5 Yoga Poses for Strong Upper Back

Try these easy and effective yoga poses at home to strengthen upper back.

If you’re someone who spends too much time hunched over screens, you can expect to deal with upper back pain. It is to be remembered that the wrong posture affects negatively the health of your spine and those crucial upper back muscles.

If you’re someone who can not sit up straight at your computer, these yoga poses can help strengthen your upper back and prevent the accompanying pain.

One of the most common causes of upper back pain is poor posture and activities texting, typing, or carrying a heavy bag can exasperate your pain. Other causes include overusing your back muscles or pressure on your spinal nerves. Here are a few yoga poses you can try at home.

1. Cat-Cow Pose 

This yoga pose focuses on various muscle groups like erector spinae, rectus abdominis, triceps, serratus anterior, and gluteus maximus.

You can follow these steps:

• Go on all fours.

• Your wrists go underneath your shoulders, and your knees will be placed underneath your hips.

• Make sure you balance your weight evenly on all fours.

• Breathe in and look up, let your stomach drop down toward the mat.

• Breathe out and tuck your chin into your chest, draw your navel toward your spine, and your spine should be arched towards the ceiling.

• Maintain focus while you practice this pose.

• Focus on releasing the tension in your body.

• Hold the pose for at least one minute.

2. Sphinx Pose 

This gentle backbend pose strengthens the spine and buttocks. It helps relax your chest, shoulders, and abdomen.

It helps manage stress and focuses on muscles like erector spinal, gluteal muscles, pectoralis major, trapezius, and latissimus dorsi.

Follow the steps here:

Lie on your stomach and extend your legs behind you.

• Make sure the muscles of your lower back, buttocks, and thighs are well-engaged.

• Place your elbows under your shoulders and your forearms on the floor and your palms facing down.

• Now gently lift up your upper torso and head.

• Slowly lift and engage your lower abdominals to provide support to your back.

• Lift up through your spine and out through the crown of your head, do not collapse on your lower back.

• Relax in this pose fully, while you remain active and engaged.

• Hold this pose for up to 5 minutes.

3. Cobra Pose 

This stretches your abdomen, chest, and shoulders. It strengthens your spine and may soothe the sciatica. It helps the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, deltoids, triceps, and serratus anterior muscles. It also helps manage stress.

Follow the steps:

• Lie on your stomach and place your hands under your shoulders, with your fingers facing forward.

• Draw your arms to your chest, and your elbows should not go out to the side.

• Press into your hands and slowly lift your head, chest, and shoulders.

• Lift part-way, halfway, or all the way up.

• Slightly bend your elbows.

• Let your head drop back to deepen the pose.

• Release back down to your mat and breathe out.

• Bring your arms by your side and rest your head.

• Slowly move your hips from side to side to release tension.

4. Locust Pose 

The locust pose improves the posture and is effective in situations of prolonged sitting and computer work. It may help relieve lower back pain and neck pain as well. It can counteract slouching and kyphosis (abnormal curvature of the spine) while strengthening your back muscles, especially the muscles supporting your spine.

1. Lay on your belly with your feet together and your hands reaching back, your palms should be placed down.

2. Try extending your big toes straight back and pressing down with all ten toenails to activate your quadriceps.

3. Rotate your inner thighs to broaden your lower back.

4. Place your hands on the mat, raise your head, chest, and your legs, leading with your inner thighs.

5. Roll your shoulders back and up away from the floor. Keep the back of your neck long and try lifting your sternum instead of lifting your chin.

6. Slowly release if you want to come out of the pose.

5. Bridge Pose 

The Bridge Pose is an advanced level of resting position which helps strengthen the back, glutes, legs, and ankles. It helps open your chest, and hip flexors while calming the entire body. It may stimulate organs of the abdomen, lungs, and thyroid, and rejuvenate tired legs.

• Lie on your back and place your hands at your sides, bend your knees, and your feet should be flat on the floor close to your butt.

• Press into your feet while you lift your hips and torso to create a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.

• Hold the pose for up to 30 seconds, then lower your hips to the floor.