Millionaire Bryan Johnson is well known for arresting his growing age. The American entrepreneur and venture capitalist is the CEO of a company that creates devices that monitor and record brain activity. “Death is our only foe,” reads his Instagram bio.
In a recent post, Bryan has shared how he fixed a posture issue. “I didn’t realize how terrible my posture was until an MRI showed it was slowly killing my brain,” he has captioned a before and after picture of him. Bryan has shared five habits he adopted to fix the issue.
“We discovered through an MRI that my posture was trapping blood in my brain, blocking it from flowing properly to my heart,” he writes.
In a series of tweets, he writes: We discovered that I have genetically narrow internal jugular veins and my bad posture was dangerously cutting off the flow of blood out of my brain and back to my heart.
Even with normal jugular veins, you may be doing the same with poor posture.
Here are the five strategies he implemented:
Maintaining a straight posture. “Imagine you have a string going through your spine up through your head, and it’s pulled straight up,” he explains.
Maintain your posture when you are using a phone. “Avoid things that invite bad posture; the phone is the worst. When I have my phone up, I hold it up. It’s awkward and potentially embarrassing to be the person holding your phone up like this. When I bend my head down 60 degrees, I can feel the pressure building in my brain from the lack of blood flow,” he writes.
Move every ~30 minutes throughout the day. “Take a brisk walk; climb some stairs; do some stretches; break out into dance. Anything active. Improved blood flow and a nice reset for posture,” Bryan recommends.
5 min Yoga For Neck Pain Tension (beginner level)
He practiced two exercises recommended by his therapist. “Keep your elbows back, your shoulders in this position, and weights in your hand. You want to bring your shoulders up and out,” he shares. “With your hands on your forehead, resist the pressure of your hands pushing your head back.”
Bear with the initial soreness of the muscles when you engage in these exercises, shares Bryan. Maintaining proper posture involves the coordinated effort of around 30 muscles throughout the body. Key muscles include the core group (abdominals, obliques, and lower back muscles) and those in the shoulders, neck, and upper back, which support the spine’s alignment. Gluteal muscles and leg muscles like the quadriceps and hamstrings also play a crucial role, providing stability and balance.
These muscles work together to keep the body upright and balanced, reducing strain on joints and ligaments. Regular strengthening and flexibility exercises for these muscles can significantly improve posture and reduce the risk of discomfort or injury.
Read his tweet here: