Improve Your Posture with 5 Simple Exercises

Besides neck and back pain, several researchers have found other issues that may arise from a bad posture. Poor body balance, breathing difficulties, headaches, and even heartburn may also be the consequences of slumping on your seat. That is why doctors always recommend practicing special exercises, which can help you to reduce back pain, improve posture, and even help to avoid all of these problems.

Over some time, these bad postures cause aches in your body. But the good news here is that you can perform some simple Posture exercises to manage your pain as well as improve your posture.

Here are the five exercises that can help improve your posture:

Open shoulders

Put your feet apart from shoulder-width, arms must be straight down along with the body, and your back also needs to be straight. Raise your arms to the sides and open up your chest. Begin by switching your arms in the front direction (one on the top of the other). Your left hand should go to the right and your right hand should go to the left so that your elbows could meet. You need to feel your working shoulder blades.

Repeat crossing of your arms for 40 seconds to 1 minute.

Wing fly up

Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, then bend your legs slightly towards the knees, and lean-to forward. Your back must be flat. keep your head straight looking at the floor.

Lift your arms to the sides and bend them to your elbows. Squeeze your shoulder blades. Now bring up your hands in the front direction of your chest. Repeat squeezing your shoulder blades as if you are flying for 40 seconds to 1 minute.

Doorway Stretch

Position your hands and elbows evenly with a door frame. Step through the door slowly, until you could feel a stretch. Hold this position for 25 to 30 seconds before returning to the beginning position. Repeat this stretch 3 times.

Standing Pull-Apart (Using Resistance Bands)

Start standing with a good posture. Hold a resistance band (level of resistance you could use depends on the individual strength level) with both hands, keep your elbows straight, and place your arms in front of you. At the time of keeping your elbows locked, gently move your arms back behind your body. You should feel the muscles around your shoulder blades.

Only go up to as far as comfortable. Some muscle discomfort (burning) is fine, but the pain in the neck or the arms is not. Avoid the shrugging of your shoulders toward your ears. Repeat 3×10, gradually increasing to 4×10.

By the time you reach repetition number 9, 10, 11, this must be challenging. If it is not, you need to increase the level of band resistance.

Planks

Begin by lying on your stomach with the forearms opposing the mat. Engage your core by lifting your body, so that you could rest on your toes and forearms. Hold this plank position for 10 seconds. Aim for 5 to 8 repetitions of this exercise. When you are ready, just increase the time you could hold the plank in 10-second increments and increase the intensity.

Throughout the entire exercise, ensure to keep your back straight. You are supposed to work on your posture every day, even at the time of watching TV. You can use a simple trick: Just keep a rolled towel behind your shoulders. Just try to sit up straight and don’t let the towel fall.

With these easy exercises, you may see improvements in your posture. Those who had been having backaches because of their ill posture will also feel the difference. However, if you could still feel back pain even after following these 5 exercises, you must consult a physiotherapist for extensive treatment as well as Physiotherapy for Posture Correction.

Ask us any question or get a consultation now to experience the best Manual therapy and massage therapy in Ottawa at Care2Cure Physiotherapy & Rehab Centre.

CALL: 613-695-7733(Prince) / 613-440-6600(Barrhaven)