Let’s be honest, we all work too hard and usually in a hunched position over a laptop. We know it’s bad for us, be we just can’t help it. We sit with bad posture day in and day out, and then we can’t say we’re surprised, we’re rather annoyed with how much our back hurts, how stiff our neck and shoulders are and how appalling our posture is. It’s not just office work that influences this. You get the same result by driving, lifting heavy bags, carrying children in your arms a lot, and even spending hours on your phone scrolling through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. All of these factors contribute to bad posture. But we’re here to tell you about 7 exercises that can help you fix bad posture.
1. Wall Shoulder Stretch
A lot of the time the cause of bad posture are muscles that are too tight. You need to stretch them. So first of all let’s try to loosen up our shoulders. It’s a very easy exercise to do. Just stand next to a wall, put one hand onto it on your shoulder level, and then try to turn around to face away from the wall so that your arm is behind you. Don’t push yourself too hard, just feel the stretch for about 15 seconds at a time. Repeat on the other side.
2. Wall Downdog
This stretch is supposed to help you relax not only stiff shoulders but a stiff chest too. Just stand with your face towards the wall, put the hands on the wall and walk away until you’re in a position like on the picture. Press the palms into the wall and stretch downwards.
3. Cat/Cow Pose
You probably know the cat/cow pose if you’ve ever done any yoga. It’s a good way to stretch and strengthen your back muscles. It’s easy to do and we recommend doing it daily, and doing a couple of reps at a time. The goal is to get your spine moving in both directions and really feeling every muscle in your back.
4. Wall Angel
This exercise helps you to really straighten and strengthen your back. It’ll also show you the real range of motion you’re supposed to have in your shoulders. Just stand with your back to the wall with your arms outstretched to the side. Then bend your arms up at the elbow. The goal is to have both your elbows and the back of your hands touching the wall. Now try to move your arms up and down in this bent position while touching the wall. It’s harder than it looks to do this while keeping your elbows and hands touching the wall.
5. High Plank
Planks are great for strengthening your core and a strong core means you’ll have better posture. A high plank just means that you’re doing it on your hands instead of your elbows. Start with doing it for 30 seconds at a time and increase that over time.
6. Superman
Strengthening your back muscle is essential to having good posture. If your back is strong, you’ll find it much easier to hold good posture without really noticing it. Superman is a great exercise to strengthen your back. Just lie down on your front, arms in front of you. Lift up both your arms and legs as if you’re superman. Hold the pose for 10 seconds. Relax. Repeat.
7. Glute Bridge
Glute bridges aren’t just good for your glutes. It’s also a great exercise to do to fix bad posture and strengthen your back. Lie on your back, with your legs bent at the knees. With your feet firmly planted on the floor, lift up your body so it forms a straight line, like on the picture, hold it there for a second or two, then lower yourself back down. Do 15 reps at a time, rest, repeat.
