Search for mobility tips online and chances are you'll find a treasure trove of reels and video tutorials addressing tight hips, stiff necks, weak knees and sore lower backs.
Less common, however, is to find drills that address upper-back pain, despite it being a prevalent issue among sedentary office workers—due to hunching over a keyboard—and regular exercisers—due to a particularly nagging case of DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness).
Fortunately, certified mobility coach Anthony Green specializes in ways to stretch out, activate and mobilize every part of your body—with the upper back a specialty of his. Last month, he released a video addressing this particular pain point.
"Experiencing upper back pain and stiffness?" he asked his 2.7 million followers on Instagram. "Stiffness is often a sign of weak muscles. Instead of just stretching, try strengthening with these three exercises."
Three bodyweight moves to strengthen and mobilize the upper back
In the clip, Green can be seen lying face down on the floor, cycling through three bodyweight exercises that involve laterally flexing the spine from side to side, rotating the arms from overhead to behind the lower back, and arching one side of his upper back off the floor, then the other side.
"These exercises not only help strengthen your upper back, but they also improve shoulder and thoracic spine mobility," Green writes. "Improvements in these areas can enhance posture and reduce back pain."
Best of all, you don't need any equipment to do them.
These three moves can be used as a standalone circuit to address upper-back soreness, or to mobilize and activate the upper back and shoulders before an upper-body workout. Here's how to do them.
1. Prone overhead reach
Benefits: creates space around the thoracic spine and through the shoulder joint.
How to do it:
- Lie face down with your palms on the floor either side of your chest.
- Lift one hand off the floor and slowly reach it forward and to the opposite side of your body. Exhale as you reach into the stretch.
- Return the hand to the start and repeat on the other side.
- Perform 2-3 sets of 5-10 reps each side.
2. Prone snow angel
Benefits: mobilizes the shoulders through their full range of motion.
How to do it:
- Lie face down, but with your face held just above the floor, resting the backs of your hands on your lower back.
- In one smooth motion, extend your arms out to the sides, rotate your palms to face down, then bend your elbows to bring your hands to meet behind your head.
- Slowly reverse the movement to the start position, being careful of your shoulder joint.
- Perform 2-3 sets of 5-10 reps.
3. Prone rotation
Benefits: unilaterally mobilizes and activates the thoracic spine.
How to do it:
- Lie face down, but with your face held just above the floor, resting your hands lightly on the back of your head.
- Slowly lift one elbow, rotating and arching your upper back to lift it as high as you can.
- Return to the start and repeat on the other side.
- Perform 2-3 sets of 5-10 reps each side.
