There are lots of reasons why your shoulders may slouch forward, from sitting at your desk for a long time to weak core muscles. It can also happen when regularly carrying heavy things, which was the case for yoga, dance and Pilates teacher Vanessa Michielon, who noticed pain creeping into her shoulders and changes to her posture after giving birth to her first child.
“Carrying my baby has left me with a rounded upper back, slouched shoulders and a pain between my shoulder blades,” says Michielon.
Michielon, who is a yoga and dance lecturer, and founder of the Transformative Movement Method, turned to back extension exercises to improve her posture and strengthen her upper back.
“Adding these exercises into my routine has been a game-changer for balancing things out,” says Michielon. “Opening the chest and strengthening the back also support better breathing as it helps alleviate tension in the upper body, which can restrict our ability to take deep breaths.”
Michielon’s “game-changing” routine can be done in less than five minutes, all you need is a yoga mat to get started.
How to do Vanessa Michielon's back extension workout
1. Back extension with cactus arms
“This exercise engages the erector spinae and rhomboids, muscles that help counteract the forward pull from working at the desk or holding a baby, allowing us to stand tall and feel more balanced,” says Michielon.
“Pulling the elbows down towards the side of the chest engages the lats and helps find extra length in the neck.”
How to do it:
- Lying on your front, raise your chest off the mat and extend your arms out in front of you with your palms facing down.
- Bend your elbows and smoothly move them elbows to your ribs.
- Extend your arms forward again in a sweeping movement, turning our palms to face up.
- Repeat five times.
2. Back extension with straight arms swiping
“This version is even more challenging to control as it requires shoulder strength and mobility in all directions,” says Michielon.
How to do it:
- Still lying on your front with your chest raised, extend your arms out to the sides.
- Keeping your arms straight, sweep your arms forward in front of you.
- Repeat five times.
3. Locust pose hold
“Lifting both your chest and legs with your glutes and back muscles improves spinal flexibility and creates strength throughout the entire posterior chain,” says Michielon. “Interlocking the fingers behind your back and lifting your arms helps stretch the pectoral muscles even further, too.”
How to do it:
- Still lying on your front with your chest raised, interlock your hands behind your back.
- Try to lift your chest further off the ground, with your hands interlocked, and raise your legs.
- Hold for a few seconds, then lower your legs and chest.
- Repeat five times.
- To make it easier, just lift your chest and leave your legs on the floor.
