This video, we're going to go over how to self correct whole
back posture using no equipment. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go
over some great full back posture exercises that will
help improve bad posture and also maintain good posture.
These are meant to be done as daily mobility exercises. All
of these exercises hit the back just a little bit differently.
Go through them all. Take what works best for you. As a bonus,
they can all be done at home and do not require any
equipment and may give quick back pain relief caused from
bad back posture. So, let's get started and fix that bad
posture right now. So, here is a great daily posture exercise
that you can do first thing in the morning or before you go to
bed. I call this the bed back builder. Very easy to do. We're
going to start off on our stomach and we're going to
slide forward til our shoulders and head are off the edge of a
bed. This exercise has four different dynamic movements in
it that are really going to help strengthen the muscles
that hold us upright and hopefully will improve posture.
So, let's start off shoulders and head off the edge of that
bed. I'm going to do a simple neck retraction to put our neck
into better posture. Take two fingers, put them on the chin,
and drive the whole head up towards the ceiling. You should
really feel the muscles in the neck start to activate. You're
going to hold this position throughout the exercise. So,
with the first movement, I'm going to take my arms
straighten em, overlap my hands just like this and put them on
the small of the lower back. We want to wing the elbows up
towards the ceiling as much as we can. You'll feel a very good
activation of the muscles in the shoulder blades up back
into the neck themselves so really focus on feeling that
you want to hold this for about five seconds but if you want
more of a challenge you can hold this for a little bit
longer 1015 seconds if you'd like the next movement what I'm
going to do is straight my arms at the elbow and put my arms
roughly 45 degrees towards my side from there I'm going to
lift my arms up my fist towards the ceiling when you do this
you're going to feel the muscles in the back just get
activated a little bit differently again five second
holds from there I'm going to turn hands and then point my
arms 90 degrees straight away from the body. Let's make a
hitchhiker sign just like this and then lift our hands up
towards the ceiling again. Again, you'll feel the muscles
in the upper back just get hit a little bit differently.
Five-second hold. From there, we're going to take our arms in
front of us so they're pointed roughly 45 degrees and do the
same thing. Lift the arms up towards the ceiling as much as
we can to activate those muscles, five seconds. With the
last part, I'm going to take my hands, place them on the back
of the head. We're really going lift the head up as much as we
can and then wean the elbows up and then we're going to lift
our chest as much as we can off the edge of that bed you want
to hold this one for five seconds really focusing on
feeling it into the neck and upper back from there you can
take a breather but we want to go in reverse at this point so
I'm going to go like this like this taking my arms towards the
side and then just start where we begin with but you want to
do this nice and slowly for about 3 to five complete
repetition and with each repetition, challenge yourself
by lifting the arms up just a little bit more to help
strengthen those muscles and improve your posture. So, here
is a wonderful exercise that's going to focus on full back
posture. We just need a flat elevated surface like a chair.
You can also use the edge of a desk or a bed. I'm also going
to start off on my knees. So, make sure to put a pillow or
towel underneath it for extra comfort. Let's go up to that
flat surface. What I'm going to do is bend my elbows like this.
Place the backside of arms, the tricep flat against the surface
for a stable anchor point. My hands are going to go right on
my upper back over my shoulders like this. Let's do a simple
chin tuck also that is taking the chin down towards the chest
as much as we can. The movement from here is very easy. Let's
start off with what is known as a back opener. So, I'm just
going to as a whole body movement pretty much from my
upper back to my lower back. I'm moving my butt down towards
my heels. The more that you go down, the more that you're
going to feel it really open into upper back all the way
down to the tailbone. It usually feels really good.
Focus on trying to stretch into this as much as you can. Once
we hit a very comfortable stretch, let's hold this one
for about 20 to 30 seconds Do nice, slow, controlled
breathing also. Let that tension out. When you need a
breather, just relax by coming back up like this. On the next
repetition, try to stretch into it just a little bit more and
as a note, you get a little bit better results. If you focus on
just letting the chest right here, sag forward down towards
the floor. Really try to open up the upper back much as you
can. How we're going to take this one to the next level is
incorporating a little bit more thoracic rotation into it and
strengthening the upper back. What I'm going to do is just
lift one elbow up and then wing it up towards the ceiling.
Pretty much from my lower back to my upper back is rotating or
turning up towards the ceiling. You're going to feel a lot of
muscles activate into the upper back. You want to hold this one
for about five to 10 seconds. From there, you're just going
to relax, take a breather, and just do this one on the other
side. Do this for about 10 repetition on both sides.
Again, challenging yourself with each repetition more into
it and hopefully strengthen those muscles and improve
posture and the last part, let's focus a little bit more
into the lower back with a wonderful exercise known as a
bird dog. So, what I'm going to do is put my fist together like
this. I should say my hands together and create a V with my
arms. I'm going to use that to stabilize my upper body just
like this. Let's do that chin tuck. The movement from here is
very easy. My knees are bent roughly at 90 degrees I'm
going to straighten one leg away from me like this. So, my
knee is straight, my toes are pointed away from me. You
should start to feel an initial stretch or I should say
activation of the muscles in the back of the leg and also
the glute. Once we feel that, what we want to do is take that
straight leg and slowly raise it up until you feel a really
good amount of activation into the core muscles, the lower
back, glute buttocks, and legs. You should really feel this one
into the core. Strengthening the core is one of the best
things that you can do to improve pelvic and lower back
posture. Hold this one for about five to 10 seconds.
Relax, take a breather, and then just simply repeat it on
the other side. You want to do this one nice and slowly for
about 10 to 15 repetitions on both sides. Again, with each
repetition, try to build more into it to hopefully strengthen
the lower back and improve posture. An overlook cause of
bad rounded back and shoulder posture is because of tight
chest muscles that draw us forward. Here is a great
two-part exercise that's going to help reduce a lot of chest
tightness while also helping to strengthen the upper back. In
the first part, we're going to do a basic chest opener. I like
to start off by doing a neck retraction. Take two fingers,
place them on the chin, draw the chin and head backwards
until you feel a very good activation of the muscles into
the neck. From there, we're going to go to a corner of a
wall. Bend your elbows like this at about 90 degrees. Put
your feet together and then just stabilize off to the side
of the corner right here with your arms and forward with your
body weight. The more that you lean forward, the more that
you're going to feel a very great stretch into the chest
but you'll also feel the shoulder blades in the back
start to pinch together. Focus on feeling that. Once you hit a
very deep but comfortable stretch, let's hold this one
for 20 to 30 seconds. From there, you're just going to
relax, take a breather, and then repeat this one three to
five times. With each repetition, stretch into it
just a little bit more to get a little bit better stretch and
hopefully loosen those chest muscles up. I also like to
experiment with just doing a little bit different motions
and so instead of going with a field goal position, I'm going
to make a Y position with my arms and then just simply
repeat this exercise. You'll notice that the muscles get hit
just a little bit differently. For me, it's a little bit more
on the top part of the chest. I'll also do a W with my arms
and do the same thing. Go through those three movements.
Whatever one that you feel just hits your tightness a little
bit better, throw more reps in at that point and the second
part, we're going to do a little bit more the upper back
even more so in between the shoulder blades. This is known
as a shoulder blade lift off. We can do this one next to a
door or a wall. I'm going to put my feet together, space
them away from that door or the wall so my legs are straight
but my body is angled towards that door or the wall and we
can press into it with our feet and legs. We want to position
our body to the point where our hips through the back of the
head are flush against that door or the wall. Let's do a
slight chin tuck also for better posture. From there, I'm
bend my elbows at 90 degrees, put them off to my side, and
press into the door until I feel an initial tension into my
upper back. The movement from here is very easy. We're going
to press into the door with our elbows, with our arm strength
to lift our body forward. Our whole body is going to lift
off. So, we're not trying to round our back forward to lift
it off but use our arm strength to activate those muscles into
the back to press forward. I feel a lot firing. You're
going to feel it into the chest, the shoulders, upper,
back. It's a wonderful exercise but you want to hold this one
for about five seconds. From there, you're just going to
relax, take a breather, and then repeat this 10 to 15
times. With each repetition, try to drive yourself forward
even more. Challenge those muscles to strengthen them and
hopefully lead to better overall posture. This exercise
is what I'd like to call Doctor Rose Super Posture Bridge. I'm
going to take one of the best lower back and pelvic postural
exercises, the glute bridge, modify it, and a twist to it to
focus on the full back. You can do this one in bed or on the
floor. I would recommend rolling up a large bath towel
for this one because it'll help open up the chest a little bit
more making this exercise more efficient. Let's start off on
our back. Let's position that towel to run lengthwise in
between our shoulder blades and pretty much run from the upper
back to the middle back. Just rest your head down like this.
In the first part, I want to identify weakness in the lower
back to pretty much Optima the pelvic bridge. I'm going to
bend my knees, keep my feet flat. Let's start with the
heels pretty close to the back of the legs. Hands go right on
the hips. The pelvic bridge is very easy. We're just going to
lift our hips, our pelvis up towards the ceiling to achieve
a nice straight line from the knees to the hips to the
shoulders. If you do have weakness and you're not able to
go up all the way, do the best you can. Over time, hopefully,
you'll build strength and be able to get that nice straight
line. You should feel an activation of the muscles into
the back the hamstrings across the pelvis and hips, lower
back, and also the stomach. You want to hold this one for about
five to 10 seconds. From there, you're just going to relax.
What we want to do from there is just move our feet a little
bit further away from us and repeat this exercise. When you
do this, you're going to notice that muscles get hit just a
little bit differently. This time around, I feel it more
into the back of the legs, the hamstrings. The further that I
go away still, the more I'll start to feel it into the glute
but go different foot placements. Let's say this one
right here, I just struggle the most with. I have the most
amount of weakness with it. That's where we want to stop
and throw more repetitions in. You want to identify
weaknesses, throw reps in, build strength because that can
help improve lower back and pelvic posture. How we're going
to add the twist into this exercise and take it to the
next level to focus on the full back is we're going to
incorporate a little bit more movements, dynamic movements to
target the upper back. So, let's get back into our optimal
bridge positioning and then what I'm going to do is
straighten my arms like this straight at the elbow and then
my palms are going to be facing down towards the better of the
floor and I'm going to slowly raise my arms up towards the
ceiling and then away from me just like this. So, my palms
are up towards the ceiling in the final position. Really try
to take your elbows in the backside of your hands right
here down towards the floor. You should feel the chest
starting to open up in a lot firing into the upper back.
Hold this for about five to 10 seconds. From there, you're
just going to take a breather and then you're just going to
simply repeat this up to 10 to 15 times. With each repetition,
always challenge yourself to stretch more into it to
activate those muscles. If you want to take this one to even
the next next level, let's get back into that bridge position
but this time around, I'm going to do a floor angel. So, I'm
going to take my arms, bend them at 90 degrees at the
elbows like this kind of like a field goal position. We're
going to wing our elbows down as much as we can. Again, feel
a very good stretch into the chest and also pinch those
shoulder blades over that towel. From there, I'm just
going to slowly raise my arms overhead while keeping my
elbows down until my hands can start to overlap and clap. Hold
this for about a second and then just slowly come back
down. From there, take a breather and then do this one
for about 10 repetitions, but go through all of these motions
and into em until you can get to the floor angel exercise and
I really do hope that that gives you very quick posture
improvement. If the exercises help, please support the
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