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Most of us exercise to feel healthy, look fit, or to lose weight, but did you know that doing certain exercises can also improve your posture? Correcting your posture can make you feel slimmer, raise your energy levels, and add years to your quality of life. By targeting specific postural muscles, you will make your abdominal area look flatter, your butt look rounder, and you may find yourself exuding a new self-confidence that you didn't know was lacking. No more struggling to stand up straight - you'll be doing it naturally!

One of the major culprits of poor posture is sitting for long periods of time. This can cause tight hamstring muscles, pulling the pelvis into a posterior tilt. This in turn causes lower back pain and loss of normal back curvature. It produces a domino effect on the whole body. Other causes of imperfect posture are long-term high heel wear, pregnancy, and birth defects affecting the spine. Here are a few exercises and stretches that will help correct some of these issues.

EXERCISES FOR THE CORE

The core muscle group includes the superficial and inner abdominal muscles, the muscles surrounding the spine, your lower back, and even your "glutes". No matter how you look at it, your core is your spinal stabilizers and keeps your posture upright. In addition to crunches, below are a few recommended posture-correcting core exercises.

SUPERMAN: Lying face-down on a mat, raise your head off of the mat to look straight ahead, arms extended and slightly off of the floor. Extend your torso while raising your arms and legs as high as possible. Hold the contraction for a few seconds at a time. Do a slow series of 10-15 repetitions for best results.

PLANK: Lying face-down on a mat, raise your body off the floor, supporting yourself on your forearms and your toes. Your elbows should be directly beneath your shoulders. Your body should be as straight as a board do not arch your back. Keep your abdominal muscles contracted. Hold for 20 seconds per set. Do three sets.

PELVIC RAISES: Lying face-up on a mat, bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor, keeping your arms along your sides with palms-down. Pushing down through your feet, raise your buttocks off of the floor. Contract your "glutes", hold for two seconds, then return to start position. Repeat 10 times, doing three sets.

PELVIC TILT AND PRESS (stretch): In between Raises, while in the Pelvic Raise starting position, arch your back slightly to tilt your pelvis toward the floor, then reverse the

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