One of the areas that tends to contract more often is the upper back. Shoulder blades, cervicals, shoulders … all of this tense and contract, especially if you spend a large part of the day sitting, carrying out office work. For watch your back and your posture, in addition to releasing tension and stress or reducing pain, it is recommended perform stretching mild daily. You want to know more?
Then, the following article that we have prepared on OneHowTo.com is perfect for you as you will discover how to stretch your upper back. Preparing an exercise program and a daily workout will help you improve the health of your back, avoid contractures and feel more relaxed. Prepared?
Steps to follow:
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The program of stretches for the upper back It must have varied and focused exercises in the different areas of that area. Extensions, rotations, shoulder blade exercises and stretches will be essential to relax the back and improve its condition.
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to get started stretch your backeither standing or sitting. It’s easy to do it: try to get your back straight without any bending or curvature. You can help yourself with your arms, stretching them up as if you were trying to touch the ceiling with your fingertips. This is a good stretch that can be done anywhere, the important thing is to keep your back straight.
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Shoulder blade exercise is also a good option for stretch the upper back. It consists of relaxing the shoulder blades and bringing them together little by little, very slowly, and then return to the starting position. You will see that, with this movement, your chest is pushed forward, since you will be stretching the muscles of the back. Repeating this exercise in numerous sets will help you loosen your upper back and relax your muscles.
Watch out! When performing shoulder blade exercises, you should avoid making a common mistake: raising your shoulders. This movement will not help you release the tension in your muscles, on the contrary, it will increase the contraction of your muscles.
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To do rotation and extension exercises you must know the valid starting position for any of them. Sit in a chair that has a fairly stiff back and support the floor completely with the soles of your feet. In this position, you should keep both your back and your head upright and your arms relaxed on both sides of your body. Once you get this position you can start the extension or rotation of the upper back.
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One of the most common exercises for stretching is arch your back back, to such an extent that your head looks at the ceiling. To perform this extension, it is advisable to place your hands behind the nape to support it as you arch your back. In this position you should hold about 10 seconds to return to the starting position. Rest for a short period of time and repeat the movement up to 5 times. You will notice the relaxation!
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As we have said, rotation is important for stretch the upper back. Place your hands crossed on your chest and turn your torso to the right and left, holding for 10 seconds on both sides. This rotation exercise should be repeated up to 5 times on each side.
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A variant of the above rotation is the torso bending It should be done slowly. Place your hands on the back of your neck and slowly bend your body to the left and right. To know that you are doing the exercise correctly, make sure that your elbow is pointing completely towards the ground on the side on which you are flexing. Remember to hold up to 10 seconds in this position and then flex your body to the other side. Perform 5 reps per side.
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The lateral neck push-ups they are also a great exercise for stretching your upper back. Start with the starting position (back and head upright, feet on the floor and arms relaxed on both sides). If you have a medicine ball, feel free to sit on it to perform this exercise. Stretch the trapezius by laterally flexing your neck to the left and right. Hold the position for two seconds to rotate and flex your neck to the other side.
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To stretch the scapula, a muscle found in the upper back, you will need to slowly rotate the head down, that is, that your gaze is focused on the lower part of the shirt you are wearing. You should hold the position for a couple of seconds and then return to the starting position (head upright) before turning your head to the other side.
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To end your stretching session, you should stretch your back by leaning completely back. If you have a medicine ball, this exercise will be much easier since you must hold in this position for 8 to 10 seconds. After this time, get up little by little until you are fully seated again with your back straight.
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Remember that to avoid suffering back pain, relieve tension and reduce the risk of contractures in the high back you should do these stretches frequently. Think that it is a delicate area that tends to be easily stressed, especially if you do office work in which you spend most of the day sitting. If you suffer from chronic upper back pain, moderate sports such as yoga are recommended.
In this other OneHowTo article we will show you, in general, the best exercises to avoid back pain.
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