You are sitting at your computer desk, being sucked in toward the screen, caught in a trance, inching closer and closer in deep concentration. Your body is hovering over the keyboard, shoulders rounding forward, head moving forward, eyes squinting… and before you know it, you are stuck. If someone took a picture of you at that moment you would look ridiculous.

Look:

We have all been there. We are suckers for getting caught up in what I call an “office slump”. As a result of this slump we remain in for hours and hours a day, our bodies take a toll and the pain begins. As a physical therapist, I see it all the time. Patients complain of neck tension, mid-back pain, low back pain, leg pain, and/or headaches. The good news is, you can reverse these effects by fixing the cause of the pain: your posture.

The first step is making sure you have a good ergonomic set-up at your office desk. Many companies are willing to bring in someone to assess this for you. In addition to fixing your desk set-up, I recommend you set an alarm to go off a couple times a day as a reminder to take a five minute stretch break. Stretching the muscles that are more prone to shortening and tensing up while in that “slump” will help prevent or alleviate symptoms and improve your posture.

Next, let’s take a look at how to fix poor posture. Most of use get very tight in the front (chest, hip flexors) and weak in the back (back, glutes). So we therefore have muscle imbalances that may make us more prone to injury and pain.

So what needs to be done?

#1 Stretch the tight muscles

#2 Strengthen the weak muscles

So I have compiled two separate workouts to improve your posture! One is a home workout based with no equipment needed. So I recommend you do them every morning and night at home. Should take under 5 minutes! The second is a gym workout I recommend you perform 1-2x/week.

In addition to these, try to be more aware of your posture throughout the day. Keep those shoulder blades pulled down into your back pockets. And keep your head back in line with your torso.

Try them out and let me know what you think by commenting below!

WORKOUT #1 FOR HOME

1. Neck stretch- 2x30seconds
2. Chest stretch- 2x30seconds each arm
3. Chin tuck with head lift- 20x3second hold
4. Prayer stretch- 30seconds to each side
5. Pivot prone aka Snow Angels- 20x
6. Supermans- 20x
7. Bow and arrow- 15x to each side
8. Bridges- 20x
9. Plank- 2x30second holds
10. Roll Up- 20x slowly with spine articulation

WORKOUT #2 FOR THE GYM

1. Lat Pull Downs (wide grip) 4 sets of 7-10
2. Prone IYT’s 3 sets of 15 each
3. Plank One Arm Row 3 sets of 10 each arm
4. Decline Roll Overs 4 sets of 8-12
5. Ab Scissors 4 sets of 20
6. Cable Kneeling Bar Pull Downs with Lean Back 4 sets of 7-10
7. Snow Angels (pec stretch) 20x

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