Upper Back Correction, Circuit Style!

Today’s session was focused on three things:

1. Back Strength
2. Chest Flexibility
3. Thoracic (mid-back) Mobility

Whilst i feel we only touched on each of these components (we only had 30 min, after all), hopefully we re-set everybody’s shoulders in a pain-free position for another week!

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Those who were fit and able also completed 50 skips between each set and exercise, keeping the heart rate up, body fat down, and pelvic floor engaged.

First Circuit: 2 x 20 of each with 50 skips between each, and continuous skipping until everyone has done their 2 x 20…

Single arm TRX pull up, and cardio while we wait 🙂

1. Lat Pull Down – kneeling and leaning back. Keep your body still, and your chin and chest up.
2. Bent Over Row – next to a mirror so you can check your back is bolt-straight. Keep your elbows in so they brush your ribs as you pull up. 90 degrees at your hip joint
3. Single Arm TRX Pull Up – swing your other arm for a bit of momentum.
4. Seated Row – better performed on a fit ball but too complicated for us today!!

Seated Row

Variation on single arm pull up if you are not confident on one arm. Keep in mind that you will miss out on the back movement, though, and modify another exercise to single-arm to compensate.

Bent over row

Second Circuit: 1min on 26hts of everything (or 20 reps) and squat jumps in between while you wait for everyone to catch up.

Lunge with chest stretch in the background, row and rotate to the right, and back extension bottom left.

In this photo you can see the “open door” rotator cuff exercise top right.

1. Lunge and Chest Stretch – swap legs at 30 seconds
2. Squat with “Open Door” rotator exercise – keep your elbows in
3. Squat with “Row and Rotate” rotator exercise – again, keep your elbows still and simply rotate the humerus.
4. Back Extension with the FreeForm – just the thoracic back, not the lower back or neck, slide the shoulder blades down and try to bed the bones between them.

Variation on the lunge and chest stretch, if you want to work your legs and get a good groin stretch too.

Finish up with the Yoga Neck Stretch, and a Power Plate massage on your upper back.

This client is also doing a twisted squat with her legs, which is optional! We just did the upper back stretch today.

Massage the shoulders on the Power Plate.

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Upper back posture and pain is a huge problem with our mums. Firstly, the weight of the breasts when pregnant and breastfeeding, the the repetitive nature of their upper body movements when breastfeeding and running around after a toddler, and finally, many women become self-conscious with the extra weight they are carrying generally. The result is an accumulative posture problem, caused by an ever-stretched neck (which feels “tight”), and underdeveloped shoulder blade muscles that allow that posture to remain. Sessions like these will go some way to relieving your symptoms for good!!