Exercises to improve desk posture. Keep your shoulders back.

In the previous blog ‘how to sit at a desk to reduce back ache’, information on the correct posture and body position was provided. This blog will provide you with two exercises that help improve desk posture. These exercises are:

Prone lateral raise
Scapula wall slides

Why these exercises?

Each of these exercises focus on the rhomboid muscles (major and minor). Both Rhomboid muscles work to perform scapula (shoulder blade) retraction (a fancy way of saying they pull your shoulders back). As the rhomboids are attached between the shoulder blades (the two big bones at the top of the back on each side) and the spine, their contraction pulls each shoulder blade towards the spine.

Where are the rhomboids located?

Rhomboid major is attached to both the lower/inner portion of the shoulder blade, and the spine. Rhomboid minor is located just above this. They are deep to the practitioners fingertips in the associated images.

Prone lateral raise.

Lie on your stomach on a matt or a bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your feet shoulder width apart.
Keep your arms straight out to the side (perpendicular to the body) with your palms facing away from your feet. Rest your hands on the floor. This is your starting position.
Lift your arms off the floor until your elbows are parallel to the floor. Once here, squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold a count for one second. Make sure only your arms lift and not any other body part.
Inhale and then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Scapular wall slides.

Lean up against a wall. Tilt your pelvis so that your head, back and bum are all pressing against the wall.
Slightly bend the knees so that they are not locked.
Extend your arms straight above you with the palms facing away from the wall. This is your starting position.
Keeping the chest open and the back tall, pinch your shoulder blades together as you slide your arms down towards your shoulders. Keep your hands, wrists and elbows pressed against the wall.
End when your shoulders are slightly lower than shoulder height.

A thank you note…

Finally, Pinnacle Posture thanks you for reading this blog post. We hoped you enjoyed it. Importantly, please share it via social media and direct it to those that it may help. After all, a reduction in pain, a chance to continue in a sport or even an eased concern can change someone’s world.