This video, we're going to go over how to fix a back home for
good using no equipment. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go
over some great stretching exercises that are geared
towards getting rid of a kyphosis in the upper back.
That's also known as a back hump or a hunch back. I'm going
to show these exercises in a very easy to follow three-part
guide. We're going to focus on mobilization, stretching, and
strengthening of the upper back, which will hopefully lessen
that kyphotic curve, improve our posture, and prevent it in
the future. If you're looking to get the best results, go
through all three parts. As a bonus, all of these exercises
can be done at home do not require any equipment. So,
let's get started and fix that back hump right now. In this
part, we're going to focus on a self release or self
mobilization of the upper back to tackle joint stiffness and
muscle tightness. I really like this method because gravity is
going to do all of the hard work and we can really put the
back into extension that is a backwards movement like this
that will really help flatten that chifo or back curve over
time. I'm going to start at the edge of a bed. Let's bend the
knees like this. Keep our feet flat. We want the rest of the
body to relax. That way we can really focus on that back hump.
I'm going to position my back to the point where the bottom
of the curve, the bottom of the hump is going to be right at
the edge of a bed. You might want to roll up a towel or use
a small pillow underneath your back too for extra support. My
hands go right at the back of my head just like this. I'm
going to start off by winging my elbows down towards the
floor, you should feel an initial stretch into the chest
and also it should feel like the shoulder blades in the back
are starting to pinch. Once we feel that, I'm then going to
lower my head just like gravity take everything and just let my
upper body go all the way down towards the floor. From there,
I can also press my head backwards like a retraction to
intensify the stretch but only to your comfort level. The spot
at the edge of the bed, your back, it might end up having a
sudden pop, crack, or release that is quite normal because
this puts a lot of pinpoint mobility into that segment but
don't try to force it just go for a deep comfortable stretch
you want to hold this one for at least 30 seconds, but if it
feels good hold it for longer you can hold it for a minute
but after 30 seconds. what I'm going to do is take a breather
relax and then scoot down just a little bit maybe just an inch
and go to the segment above and then I'm going to repeat this
process pretty much from the bottom of the curve all the way
to the top pretty much the middle back all the way to the
upper back. When I do this too, I'm going to notice that one
certain spot. Maybe it is the pinpoint top of that back hump
or curve that just feels the most locked up and tight. I
want to stop over that spot and really focus on trying to throw
more repetitions in there. With each repetition, I'm always
challenging those muscles by stretching more into it. That
is bringing the elbows down more and lowering the head down
as much as I can but just do this pretty much from the
bottom of curve all the way to the top focus on the spots that
need it the most and over time hopefully this extension right
here will lead to a less noticeable back hump in the
future so here's an upper back exercise you can pretty much do
anywhere it's going to focus on a big issue which is bad
forward leaning posture so if you're a desk worker student I
would definitely give this one a try we're going to focus on
big instigators of that kyphosis in the back which are
tight chest muscles and shoulder which draws forward
and just a tight upper back. It's a combination exercise,
very easy to do. What I'm going to do, start seated with
very good upright posture. Let's do a slight chin tuck
also to put that in better position. The first part is
known as a sprinkler. I'm going to straighten my arms at
the elbow like this to the point where my hands are going
to be able to clap. From there, I'm going to keep my arms
straight and then I'm going to just take my arms off to the
side to the point where the back side of the hands are
going to go behind me, almost like towards the wall behind me
here. The more that you go back, the more that you're
going to feel it stretch into the chest and also the shoulder
blades in the back are going to start to pinch together.
Challenge yourself to stretch that out as much as you can.
Once we hit that point, let's hold this for a couple seconds
and then I'm going to bend my elbows at 90 degrees like this
to create like a field goal position. Let's wean the elbows
back just a little bit more and then from there, I'm going to
go into a wall angel. I'm just going to lift my arms up like
this and then go up until my arms and my are going to be
able to clap or overlap just like this. Hold it for a couple
of seconds. We're going to come back slowly and then just
straighten out and go back into that original position. You
want to do this one nice and slowly. It should take you
upwards to 10 seconds to do a complete repetition but with
each repetition, you want to challenge yourself to really
stretch into it just a little bit more and try to do this for
about 10 complete repetitions. So, here is another great
exercise that you can pretty much do anywhere. I call the
standing back opener. It's really going to focus also on
straightening that back curve. What we need to do is go next
to a wall or a door. I'm going to put my feet pretty much
about two feet away from the door. My feet go hip width
apart and then I'm going to put my arms up like this straight
at the elbow, shoulder width apart. Let's grip right into
the door too. We don't want this sliding down. From there,
I'm going to tuck my chin towards my chest and then I'm
going to just lower my body weight until I feel a very deep
stretch. So, what I'm doing is kind of like a squat position,
bending my knees, lowering my butt down towards the floor.
The more that we do this, the more that you're going to feel
a good stretch happen into the upper back. Once we feel that,
what we're going to do is then allow our chest right here to
go right towards the door. So, just let it sag forward and
this right here will really open up the back and you should
really feel it starting to straighten the upper back also.
You want to hold this position right here for roughly 30
seconds, but if it feels good, hold it for longer. The longer
that you hold the more it's just going to open up the back
and hopefully start to stretch everything out. Try to do nice,
slow, controlled breathing also. Let the tension out. The
more you relax, the better this exercise will work. When you
need a breather, just come back up. On the next repetition,
challenge yourself. So, what I'm going to do is just try to
stretch more into it. Squat down a little bit more and then
lean forward into it to really hit and focus over that spot of
that back hump. You want to do this for 3-5 complete
repetitions. How you can take this one to the next is instead
of going straight out with it, go a little bit off to the side
and then repeat that same exercise. You'll notice that it
hits the back just a little bit differently. So, experiment
with going all the way towards the left. Experiment with going
all the way towards the right. If you feel that one certain
spot, one certain motion hits that spot just a little bit
more. Focus on that and then just throw more repetitions in.
So, without a doubt, if we want to get rid of a kyphotic curve
in the upper back, we have to focus on strengthening
everything in the upper back and neck and also focus on
improving our posture. Here is a very easy exercise that I
would recommend doing first thing in the morning and before
you go to bed. You can do this one right in bed. I'm going to
start off on my stomach and slide forward to the point
where my shoulders, my head are going to be off the edge of
that bed. I'm going to go over four different movements that
are going to put a lot of motion into the upper back and
focus on engaging a lot of muscles in a short amount of
time. I'm going to hold all of the positions for three to 5
seconds and do this for about 10 to 15 repetitions with the
repetitions on each repetition try to build more into it
engage those muscles and focus over the area of that kyphotic
curve in the upper back challenge yourself with each
repetition so what I'm going to do is start off by focusing a
little bit more into my neck let's take two fingers put them
on the chin and do a slight chin tuck from there I'm going
to raise my head up towards the ceiling so I'm really driving
the head up towards the ceiling to put it to a retracted
stance. You should feel a lot of muscles into the neck start
to engage. During this exercise, we want to hold this
neck retracted stance so we can really focus on improving that
forward head leaning posture. So, with the first movement,
I'm going to straighten my elbows like this, make this,
put my arms off to my side. I'm going to again, lift the head
up and then I'm going to lift my arms up towards the ceiling
as much as I can. You'll feel a lot fire in the upper back
between the shoulder blades in the shoulders cells and also
the neck. Again, three to 5 second holds. We're from there
we're just going to relax and then repeat this 10 to 15
times. The second movement we're going to take our arms
out like this and then just repeat. When you do this,
you're going to notice that it hits the muscles just a little
bit differently. So, go through that motion and then I'm going
to go into the third one with a hitchhiker sign with my thumbs
up towards the ceiling and then I repeat. I really like this
one because it really fires into the upper back. The last
movement what we're going to do is known as a flooring so I'm
just going to slide forward just a little bit more drape
the arms off like this I'm going to bend my elbows roughly
at 90 degrees. Let's wing the elbows up as much as we can
towards the ceiling till we feel the muscles in the upper
back engage from there I'm going to lift my arms up like
this from there I'm going to lift those elbows up as much as
we can really focus on trying to open up the chest and pinch
those shoulder blades together from there I'm going to just
put my arms out in front of me just like this to the point
where they're going to be able to and then I slowly come back
down just like this and then just repeat that one again for
about 10 to 15 repetitions, but all of those movements together
really fire a lot of muscles that will help improve posture
and hopefully lessen that back hump. So, here is a great upper
back strengthening exercise that you can do at home or at
work. It's known as a shoulder blade lift off and we just need
a door or a wall. To start off with, what I'm going to do is
just lean up against a door or a wall. So, my lower back to my
upper back is flush against it. My feet are going to go
together and just put them slightly in front of you so
your body is tilted or leaning into the store. From there, I'm
going to take two fingers, put them on my chin, and do a chin
tuck. Bring the chin down towards the chest as much as
you can. I'm going to bend my elbows roughly at 90 degrees and
then place them off to my side. The movement is very easy. What
I'm doing is pressing into the door with my elbows which will
cause my whole body to lift forward. So, what I'm focusing
on doing is lifting my whole body forward as much as I can.
What you'll notice is the muscles in the chest get
activated in between the shoulder blades and upper back.
Really focus on feeling that. You want to hold this one
comfortably for five seconds. From there, you're just going
to relax and take a breather. How we're going to take this
one to the next level is we're going to scoot our feet just a
little bit more forward. The more tilt that we have going,
the more challenging this exercise will become. So, let's
repeat this. It just feels a little bit harder to do now
with this extra tilt so I keep repeating that process holding
for about five seconds and then going forward just a little bit
more with my feet you're going to notice that you hit a point
where it becomes extremely challenging and that's where
we're going to stop and at that point we want to throw in about
10 repetitions of five second holds. With this exercise, keep
progressing as much as you can over the course of days you'll
find that it becomes a lot easier but just challenge
yourself by increasing that lean and focusing on really
trying to activate those muscles which will hopefully
lead to less kyphosis or that back curve in the upper back in
the future. If the exercises helped, please support the
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