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When you don’t pay attention to your posture, you invite in chronic back pain. The hours we spend sitting in front of a computer with a rounded lower back, or standing with a stooped over upper back, or lifting with poor posture, can all result in discomfort and pain.
Maybe you start your workday off with attention to your posture. But how long do you maintain it? How long before you’re fully caught up in your work and slip into bad posture without even noticing it?
Prevent posture-related pain by taking regular breaks during the day to move and stretch.
These three stretches can help you improve your posture:
Wall slide
- Stand with your head, back, and buttocks against a wall. Maintain a slight bend in your knees.
- Place your arms with elbows bent at 90 degrees against the wall, so your upper arms are parallel to the floor and your shoulders elbows, and wrists are touching the wall.
- Breathe normally during the full movement.
- Keeping your entire body in contact with the wall, slowly slide your arms upward along the wall, forming a letter “Y”, hold for 3 seconds, and slowly return to the starting position.
- Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions.
Scapula retraction
- Lie on the floor on your stomach, face down with your arms overhead, elbows bent, and thumbs pointing upward.
- Breathe normally during the full movement.
- Slowly raise your elbows and hands off the surface while pulling your shoulder blades together and downward – don’t shrug your shoulders -, hold for 1 – 2 seconds, and slowly return to the starting position.
- Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions.
Shoulders backward rotation with retraction
Stand or sit with a straight spine.
- Roll your shoulders upward and backward and then squeeze both your shoulder blades together, hold for 3 seconds.
- Roll back to starting position.
- Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions.
