In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix rounded
back and shoulder posture using no equipment. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to go over
easy exercises that you can do daily to quickly improve a
rounded shoulder and back posture and to make this easy,
I'm going to break the video up into two separate parts. In the
first part, we're going to focus on lengthening tight
muscles that might be drawing us forward. I'm going to go
over three different exercises. Each one works a little bit
differently. They target different muscle groups. So,
make sure to go through all three use what gives you the
best results. In the second part, we're going to focus on
strengthening everything to maintain that good posture.
When you put both parts together, you're going to get
the best of everything. As a bonus, all of the exercises can
be done at home. They require no special equipment and you
may find get quick results, even within 30 seconds. So, let's
get started and fix that rounded back and shoulder
posture right now. So, here's a really good postural exercise
that's going to hit the shoulders and pretty much the
back. It's known as the windmill. For this one, you're
going to get better results if you do it in a scissored lunge
stance because we can target more muscles, including the
psoas and the hip flexors right here in the front part of the
leg, which will give more support and just give overall
better posture for the hips, pelvis, and the lower back. But
you can do this one standing if you do have knee issues. So,
let's start off by getting into position. I'm going to start
off in a lunge scissor-stance, with the side closest to the
wall being towards the front. So, this will be the front we
want our foot our knee and our hip flush against the wall for
support the other knee is also going to go bent at 90 degrees.
Make sure to put a pillow or towel underneath it too for
extra comfort. So I'm going to have very good upright posture.
From here, I'm going to lunge forward with my body weight
until I feel a very good stretch forming in the front
part of the leg, this back leg right here. That's the hip
flexors. Once we feel, that I'm then going to straighten my arm
that is closest to the wall, at the elbow right here, and have
the back side of my hand touching wall. From here, the
movement is very easy. I'm just going to slide my arm and hand
upward overhead like this and if you have tight shoulders,
you're definitely going to start to feel this. Once we get
right overhead, what I'm going to do is then turn my hands so
my palm is facing towards the wall and then, I'm going to go
back like this. You're going to feel a ton fire, in pretty
much the neck, shoulder, and upper back. Hold this for a
second or two, go down as far as you can and then, you're
just going to come back up very slowly like this and go back
into the starting position. Again, rotating your hand at
the top, but I try to do this one nice and slowly for about
two to three repetitions and then from there, what I'm going
to do is switch the position of my legs so I make sure to hit
both hip flexors on both sides. But with each repetition, just
try to stretch into it just a little bit more and the second
part of this exercise, I want to focus a little bit more
on opening up the chest because a tight chest can draw us
forward, giving that rounded back and shoulder appearance.
So, for this one, I'm going to get back into my original lunge
stance until I feel a very good stretch into the front part of
that back leg, and then I'm going to put both arms out in
front of me. Back side of the hand right here is going to be
against the wall that is pretty much closest to the wall. The
other hand is going to go overlapping and pretty much
being like a clapping position. From here, I'm just going to
slowly take the other hand right here away from me and
then come back to the wall. The goal with this one is to feel a
deep activation of the chest right here and try to pinch the
shoulder blades in the back at the same time. You're going to
feel a ton start to fire and with this one, you might not be
able to get the back of the hand towards the wall. Do the
best you can. Go for a deep, comfortable stretch. Hold this
one right here for about 15 to 20 seconds. You're just going
to relax and then on the next repetition, build into it just
a little bit more. Try to do this one for two to three times
and then just switch the position of the legs to make
sure you keep everything in balance. So, here's a really
easy postural exercise that you can do throughout the day. It's
really going to help open up a tight chest and in between the
shoulder blades and the great part is you can do this one
standing. So, have very good upright posture. The first
movement, I'm just going to take my arms off to my side,
palms facing away from me. Let's try to bring our arms
backward like this as much as we can until we feel a deep
activation in the shoulders, upper back, and in between the
shoulder blades. Should feel like the shoulder blades are
starting to pinch. Once we feel that, I'm then going to make
fist with my hands and then place my fist in the small of
the lower back. Press into your lower back very slightly and
then wing your elbows backward while trying to take the chest
right up here towards the ceiling just very slightly.
You're going to feel a ton of muscles firing in the chest,
the shoulders, and in between the shoulder blades. Hold this
one comfortably for 15 to 20 seconds. You're just going to
relax on the next try to build into it just a little bit more.
I try to do this one for three to five reps and again, this is
something that you can do throughout the day, especially
if you feel like you've just been leaning forward a little
too much and you have a very tight back. So, for this
postural exercise, we need something flat, elevated, and
sturdy. The edge of a chair works, you can also use a desk
or the edge of a bed. I'm also going to start off on my knees
so make sure to put something like a pillow or towel
underneath them for extra comfort. So, let's start off by
getting into position. I'm going to bend my elbows and
have the backside of my arms right here on the top of that
flat elevated surface. Our hands are going to go on the
top of the shoulders on the upper back. Let's tuck our chin
towards our chest. The movement from here is very easy. I'm
just going to rock my whole body backward kind of like
taking my bottom towards my heels. The more that you go
back, the more that you're going to feel a deep opening
stretch and the upper back that works its way down to the lower
back. I almost feel it right down to my tailbone. Once you
feel that, what I want to do to intensify the stretch is to
allow my chest to go downward towards the floor as much as
possible. You should really feel it in between the shoulder
blades. Once you feel that, let's hold this one comfortably
for 20 to 30 seconds. Just do nice, slow, control breathing
also. Let as much tension out as possible. From there, we're
going to relax, 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. Let's focus on taking
this one to the next level by targeting a couple more that
will help improve posture. So, I'm going to do what is known
as threading the needle. This one's going to involve rotating
inwards. So, I'm going to take one arm off like this and I'm
going to bend my elbow at 90 degrees and then reach towards
the opposite direction. So, my right arm is reaching towards
my left, really scooping inwards. Really focus on trying
to scoop into the movement with your shoulder blade. It usually
feels really really good. Again, hold this one for about
20 to 30 seconds. You're just going to relax and then repeat
this one to five times and then just switch to the other side
to make sure everything is kept in balance. So, let's take this
one to even the next level by now focusing on rotating
outwards with this. So, I'm going to get back into my
original stretch. I'm going to lift one elbow up and then wing
my elbow upward towards the ceiling. You'll notice the
muscles get hit just a little bit differently. Again, try to
scoop up through the shoulder blade activating those upper
back muscles. Hold this one for about 15 seconds. You're just
going to relax and then you're to repeat this on the other
side. Three to five repetitions on both sides. So, without a
doubt, the best way to improve and also maintain shoulder and
upper back posture is to strengthen the muscles that
help support it. I'm going to show you a combination exercise
that's going to hit a lot of muscles in a short amount of
time. The first one is known as a scapular push up. I'm
going to start off on a floor and I'm going to support my
upper body weight onto my forearms just like this.
They're roughly in the V shape. Put your hands together. You
might want to put a pillow or towel underneath your forearms
too for a little bit more support. So, let's start off
with the easier variation of the scapular push up and we'll
progress into the harder one as you feel ready. So, what I'm
going to do is just go into a plank position but I'm going to
put all of my lower body weight onto my knees just like this.
I'm going to tighten my core muscles for a little bit more
support, tuck my chin towards my chest. The movement from
here is very easy. What I want to do is focusing on dry to
drive my chest downward towards the floor trying to pinch my
shoulder blades as much as I can so you should feel it in
the chest and also in the upper back in between the shoulder
blades hold this position for about 5 seconds and now you're
going to do the opposite we're going to lift upwards with our
chest and upper back towards the ceiling this time we're
trying to open up those shoulder blades and really
focus on activating those chest muscles at the same time again
for about a five second hold and then you're just going to
relax and then repeat whole cycle for about 10 to 15 times
and with each repetition, try to build into it just a little
bit more. To make this one more challenging, go up on your toes
and do the same thing. You're going to notice that a lot more
muscles start to fire and it will be a lot harder to do. So,
if you're able to do that one, give that a try. The last
position that we're going to do is known as a dolphin press and
this one is really going to help focus on building strength
into the serratus anterior, a big muscle off to the side of
the ribs right here that helps stabilize the shoulder blades.
So if you have a lot of winging or rounded back posture, you might
have a lot of weakness or tightness in those serratus
anterior that we need to address. So for this one, I'm
going to get back into our position, kind of like that
plank, but I'm just going to walk forward with my toes just
a little bit. So with this one I'm going to tuck my chin
towards my chest, tighten my core muscles and then lift and hinge
my whole body backwards. Kind of like lifting my butt upward to
the ceiling while lowering my head down towards the floor and
you're going to feel a ton fire off to the side. Again, you
should really feel it below the armpit, off to the side of the
ribs. Hold this one for about 5 seconds. You're just going to
relax and then repeat this one 10 to 15 times and with each
repetition, try to build into it just a little bit more.
Here's a daily strengthening exercise that you can do right
in bed. I call this one the shoulder blade pump. It's
pretty much going to target all the posture of muscles that
help support the shoulders, upper back, and the shoulder
blades. Start off on your stomach and slide forward until
your shoulders and your head are off the edge of that bed.
From there, what I want to do is a head retraction. That is
just drawing the top of my head right here towards the ceiling.
So, we're not trying to bend it back like this but instead go
straight up until you feel a very good activation of the
neck muscles. I'm going to go over different positions with
this. All of these positions you want to hold for three to 5
seconds to your comfort level. So, with the first position, my
arms are going to be straight behind me, palms up towards the
ceiling. Slowly raise or pump your palms upward towards the
ceiling until you feel a very deep activation of those
muscles in the shoulders and upper back. The next position,
I'm going to go slightly off to my side and then do the same
thing. The next position after that, I'm going to turn my
arms. They're going to be straight away from my body and
I'm going to do a hitchhiker sign with my thumbs up towards
the ceiling. With this one really try to focus on opening
up the chest and pinching those shoulder blades it usually
feels really really good from there I'm going to take my arms
in front of me just like this off to my side and then repeat
and then the next position is straight right in front of me
the final position I'm going to take my hands put them on the
back of my head like this let's really focus on that head
retraction so we all feel those neck muscles start to fire and
then from there I'm going to wing my elbows upward towards
the ceiling try to challenge yourself to open up the chest
and pinch those shoulder blades with this one and then once I'm
done with that, I'm going to take a breather and then just
go in reverse. You want to do this whole complete cycle if
you have enough energy for about three to five
repetitions. If the exercises helped, please support the
channel by giving this video a like and maybe subscribing too.
If you have any comments or questions, please leave them
below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for
watching!