcweiss346]

Thanks Sascha. My natural posture is hunched. Particularly in the upper back. I cannot lay flat on my back with my head on the floor without being completely uncomfortable and unnatural. Propping a pillow under my head is a must. Working with PT to make changes there.

Uncomfortable and unnatural are two different stories.
First describes your subjective feeling. Latter describes the anatomical "should be" from a natural perspective without any issues on bone-, tissue- and muscular level.
Best case both match, so I have the opinion that problems should be addressed, even if one is of older age.

I’ll look at the video to focus on shoulders. I was curious if I was opening up the upper body too fast? Is that what you mean with the shoulders?

No, opening seems to be fine. For me this is also a blending over movement, not separated.
I really talk about shoulder stability during the drive. But as I wrote, probably it's only the video.

Much like the issue above I can’t sit on a floor with legs extended sitting in a 90 degree position. I will work on that with PT when healthy. They don’t want me stretching hamstrings until nerve pain subsides. They think it’s aggravating the nerve.

Same thing as for the upper back. Such limitations should be worked on, so good idea to get it done with PT.
All these problems relate to poor mobility of dorsal chain of muscles and tissues.

The feeling to me is both uncomfortable physically and unnatural. But having said that I think it is uncomfortable because I have allowed myself to be lazy in my posture the whole of my life. Particularly how I sit. I am extremely sloppy and lazy. I think both the upper back and hamstring issues can be improved. To what degree is debatable but i can improve from where I am at for sure. Nothing anatomically that would prevent me from making some improvements. Hard part for me is sticking with it all day and not just in the gym.

[Dangerscouse]

Hard part for me is sticking with it all day and not just in the gym.

Yeah, it's always going to be a long arduous journey correcting decades long habits, but I had something similar and I've managed, eventually, to ingrain the moments of reflection.

In some ways, rowing with eyes closed is ideal for this as you turn from exteroception to interoception & proprioception, and you're far more conscious of what your body is doing. Pilates has probably been the main benefit for me, and I'd highly recommend it if you can find a good instructor.

[Sakly]

I have allowed myself to be lazy in my posture the whole of my life.

I think both the upper back and hamstring issues can be improved.

The body is master in adaption. It follows external trigger on each direction, at all ages. If nothing prevents you, give the right trigger.