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Posture Correction Exercises – Easy Steps to Improve Bad Postures

We have embraced the bad postures in our daily activities, thanks to the sedentary lifestyle that causes us to maintain our spine in unnatural positions for long periods of time. Postural dysfunction makes you look unattractive and causes various health problems.

If you are looking to improve your posture, you have landed at the right place. In this article, we will list down various posture correction exercises that help in maintaining proper posture by developing flexibility, strength, and balance in the body.

Improving bad postures requires you to practice posture correcting exercises. Some of the effective posture correcting exercises includes the following.

1. Planking
2. Child’s pose
3. Isometric rows
4. Downward-facing dog
5. Forward fold
6. Chest opener
7. Cat cow.
8. Standing cat cow
9. Thoracic spine rotation
10. Pigeon pose
11. High Plank
12. Side Plank
13. Glute squeezes

Keep reading as this article discusses several posture correction exercises with easy and detailed steps so that you can easily practice them for improving your posture at home and elsewhere.

Planking is considered one of the simplest exercises for correcting your bad postures. It also provides a wide range of health benefits.

While doing plank exercises, keep your eyes pointed towards the floor, your legs straight, and your lower back stiff.

Easy Steps of Planking

Step 1: Get into a pose as if you are doing push-ups. Now plant your hands under your shoulders directly while keeping them a bit wider as compared to shoulder width.

Step 2: Ensure to point your toes straight into the floor and squeeze glutes for stabilizing your body. Keep your legs free and don’t hyperextend your knees.

Step 3: Look at a spot located a foot beyond your hands on the floor. Keep your neck and spine neutralized and align your head with your back.

Step 4: Remain in this position for at least 20-25 seconds. With time you will get comfortable in holding this position for longer periods. Ensure to keep this pose without compromising your form or breath. Make sure not to strain your body into holding it for a longer time.

It is an excellent pose that targets and releases the tension in your neck and lower back. It is a resting pose that helps in lengthening and stretching your hamstrings, spine, and glutes.

Easy Steps of Child’s Pose

Step1: Sit on your knees with your shinbones resting against the floor. Ensure to keep your knees together, toes touching, and heels splaying out to the side.

Step2: Stretch out your hands in front of you, bend forwards, and place your hands against the floor

Step3: Slowly move your hips backwards toward your feet. Your ankle should touch your thighs. If your thighs don’t stretch all the way down, keep a folded blanket or pillow under them for support.

Step4: Keep your forehead on the floor and rest your arms in an extended position along your body.

Step5: Take deep breaths and feel the movement of your rib cage and waist. Continue breathing and try to maintain this pose for at least 5 minutes.

This posture correction exercise is meant for individuals who complain of pain and stiffness in the back due to prolonged sitting at one place.

It engages the back, arm, and shoulder muscles. It strengthens the muscles and helps in maintaining good posture.

Easy Steps of Isometric Rows

Step1: Sit in a chair with your back straight.

Step2: Bend your arms so that your palms are facing each other and your fingers are facing forward.

Step3: As you exhale, bring your elbows behind you at the back of the chair and press the shoulder blades together. Stay in this position for 10 seconds and breathe deeply.

Step4: As you inhale, release your elbows to the starting position slowly. Repeat this whole exercise for at least one minute. Repeat this couple of times every day.

The downward-facing dog pose helps in strengthening and aligning your back muscles while relieving back pain.

It is a forward bend that helps in improving body postures. It can be used as a resting posture for balancing your body.

Easy Steps of Downward-Facing Dog

Step1: Lay down on your stomach on the floor. Now, lift your heels and tuck your toes under your feet as you press your hands against the floor.

Step2: Lift your hips and knees so that your sitting bones move upwards.

Step3: Lengthen and straighten your spine as you bend your knees slightly.

Step4: Tuck your chin into the chest and ensure to align your ears with your upper arms.

Step5: Ensure to keep your heels lifted while you firmly press into your hands. Try to keep this posture for at least one minute.

It is a standing stretch pose that opens up and lengthens the entire backside of your body.

Practising forward fold not only stretches your legs and hips but also releases tension in your glutes, spine, and hamstrings.

Easy Steps of Forward Fold

Step1: Stand upright on the floor and keep your heels slightly apart with your big toes touching.

Step2: Bend your back forwards and bring your hands down towards the floor while keeping your knees straight. Try to stretch your hands as far as possible and it’s ok if you are not able to touch the ground.

Step3: Lengthen your spine, soften your hip joints and bend your knees slightly.

Step4: While taking your hands towards the floor, ensure to tuck your chin into the chest and let your head fall heavy. Try to maintain this posture for at least a minute.

Chest opener posture correction exercise is suitable for those individuals who spend long hours sitting on their chairs. This causes the chest to move inward.

This posture correction exercise allows you to open and stretch your chest. It assists you to stand up straight by strengthening your chest.

Easy Steps of Chest Opener

Step1: Stand upright on the floor with your feet hip-width apart.

Step2: Take your arms behind you. Interlace fingers of both hands and press your palms tightly together. If you find it difficult to interlace your fingers at the back, you can take a towel and grab its ends.

Step3: Align your head, neck, and spine and look straight ahead.

Step4: Take a deep inhalation and lift your chest upwards while moving your hands down toward the floor.

Step5: Take deep breathes and maintain this pose for at least 5 breaths. Relax and take few more breaths. Repeat this exercise at least 10 times.

Practising the cat-cow pose offers various health benefits like enhancing blood circulation; relieving tension in the neck, torso, and shoulders; and massaging and stretching the spine.

Easy Steps of Cat-Cow

Step1: Place your hands and knees on the floor so that your weight is evenly balanced between knees and hands.

Step2: Take a deep inhalation and look up while extending your spine and lowering your abdomen towards the floor.

Step3: Exhale deeply and tuck your chin into your chest while arching your spine upwards.

Practice the inhalation and exhalation in this pose for at least 1 minute.

In this posture correcting exercise, you do the cat-cow stretch in a standing position. It relieves the tightness in your glutes, hips, and back.

Easy Steps of Standing Cat-Cow

Step1: Stand upright on the floor and keep your feet slightly apart. Now bend your knees a little.

Step2: Stretch your hands in front of you and then place them on your thighs.

Step3: Tuck your chin into the chest, lengthen your neck and round your spine. Stay in this position for 5 breaths at one go.

Step4: Follow this with looking up by lifting your chest and moving your spine in the opposite direction. Stay in this position for 5 breaths at one go.

Keep this movement for at least 5 minutes.

The thoracic spine rotation is the correction posture exercise that targets muscles in the back for relieving tightness and pain. It helps in improving posture by increasing stability and mobility.

Easy Steps of Thoracic Spine Rotation

Step1: Place your palms and toes on the floor as if you are doing push-ups. Rest on our shins while moving your hips back down to the heels.

Step2: Keep your left hand at the back of your head while extending your elbow to the side.

Step3: Bring your right hand to the centre and place it on your forearm.

Step4: Exhale as you rotate your left elbow upwards and stretch the front of the torso. Take deep inhalation and exhalation in this position.

Step5: Get back to the original position by releasing your body. Repeat this process at least 5-10 times. Repeat all the moves on the other side.

It is also called the hip opener pose that relaxes the muscles in the glutes, spine, and hamstrings. It helps in stretching the quadriceps and sciatic nerves. It helps in correcting bad poses by opening and stretching the hip and nearby region.

Easy Steps of Pigeon Pose

Step1: Get yourself into a push-up pose with your palms and toes resting against the floor. Ensure to keep your hips above the knees and hands in front of your shoulders.

Step2: Bend and move your right knee forward. Place it at the rear of your right wrist and Angle out your right foot towards the left.

Step3: Keep the outside of your right shin rested on the floor.

Step 4: Ensure to extend your left leg straight back, straighten your left knee, slide your left leg back, and rest your thighs on the floor.

Step5: Lower your torso down slowly so that it rests on your inner right thigh by extending your arms in front of you. Maintain this pose for at least a minute.

Step6: Release this pose slowly by lifting your torso and shifting your hands back towards your hips. Repeat the same process on the left side.

The high plank pose helps in maintaining good posture by developing strength and balance in your core and back.

It also strengthens hamstrings, glutes and shoulders. It relieves pain and stiffness throughout the body.

Easy Steps of High Plank

Step1: Get yourself into a push-up pose with your palms and toes facing against the floor.

Step 2: Raise your hips, lift your heels and straighten your legs and back.

Step3: Engage your arms, legs, and abdominal muscles.

Step4: Look downwards while releasing your throat and lengthening the back of your neck. Ensure to keep your shoulders back and chest open. Try to maintain this posture for at least 1 minute at a time.

A side plank pose helps in maintaining neutral spinal and legs alignment. This pose strengthens and aligns the muscles in the glutes and sides for supporting the back and improving posture.

Easy Steps of Side Plank

Step1: Get into a high plank position as we have discussed above. Now, bring your left hand into the centre from a high plank position.

Step2: Slowly shift your body weight on your left hand, lift your hips and keep your ankles together.

Step3: Extend your right hand towards the ceiling or rest it on your hips.

Step4: If you need extra support, drop your left knee down on the floor.

Step5: Engage the muscles of glutes, side body, and abdominals as you maintain this pose.

Step6: Keep your body in a straight line from the head to your heels. Keep your gaze straight. Maintain this pose for at least 30 seconds and repeat the same on another side.

The glute squeezes is an excellent posture correction exercise that helps in relieving back pain by strengthening and activating your glutes.

It corrects your posture by improving the alignment and functioning of the hips and pelvis.

Easy Steps of Glute Squeeze

Step1: Lie on your back on the floor and bend your knees. Keep your feet slightly apart about hip-width distance.

Step2: Ensure that your feet are one foot away from your hips. Keep your arms straight alongside your body with palms facing the floor.

Step3: Take deep exhalation and move your feet closer to your hips. Stay in this position for about 10 seconds and move your feet away from the hips.

Step4: Keep doing this movement for at least one minute. Repeat this exercise a few times every day.