Is your WFH (work from home) setup starting to take its toll on your body? COAST has got you covered! Here are 3 exercises to increase your strength and mobility in your back and shoulders.

Jefferson Curl

The Jefferson Curl is a strength and mobility exercise for the posterior chain.

Since we are often seated at our desk for long periods of time with suboptimal posture, doing exercises to maintain or increase the mobility and flexibility in your spine is important for reducing low back pain.

Beginners should start with no weight and stand on the ground. For a more advanced variation, you can stand on a box and use a light weight. As you progress, you can increase the weight.

  1. Start in a standing position hip width apart 

  2. Tuck your chin and slowly bend your back vertebrae by vertebrae as you slowly roll down towards the floor.

  3. Once you have bent down as far as you can go, pause and then engage your core as you slowly roll back up to the starting position.

  4. Make sure you continue to breathe throughout the exercise and really try to focus on making space throughout the length of your spine. 

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Wall Angels

Wall Angels are another strength and mobility exercise to improve posture, specifically the muscles which hold (hold the shoulders back. This is a great exercise to correct or prevent rounded shoulders, especially from long days in front of a computer.

  1. Lean your back against a wall with your heels about a foot away from the wall.

  2. With your back and shoulders pressed against the wall raise your arms into a 90 degree angle.

  3. Slowly begin to raise your arms above your head while keeping your hands, elbows and shoulders in contact with the wall.

  4. Lower your arms back to the starting position and repeat.

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Wall Slides

Similar to the Wall Angels, this strength and mobility exercise targets your shoulder muscles, but Wall Slides focus more on your shoulder blades (scapula). To do this exercise correctly, you need to really focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together. Range of motion will significantly vary from person to person, so work within your limits.

  1. Start by facing a wall. 

  2. Lift your elbows at 90 degrees and press them into the wall.

  3. While maintaining that pressure, begin to slowly slide your arms up the wall.

  4. Really focus on not curving your upper back and keeping it nice and neutral.

  5. Once you have reached your limit, return to the starting position and repeat.

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