3 Exercises for Better Posture | Chiropractor for Posture in West Omaha, NE
Hey there, Dr. Jeremiah Sample and I’m with Family First Chiropractic to talk today about some postural exercises that you can utilize at home to help take away the stress that we have from our daily lives.
The Cat Cow Exercise
Now as Americans, we spend too much time on our phones and on our computers from time to time. All this leads to forward head posture and rounding of the shoulders, causing compression on the lungs which makes the heart work harder. That eventually leads to things such as heart disease and COPD. So what we’ll do is utilize some exercises that will help elongate the spine, improve your posture and make you healthier overall; because as we know, your posture is a window to your health. So the first thing we’re going to utilize is called the cat cow. It starts with the hands underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the hips, and then take a deep breath in. I’m gonna bring my head back towards my tailbone, extending my abdomen down. Then I’m going to bring my abdomen in, arching the backup while exhaling, then pausing at the top with each repetition. Completing 10 repetitions of these will help work out the fluid in the discs, motion of the spine, and keep it so that your spine will be able to take the rigors of your daily life.
The Bird Dog & Wall Angel Exercises
Next, we’re gonna work on what we call a bird dog. So I’m going to take the right hand up and opposite leg up and then stretch them straight out, extending to the fingers and extending to the toes. Then back down, switch to the other sides. 10 repetitions each side works out the musculature between the hips, the shoulders, and the muscles of the mid back, which keeps your back straight throughout the day. Finally, we’ll do a wall angel, but instead of doing it on the wall, we’re gonna do it on the floor so you let gravity do most of the work. I start with my arms at my sides here, starting off at 90 degrees with the angle of my arms, and all I’m going to do is just raise my arms straight up from there. Then they should end at a slight angle almost like a V. Keeping my head, hips and shoulders against the floor as I complete these repetitions. It works out the rotator cuff muscles and allows the pectoral muscles to stretch out giving you a taller posture and a healthier outlook throughout your day.
If you have other questions about how to improve your posture reach out to us for more answers!
