This video, I'm going to show you the best back exercises to
do at work. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in St.
Joseph, Michigan. If you're dealing with a lot of back
aches, tightness, stiffness at work and need a quick fix, this
is a video that you're not going to want to miss. I'm
going to show you very easy, effective back exercises that
you can do right at your desk in a chair. They don't require
any special equipment and may give quick relief, even in as
little as thirty seconds. So, let's get started. So, here's a
very easy way to be able to stretch a tight, achy neck and
also upper back. It's known as an upper trapezius stretch and
it's a favorite for many because you can get a
satisfying self pop, crack, or release into the neck. What
we're going to do is start off at the edge of a chair. Very
good upright posture. I'm going to show two different
variations. So, go through both of them. Take what works best
for you. The first one, very easy. I'm going to take one
arm, bend the elbow at 90° and then just put it across the
small of the lower back. Just drive that arm as far as you
can. When you do this, you should feel the muscle right up
here start to activate on top of the shoulder. This is known
as the trapezius. The next movement, I'm going to take the
arm on the opposite side. I'm going to grab on the side of
the head so my left hand is grabbing on the right side of
my head and I'm going to pull my left ear towards my
shoulder. As much as I can. When you do this, it's really
going to intensify that stretch. Only go to your
comfort level. Again, you might get a pop or crack into the
neck or upper back with this. This is completely normal. It's
just gases being released from the joint but don't try to
force it. You only want to go for a comfortable stretch. Once
we hit that, let's hold this for fifteen to twenty seconds.
From there, you're just going to relax. On the next
repetition, drive that arm over even more and then try to take
the ear towards the shoulder even further because it will
only challenge those muscles and hopefully give you more
relief. You want to do this for three to five complete
repetitions. For the second variation, what I'm going to do
is more of a shrugging motion. It's going to hit the muscle
just a little bit differently. So again, I'm at the edge of a
chair. I'm gonna have very good upright posture. Let's one
side. I'm going to start with my right and then shrug that
shoulder up towards the ear as much as we can. From there, the
movement is the same. I'm going to pull my ear towards the
opposite direction and when you do this, let's get a very good
stretch and then lower the arm down towards the floor like
you're trying to pick something up. And it feels really good. A
very good deep stretch into the neck and also upper back.
Challenge yourself to go down as far as you can. Again, hold
this one for fifteen to twenty seconds. You're just going to
relax. On the next repetition, go a little bit with both
movements but give those both a try and take the one that you
feel hits and stretches it out just a little bit more and when
you're done on one side, always switch to the other to keep
them both in balance. So, here's a wonderful exercise
that's going to hit the upper to middle back and you can do
it right in a chair. It's known as a figure eight because we're
going to trace a figure eight with our elbows. Start off at
the edge of that chair. Have very good upright posture.
We're going to take our hands, place them on the back of the
head just like this. Elbows are going to be bent straight in
front of us. For this, we're going to do two big movements.
For the top part of the eight, we're going to do what is known
as extension. That is backwards movement like this. So, as
we're tracing the eight, we're really going to build into
extension. You should feel it in between the shoulder blades.
When we're doing the bottom part of the eight, we're going
to do flexion that is going forward just like this but
we're going to connect both in the middle of that eight in a
nice fluid dynamic movement. So, we're going to challenge a
ton of muscles in a short amount of time. Let's start off
just in the middle of the eight. Doesn't matter what
direction we go in because we're going to do it on both.
So, I'm going to just start to slowly trace the top part of
the eight up like this. Going to extension that backwards
movement as much as you can. Once we get to the top part of
the eight, let's stop there for a second and then we're just
going to start to swing back down like this towards the
middle. And then we're going to build into flexion. So, go
forward as much as you can comfortably. It should hit the
muscles just a little bit differently. Once we hit the
bottom, let's hold this for a second and then swing back up.
You to do this slowly. It should take you about 5 seconds
and do it for about ten to fifteen complete repetitions.
With each repetition, try to stretch more into it just to
activate those muscles and get everything loosened up. Once
you're done with that, switch course. So instead of going
like this with it, let's just go in reverse. And at that
point, you'll notice that it hits the muscles again just a
little bit differently. You want to do this one? Ten to
fifteen times. If you do notice that one certain movement like
let's say that I go to my into extension to trace the uh top
part of the aid. It's really tight and achy. That's where I
really need a lot of attention. Make note of that. Throw more
repetitions in at that point. Any part of the aid that you
feel is hitting that uh spot in the back a little bit more.
Throw more repetitions in, target the spots that needed
the most. Here is a great way to address in between the
shoulder blades and also really focus on rounded shoulders and
back forward posture from sitting at a desk all day long.
I this the angel sprinkler. It's a two-part exercise that's
very easy to do. Let's start off at the edge of a chair.
Have very good upright posture. Let's start with the sprinkler.
I'm going to straighten my arms at the elbow like this to the
point where the hands are going to overlap so they can clap.
During this exercise, I'm always reaching out with my
arms with my hands and we're just going to focus on trying
to feel that initial activation. From there, I'm
going to then start to take my arms off to my side like this,
still reaching out as much as I can and then take them back
like this. Almost like the backside of the palm or it's
just a backside of the hand going towards the wall. When
you do this, you should feel two big things. The first being
a very good stretch into the chest. It should feel like it's
opening up. In the back, it should feel like the shoulder
blades are starting to pinch together. So, really focus on
feeling that. Once you hit a very comfortable stretch, let's
hold this for twenty seconds. From there, you're going to
come back up, relax, take a breather, and then repeat. On
the next repetition, stretch more into it. You always want
to these muscles but try to do this for three to five complete
repetitions. On the second part, we're going to focus on
what is called an angel and again, this one is very easy to
do. Start off at the edge of the chair, have very good
upright posture. We're going to take the arms, bend them at the
elbow at 90° like this to create kind of what I like to
call the field goal. The movement is very similar. So,
I'm going to drive the elbows back like this. We should feel
a very good stretch into the chest and it should also feel
like the shoulder blades are starting to pinch in the back.
So, get into that position first. Next, what we're going
to do is slowly raise our arms up like this into the point
where the arms are overlapping and they should be able to clap
at the hands. This right here, we want to hold for a couple of
seconds and then slowly come back down like this. So, it
should take you about 5 seconds to do. At this point, on the
next repetition, I'm going to drive those elbows back even
further and then just simply repeat this for ten to fifteen
complete repetitions. Just a very way to target the shoulder
blades at your desk. So here's how we can target more into
lower back, the hips, and pelvis. This is known as a
seated figure four or a pigeon pose. What we're going to do is
start off in a chair, sit right at the edge, raise one leg up
like this to the point where the ankle is going to be
supported on the leg. When you look down, it should look like
a nice figure four being formed. If this is a hard
position to get into, you can also straighten one leg out,
put the leg on the other side over it, slide it up like this,
grab either at the front of the shin right here or at the pant
leg and then slide this leg back. What we want to do is not
press into the knee but rather use our upper body weight to do
all of the hard work. I'm gonna take my hands. I'm gonna place
them off to the side of the hips. Let's pivot through the
waist through the hips and lean forward just like this. We're
not trying to round the back but we're going to just pivot
forward through the waist instead. You should feel a very
good stretch happening into the lower back, glute buttock, and
the back of the legs. This will target a muscle also known as
the piriformis which if it becomes tight can cause
piriformis syndrome or pseudo sciatica. Hold this comfortably
for about twenty seconds. From there, you're just going to
relax, come back up, and then repeat this three to five
times. With each repetition, also try to stretch more into
it by leaning more into it. From there, let's incorporate a
little bit more dynamic motion to target those muscles and
challenge them just a little bit more. So, let's get back
into that original position where we're leaning forward.
I'm gonna take my hands, place them on my shoulder like this.
From here, I'm going to twist or rotate in the opposite
direction. When you do this, you're going to feel a very
good stretch pretty much from the top part of the back all
the way down into the lower. Really try to twist or rotate
into it as much as you can. Hold this for about twenty
seconds. You're going to relax and then you're going to go
towards the other side. And again, hold for twenty seconds.
Do this for three to five complete repetitions. On the
next one, we're going to do what is known as a lateral
bend. This is going to target on the outside of the back
especially over a muscle called the quadratus lumborum or the
QL which is a big instigator of back pain. Let's start off with
very good upright posture. From here, I'm just going to take my
hands, place them on my shoulders like this and then
pivot away from the side of the bent knee. So, in this case,
I'm going towards my left with my full back. This will feel
like a very good stretch on the outside. So, really focus on
that. Hold this for about twenty seconds, relax, come
back up, and then go towards the side of the bent knee and
do the You want to go through all these motions, do about
three to five repetitions on both sides and target any
movements that address muscle tightness, backaches, anything
that just feels like it helps a little bit more and throw more
repetitions in at that point. So, here's a very easy way to
target more into the sacroiliac or SI joints in the pelvis.
We're going to sit at the very edge of a chair. Our knees are
going to be bent in ninety degrees. Our feet are going to
be flat. We want our hips and our knees in a nice straight
line. Here, what I'm going to do is take my hands, place them
on the outside of the knees. The movement, very, very
simple. I'm going to drive the knees out but I'm going to
resist it with my hands to create an isometric exercise.
So, I'm really focusing on that. Really trying to drive
those knees out in my hands but I'm going to resist it to the
point where they're not moving really at all. Hold this for
about five seconds. From there, we're going to relax and then
repeat this for five times. So, here's the knee part. What
we're going to do next is we're going to drive our knees
inwards but we're going to resist it by taking our hands,
making fist, and then putting them in. Squeeze in as much as
you can and I don't know if you heard it over the microphone
but I got a very good release with that SI joint. During
this, when you squeeze inwards, you might get a sudden pop or
crack into that SI joint which is completely normal but you
want to hold this for about five seconds, relax, and then
repeat for five times. Afterwards, notice how the SI
joints are feeling and hopefully that gives you quite
a bit of relief. If the video helped, please support the
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please leave them below. I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. Thanks for watching.