Instantly Improve Your Posture With These 10 Stretches
We all remember being told as kids to "sit-up straight". Like most times, mom was right! As we age, something happens to our posture. It changes, and unfortunately not for the better.
For a variety of reasons our posture begins to shift.
This is due to:
Increased sitting
Increased stress
Decreased daily movement
Decreased flexibility
Imbalanced exercise programs
Yes, these factors all play into those stubborn shoulders rolling forward and your height appearing to shrink.
The biggest factor though is getting stuck in certain positions for extended periods of time. We all feel the effects of this right now as many of us are now working from home.
When we spend too much time in certain positions like sitting or on our computer, muscles like our chest and neck become dominant as they shorten and stiffen. This pulls our shoulders forward and rounds our upper back into that unfavorable posture. At the same time, certain muscles like the ones between our shoulder blades are lengthened and weaken. These muscles are responsible for pulling your shoulders back but they start to lose the battle. This places stress on the front of our shoulders and neck instead.
This same battle happens at our hips. As we sit for extended periods of time, the muscles in front of our hips shorten and stiffen. At the same time our abs, glutes, and hamstring (back of your legs) weaken and lengthen. This tips our pelvis forward and increases pressure and strain on our hips and low-back.
Not only does that change our appearance but it can have a real impact on our performance, injury risk, and pain. This shift in posture can cause wear and tear on our joints, increases in muscular and joint stiffness and pain, and decrease our overall strength and workout performance.
The good news is we can be both proactive in not allowing our posture to shift as well as reactive in bringing your posture back into a better position through stretching and strengthening the right areas.
The first and most important step is to be aware of your posture throughout the day. Say you complete the 10 exercises below everyday of the week but continue to spend hours in a stiff, seated position... not much change to your posture is going to happen.
The best posture is the one that is always changing. We want to avoid our muscles and posture being stuck in one position for longer than 10 minutes. If you are planning on sitting for an extended period of time, set a timer for every 10 minutes. That is your cue to get up, move a bit, or change your position to avoid muscular stiffness and unfavorable changes to your posture.
Now, it's time for your stretches.
Aim to do each movement daily. You can do these throughout the day or as part of your workout warm-up or cool-down from home.
As you start, you will notice you are stiff or restricted in certain exercises or positions. That is okay. Each drill should provide a stretch or feel like you're working the muscles but not produce pain. If you feel pain, simply back off a little bit and reduce the range-of-motion.
Finally, remember to exhale through tension. Anytime you feel a stretch, breathe through it with a SLOW exhale. This will relax your muscles, joints, and body and allow for a better stretch. Holding your breath will cause you to tense up and make you more stiff. That is the opposite of what we want.
Your stretches are all shown in the video below. You will also find your written step-by-step descriptions of how to complete each exercise below!
Enjoy!
1| Cat / Camel
This is a fantastic drill to start with as it loosens your entire body and helps decrease stiffness at your hips, spine, shoulder, and neck. This helps warm up as well as promotes blood flow to these areas allowing you to get the most out of each exercise. It also helps to loosen areas that cause poor posture like your neck and low-back. Focus on a long, slow exhale at each cat and camel position.
Key Points:
Start with hands under shoulders and knees under hips
Round back as far as you can by pressing through your hands and reaching chest away from floor
Relax head down and exhale
Slowly reverse that position, moving vertebrae by vertebrae into arched back position
Bring your head up and exhale
Complete 10 repetitions
2| Split-Stance Stretch with Lateral Reach
This is one of our favorite stretches at DSC. It is fantastic for improving posture by stretching your commonly tight hips, shoulders, and chest. Ease into this one with deep exhales.
Key Points:
Start with hands under shoulders and knees under hips
Take right leg out to the side so leg is straight and right foot is flat and pointed straight ahead
Keeping chest tall slide hips back toward heel
Hold that position and walk hands to the right foot while keeping arms straight
Hold position for 3-5 exhales and complete 3-5 repetitions per side
3| Arm Thread to Sky Bow
The arm thread to sky bow is one of the best posture improving exercises going. It loosens stiff chest and shoulder muscles, allowing you to get your shoulders back.
Key Points:
Start with hands under shoulders and knees under hips
Soften both elbows to start
With palm up, thread right arm under left arm and drop right ear to floor
Pause, reach, and exhale
Come back up, leading with the right elbow and reach right fingers to the sky
Pause and exhale
Complete 5-10 controlled repetitions per side
4| Down Dog to Pigeon
The down dog to pigeon is a fantastic total-body posture improving stretch that targets your hamstrings, calves, hips, low-back, and shoulders. Make sure to move slow throughout and own each position.
Key Points:
Start in push-up position with hands under shoulders
Push your hips as high as you can and heels flat as possible
Feel stretch in back of heel and calf and exhale
Come back to push-up position and swing right knee behind right wrist
Your right knee and right shin should be on the floor as well as back knee
Feel a stretch in right hip, lift chest proud, and exhale
Repeat sequence and move to left side
Complete 5-10 repetitions per side
5| Kneeling Mountain Climber Stretch with Rotation
This is our favorite hip opening drill that works to combat the effects of sitting. The rotation at the top of each rep is key for also improving upper body posture.
Key Points:
Start on floor with hands under shoulders and knees behind hips
Take right foot up and outside right hand
Right foot should be flat and pointed straight ahead
Press through your hands and drive chest tall
Think about sliding belt buckle forward and rotate shoulder and eye to the right
Pause and slowly exhale
Bring knees back together and complete same sequence on left side
Complete 5-10 repetitions per side
6| Side-Lying Open Book
The side-lying open book is our favorite upper body posture opener. It targets the most commonly stiff area of your shoulders -- your chest muscles. Overly tight chest muscles pull your shoulders forward and round your upper back. The open book is fantastic for loosening that area.
Key Points:
Start lying on right side with knees bent up at chest level
Start with arms out in front of you with left hand on right
Reach left arm forward and then slowly open left arm like a book
Keep knees and right arm still as you open
Allow your head and eyes to rotate and follow left hand
Go as far as you can keeping knees still, pause and exhale
You should feel a nice chest stretch
Complete 5-10 repetitions per side
7| Wall Hip Circles
Now that those hips are loose, it's time to strengthen them. Too much stiffness and sitting causes them to weaken. Once we have stretched those hips we need to strengthen them so we hold our new posture. Think of adding strength like hitting save on your computer. It keeps your new flexibility in place.
Key Points:
Start tall about 1-2 feet from wall
Place right hand on wall for support
Think of getting your posture as tall as possible
Start by lifting left knee as high as possible and pause
From there open left knee like a book without losing posture
Let the left knee rotate down and left foot up like you're going up and over a hurdle
Think of creating a big circle
You should feel that hip working hard
Reverse your direction on the way back
Complete 3-5 slow repetitions per side
8| Row and Reach
The row and reach is another awesome upper-body posture improving exercise. It allows for both a great stretch and helps strengthen the very important muscles that pull your shoulders back.
Key Points:
Start tall with feet right under hips
Bring hands out front and pretend you're squeezing two dumbbells
Inhale and pull elbows straight back
Squeeze shoulder blades together and lift chest proud
Reach hands out front and interlock fingers
Drive your chest away from your hands and exhale slowly
Feel a nice stretch between your shoulder blades
Complete 5-10 slow repetitions
9| Standing Swimmers
The standing swimmer is one the best exercises for strengthening the muscles between your shoulder blades. These muscles are responsible for pulling your shoulders back and stop them from getting weak from too much sitting. This one is tough, especially for those with stiff shoulders, so ease into it.
Key Points:
Start tall with feet under hips
Start with hands behind your head
Your first step is to squeeze shoulder blades together and pull elbows back
From there lift hands off head and slowly reach hands high
Try to keep hands behind your body as you lower hands
Keep shoulder blades pinched together
Exhale slowly throughout the motion
Bring hands to low back and reverse motion
Complete 5-10 repetitions
10| Standing Lateral Neck Stretch
We all know that stiff neck feeling. This only gets worse the more we sit, work on our computers, and get stuck in one position for extended periods of time. Enter the lateral neck stretch, perfect for decreasing that stiff neck.
Key Points:
Start tall with feet under your hips
Keeping chest proud and palms forward, reach long through your finger tips
Keep shoulders down away from ears
Drop ear toward shoulder and exhale
Keep reaching long through your finger tips
Complete 5-10 repetitions per side