4 Exercises for Back Pain and Posture

Back pain is very common and affects both men and women. In most cases, doing the right movements may help relieve the symptoms and correct your posture. If you suffer from back pain, then you must try these exercises that not only help improve your posture but also relieve your pain.

This discomfort can be caused by bad posture, over-straining your back, or pulling a muscle. Poor posture is having an arched back and rounded or elevated shoulders. Developing a good posture certainly takes time, but a straight back will help you reduce muscle tension and relieve the pain that comes with it.

Entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) carry out numerous studies on this condition. According to experts, 80% of the population suffers from back pain at some point in their lives and it’s the most common cause of disability in young adults.

Back pain has many causes that range from bad habits to factors such as aging, leading a sedentary lifestyle, muscle atrophy, etc. If you want to get rid of your back pain, you’ll have to work on some of the aforementioned factors.

If you add the following strengthening and stretching exercises to your daily routine, you’ll notice how that small (or big) discomfort caused by muscle tension will start to disappear.

Wall slides for back pain

The first exercise on this list is very simple.

• First of all, put your back against the wall and slide down until your knees are slightly bent.
• As you slide down, remember that your back must be pressed against the wall.
• Hold this position for about 10 seconds.
• Then, slide right back up until you’re standing.
• Do about 8 to 12 reps of this exercise.

Knee-to-chest

This second exercise may help relieve your lower back pain symptoms.

• To do it, you must lie down on the floor on your back.
• Stretch your legs and then bend a knee to your chest while keeping the other leg stretched.
• Hold this position for about 15 to 30 seconds. During this time, make sure that your back is straight.
• Then, go back to the starting position and switch legs.
• Do 2-4 reps with each leg.

The Superman

Without a doubt, the Superman is one of our favorite exercises to help improve posture.

• In order to do this exercise, you must lie down on your belly and, as the name says, you must imitate Superman when he’s flying.
• This means that, once you’re on the floor, you must raise your arms and legs and stretch them as much as you can. Keep in mind that your body should be a bit arched.
• Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.
• Then, slowly lower your arms and legs.
• Repeat three times.

Cobra Pose

This last exercise is a chest movement yoga pose for which you don’t need any equipment. All you have to do is breathe properly and focus on your body.

• To do the Cobra Pose, lie down on your belly, bring your legs and feet together, stretch your toes, and squeeze your legs. 
• During the exercise, place your hands on your sides, shoulder width apart.
• Your forearms and hands should touch the floor at the beginning and then you have to lift your upper body up.

• As we mentioned before, slowly lift up your chest and focus on breathing properly, as if you were doing a push up.
• Hold this position for 5 seconds and then go back to the starting position.
• Ideally, you should do 20 reps.

Finally, we recommend that you include activities such as yoga or swimming to further relieve your back pain. Just like the exercises we suggested here, yoga and swimming stimulate your muscles. In addition, your tendons will be more flexible and your joints will have more range of movement.

We hope you found this list of exercises useful to tackle your back pain and improve your posture. Remember that you’ll only see benefits if you make a habit out of these exercises. However, you might start feeling better after doing them just once!