In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix center of
back pain in 30 seconds. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy exercises that are going to target aches and pains in
the center of the back especially in between the
shoulder blades. As a note, all of the exercises work just a
little bit differently. We're also going to go through
different positions. To get the best results, go through them
all and use what gives you the most relief. As a bonus, all of
the exercises can be done at home required no equipment and
you may find give quick tie and pain relief even within 30
seconds. So, let's get started and fix pain in the center of
the back right now for good. Here's a really unique exercise
that called the seated back opener. This one is going to
really offer a deep stretch in the center part of your back
towards the inner part of your shoulder blade. It targets the
rhomboid muscles. So, what I'm going to do is start seated
with very good upright posture. Bring one leg up and just rest
it on the other one just like this. Doesn't matter which side
we're going to do it on both the bent knee side what I'm
going to do is take the hand on that side and cup on the
outside of my foot right on the pinky toe side and really clamp
on there for a solid stable anchor point your other hand is
going to grip on to the armrest or on the side of the chair if
you don't have one you just want it kind of as another
point of support so the movement from here is very
straight forward I'm going to slowly straighten this bent
knee and push it outwards while grabbing on to my foot just
like this the more that you press like this, the more
intense this stretch is going to get. I feel a deep stretch
right in the center of my back and it usually feels really
really good. You want to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds
and during that time, progressively push your foot
out further to offer a deeper stretch but only to your
comfort level. From there, you're just going to relax and
then repeat this one a couple more times with each
repetition. Try to build into it just a little bit more. If
you want to take this one to the next level what you want to
do is press your foot outward like this but turn your foot
inward and then rotate your leg towards the other side so I'm
going to press straight out like this turn my foot in and
then swing it a little bit towards my left this will
really deepen that stretch this feels really good so give that
a try and when you're done on one side always switch to the
other side and repeat to keep everything in balance this is
what I call the standing back opener for this one need
something like a door frame, a pole, or a squat rack,
something that is sturdy enough to support our body weight. To
get into position, we're going to put our feet together, space
slightly away from that doorframe. That way, we can
lean away from it. The hand that is furthest away from the
door frame, what you're going to do is reach across your body
roughly chest level and grab onto that doorframe for very
solid, stable anchor point. What we're going to do from
here is lean away from that door frame with our body weight
as much as we can the more that you lean away the more that
you're going to feel a deep intense stretch form in the
center of your back especially towards your shoulder blades so
really focus on feeling it there once you feel that you're
going to hold this position and then you're going to take your
arm on your other side bend your elbow at 90degrees and now
scoop and rotate through your shoulder blades reaching
towards the other side as much as you can you'll feel a deep
stretch form on this other side and it usually feels really
really good I like to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds and
just do nice, slow, controlled breathing. Just let out as much
tension as possible. From there, you're going to relax
and take a breather and then repeat this one three to five
times and with each repetition, try to build into it just a
little bit more. This is how we can take it to the next level
and get a deeper stretch in the center of our back and target
the rhomboid muscles. So, for this one, we're going to start
facing the door frame, put our feet together, and put our toes
right up against that rack or the door frame. You're going to
crisscross your arms like this. Doesn't matter which side is on
top. Actually, I would alternate it during this
exercise and go with what works better for you but you're just
going to have them roughly at chest level and grab right on
to the door frame just like this. What I'm going to do from
there is tuck my chin towards my chest and then just allow my
body weight to go away from the doorframe like this. It's
kind of like taking my bottom down and away just letting
gravity take my body weight. As you do this, shoulder blades
are really going to start to open up. So, really focus on
feeling that deep stretch in between the shoulder blades.
Hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds. You're going to relax
and then repeat this one three to five times. Again, with each
repetition, try to build into it just a little bit more. If
you want to experiment with different placements of your
hands, you may find that it offers a little bit more relief
because it will target the muscles a little bit
differently. So, put them overhead like this. You can put
them chest level and you can put them even a little bit
lower. If any of those positions offer more relief, at
that point, throw more repetitions in. Also, if your
doorframe is not wide enough to the point where your bottom
will hit the other side, a quick fix for this is just to
angle your body outside of the door frame like this and then
repeat. This exercise is called thoracic CARs or controlled
articular rotations but I like to call it the figure 8.
This one is perfect to do anytime that you have tightness
or building in the center of your back. It can give relief
within seconds. Start seated with very good upright posture.
Just have your back nice and straight. Pick your hands,
interlock them, put them on the back of your head. What we're
going to do first is press our head backward into our hands as
much as we can until we feel a really good activation of the
muscles in the neck. You're going to hold this position
during this exercise and our elbows are going to go straight
ahead just like this. Just like the name implies with the
figure 8, we're going to trace a figure 8 with our
elbows but we're going to modify this a little bit to
help open up the back just a little bit more. So, here's a
couple key points. During the swings of the eight, we want to
make them nice and wide, as wide as possible and really
focus on scooping and moving through your shoulder blades
and as we trace the top part of the eight, we're going to
bridge upward with our elbows as much as we can. This will
put our back into extension and you should feel a really deep
stretch right in the center of your back. So, really focus on
feeling that. When we're tracing the lower part of the
eight, we're going to go into flexion. So, this time around,
we're going to draw our elbows forward as much as we can
rounding our upper back and really again, moving through
the shoulder blades. So, let's get into position. I'm going to
start right in the middle and I'm going to start with the top
part of the eight. So, I'm just going to do that big swing like
this as I go up. I raise my elbows towards the ceiling.
When I can't go any further I'm going to hold that position for
a second and then just reach up a little bit more with my
elbows until I feel that deep stretch and then I'm just going
to come down just like this and then I'm just going to do that
big swing going forward with my elbows when I reach the bottom
of the eight I'm going to lean into it just a little bit more
for a second or two and then swing back up but you want to
do this whole cycle for about three to five times and with
each repetition try to build into it just a little bit more
and then from there, what you're going to do is switch
directions. So, if you went this way with it, go in
reverse. You're just going to notice it hits the back just a
little bit differently. So, repeat that going in the other
direction. The nice part about this exercise is you're
probably going to notice that one certain movement just
really hits that tightness or achiness a little bit more.
Like let's say that when I go towards my right tracing the
top part of the eight. Treat that like your weak link and
you want to keep repeating this motion over and over again
building into it until you finally feel that tightness or
pain start to go away and then from there, you just build back
into the eight. Just good way to identify spots that need it
a little bit more. This is a posture reset exercise that can
quickly improve rounded shoulders and a rounded back
appearance. Something that might be causing tightness and
pain in the center of your back. In fact, I would do this
one anytime that you feel like you've been hunched forward for
too long. So, let's start standing with very good upright
posture. That means just having your back nice and straight.
Take two fingers, put them on your chin, and draw your head
backward as much as you can focusing on feeling a very
gentle activation of the muscles in the neck. We're then
going to hold this position. Next, we're going to have our
arms off to our side and have our palms facing forward. What
we want to do is press our hands backward like this as
much as we can focusing on feeling a very deep stretch in
our chest but more importantly, trying to pinch our shoulder
blades in the back. Really try to pinch those shoulder blades
as much as you can. Again, we're going to hold this
position. To take this one to the next level, what we're
going to do is make fist and then put them in the small of
our lower back. From here, I'm going to wing my elbows
backward as much as I can. Again, trying to pinch my
shoulder blades. What this will do is also allow our chest to
go forward and slightly upward towards the ceiling. You're
going to feel a ton of muscles start to fire. The chest
throughout the upper back and the neck. You want to hold this
one comfortably for five seconds and then you're just
going to relax. On the next repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. I try to do this one nice and
slowly for about five to 10 repetitions, but if it does
feel like you have a little bit more energy, you can always
throw in another set or two. So, if you're looking to get
long-lasting back pain relief, your best bet is to strengthen
muscles that help support it. Here's a really easy daily
strengthening exercise that's going to target the center of
the back. This is known as scapular push ups. To get into
position, we're going to start lying on our stomach on a
floor. You're going to support your upper body weight on your
forearms just like this. My forearms are roughly in a V
shape. I just put my hands together. The beginners version
of this exercise is to support your lower body weight on your
knees like this. For most, this will be a very comfortable
position. So, if you have a lot of weakness, I would start off
with this one but to get into the full version, what we're
going to do instead is put our body weight onto our toes just
like this. Let's tuck our chin towards our chest. What I'm
going to do first is push my chest downward towards the
floor. Really focusing on trying to pinch my shoulder
blades as much as I can. You should feel a really good
activation of the chest and also the muscles in the upper
back. Hold this one comfortably for a second or two and then
we're going to go in reverse. We're going to use our arm
strength and our shoulder blades to press our upper back
towards the ceiling as much as we can. Really focusing on
opening up the shoulder blades. You're going to feel a ton of
muscles in the upper back start to fire. You want to hold this
one for another second or two and then you're just going to
repeat this whole process going down and up as much as you can.
Repeat this one 10 to 15 times and with each repetition, try
to build into it just a little bit more and if it feels like
you have a little bit more energy, you can always throw in
another set or two. If the exercises help, please support
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