Many find that despite them progressing in the gym, growing bigger, their posture don't improve. Many people find that their back become less responsive and therefore harder to grow.

As you become a more trained individual there are a lot of common changes which take place within the body. Some are positive and others are negative, or at least they can become if they're not managed properly. For trained individuals the main issues to address are the ones that lead to internal rotation of the shoulders. 

These are:

- Tight pec minor & anterior deltoids 

- Weak lower trap

- Weak posterior deltoids 

As these issues develop and become worse it pushes your posture into a position over time which ultimately makes recruiting the muscle fibres within your back harder. The positioning is incorrect for the lats and rhomboids to fire, as you struggle to bring your scapulas together and push your shoulders back. 

When you study somebody's posture you can often see by the way they stand how these issues effect them. You will notice rounded shoulders, with their traps bunched up rather than their posture sitting backwards with their chest out. 

The best way to address these issues before they happen, or once they have happened is to do the following. 

1) Make sure that you spend as much time training the posterior deltoids as you do the anterior and medial heads. This is maybe the most under trained muscle in the body! Remember your workouts should always be 3 dimensional in the sense they cover every aspect of that muscle group. Shoulders are no different! 

2) Get regular soft tissue therapy in order to break down those problem areas which as I said, are often around the scapula. This will help reduce a lot of pressure within the area, allow your shoulders to move more freely and ultimately lead to better back muscle recruitment. 

3) Don't just focus on the lats when training back! Make time for the rhomboids and even smaller lower trap region in order to reinforce the strength of your posterior chain. It's essential that you keep your entire back region strong in order to keep your posture in the right position. 

4) Make the time to stretch your anterior deltoid/pec minor area daily. By pressing (bodyweight or with weights) regularly you will be making this area tighter by the week, so you need to counter balance this through stretching. 

It not just all about the size to bring about the best results!