The importance of lifting is mentioned so often here on TRP. And for a good reason.
Muscles are an indicator of how well you take care of yourself, and people become subconsciously more submissive to you and respect you more if you're jacked. However, the way you carry yourself is equally important as muscles. Through years I've been sitting in front of a screen or with my laptop in my bed with the wall as support for my back. That has made me develop a horrible posture that I've improved a little, but there's still a long way to go.
An alpha male keeps his head held high and shoulders back because he is a leader and highly competitive with a strong frame and ready for battle if someone should try to harm him. A beta with slouchy shoulders and a head pointing towards the floor instead of forward is basically telling others that he is "defeated" even if he has muscles. The reason why alphas receive more shit tests than betas is because people try to test if his frame is as strong as his body language is stating it to be, however, a beta with a bad posture is telling "my frame is weak, you don't even have to test it". That's the reason why a bad posture dries pussy like a dry sponge. With a bad posture you are also more prone to injury at the gym.
Now for a problem to be fixed, one must first find out there is a problem in the first place. I never realized how horribly I carry myself before I saw some photos of myself that someone took spontaneously. If your posture is good, great, if not, continue reading as I will point out the three main posture problems that many people(including myself) have today:
APT(Anterior Pelvic Tilt):
Also called the Donald Duck syndrome, APT is when your pelvic tilts backwards, which makes your lower back look like that of Donald Duck.
The reason for this is mainly that your lower spine and hamstrings are tight while your abs and glutes are weak, which pulls your pelvic area backwards. The quickest fix for this is of course to strengthen your abs and glutes, but also to stretch your lower spine and hamstring by doing lunges. Another very good exercise for this is the plank where you make sure your posture is good by flexing your abs and glutes, for example doing it in front of a mirror to watch if you're doing it well, otherwise it will do more harm than good.
Forward shoulders:
This is the first thing people think when you mention "bad posture". Many people think your need to pull you shoulders back, and there is some truth to this, but not to tilt your upper spine/rib cage backwards. You are supposed to put them "in place". If you tilt your rib cage backwards, you will most likely enhance APT and it will make your ribs stand out, which will be exhausting when doing it for a longer time. And most of all, it doesn't look good nor natural with a backwards tilted rib cage. You have to make sure your rib cage is in place and that your shoulders are in line with the rest of your body. It is easier if your trapezius and rear deltoids are strong therefore I highly recommend doing exercises that hit these muscles when you're at the gym and make them a part of your routine if they aren't already.
Forward head posture:
This one is the one I'm dealing with the most, but it's also probably the most important for having that alpha posture with your head held high. I have a long neck and I've always slouched it forwards. It is basically caused by weak neck muscles, which need to be strengthened. Just like with your shoulders, you are not supposed to push your head backwards, which will only make you look like you swallowed a broom stick, but instead to put your head "into place". That will also result in a thicker neck if done correctly, and we all know how important a thick neck is in terms of looking strong compared to a pencil neck. The exercises that should be done are shown in this video, which I find incredibly helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQylqaCl8Zo
Another thing you should do for overall posture is to sit on a gym ball instead of a chair while being aware of your posture and to put your screen up to eye-level, which will help correct the posture of your shoulders and neck.
Most important is constantly being aware of your posture, which will become automatic after enough practice. Your goal is to look like a skyscraper in Dubai instead of the leaning tower of Pisa.
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