Do you know that most people who suffer from back pain are the victims of poor posture? Thanks to our hectic lifestyle and stressful professional commitments, we rarely get time to exercise or perform any de-stressing activities. Also, the new office culture asks us to sit for long working hours without moving an inch. It results in a poor posture that leads to back pain, shoulder pain, and other health conditions.
Then you might have to wear a posture brace or buy spinegym, a posture corrector product to correct your posture. These products will straighten your back by keeping your back straight and chest up.
However, apart from wearing such braces, you can do some exercises to help your back. In this post, we will discuss some of the best upper back exercises that can help you to strengthen your upper back and posture.
You will not give any excuses as they don’t take more than 10 to 20 minutes.
So, let’s start the journey towards a fit and strong back.
Bent Over Row
We all love bench presses. Find me a person who does not perform bench press on his chest day at the gym. However, if your back is not strong, you should not perform bench press. It might create muscle imbalance in the body. Also, it might lead to injury. On the other hand, this exercise does exactly the opposite and targets the upper back portion of the body and all of its muscles.
How to Do It?
To start the bent-over row, you need to start with the braced core and straight back. Now, you need to bend your knees to lean forward from your hips. Now take the bar and while keeping your hands wider. Be in the position so that the bar hangs parallel to your knees. Now, you need to pull the bar and then retract your shoulders in a manner that the bar travels to your chest. Now, lower the bar slowly to the starting point.
You need to take care not to shrug shoulders if you are not comfortable with more weights. Instead, you can start with a small weight and gradually improve your capacity.
Shrug
Another best upper back exercise is shrug which is not more popular but is indeed an effective exercise. The exercise does not require more motion as you will have to do in other exercises. It is beneficial for you as you can lift more weight to build muscles on the shoulder part of the body.
How to Do It?
First of all, you need to lift a dumbbell in your hands and stand. Keep the grip neutral. Ensure that your back is braced. Now, what you need to do is to lift your shoulders. Ensure that your arms are straight. You need to hold in this position for some time and then return to the earlier position. Though this exercise seems simple, you need to be accurate while doing it.
One-Arm Row Exercise
The one-arm row is an effective exercise for the upper back, improving balance and reducing the risk of injury.
How to Do It?
First, hold the bench with your hand and put your left knees there. Then take a dumbbell in the right hand. Hold the dumbbell in a manner that it stays in the air, but inches away from the floor. Ensure that your back is straight. Now, slowly lift the dumbbell with the help of your biceps and elbow. Here, you need to complete at least 10-12 reps with the right arm and then repeat the same procedure for your left arm.
Seated Cable Row
When you exercise for muscles while sitting, it will allow you to target muscles of your choice. That is where the seated cable row comes into the picture. You will get muscle-mass with this upper back exercise.
How to Do It?
First, you need to sit straight and bend your knees slightly. Now, you need to use a handle attached to the cable machine. You should feel the tension while doing it. Now, ensure that your upper body is still and you are pulling the handle to your sternum.
Pull-Up
This is one of the best upper back exercises that you can do at your home too. Here, you will not need any lifting machine or cable machine to perform this exercise.
If you are a beginner, you might get exhausted with just 4 to 5 reps. However, you can gain mastery after a few days. It will not take more days to get familiar with it. Pull up is one of the core exercises that everyone does.
Conclusion
That is all. The upper back exercises mentioned in this post are needed to keep your back straight and correct your posture. You might find these exercises challenging at first, but you can be the master with regular practice. Keep exercising to reap the benefits these exercises have to offer.