Whether you spend all day in an office or work remotely, if you have a desk job, you probably have experienced aches and pain from sitting for hours. To help alleviate your pain and improve your posture, Inspirations & Celebrations‘ Fitness Contributor, Jacqueline Hinton (a Los Angeles based Pilates instructor and the CEO of the Pilates lifestyle brand Good Citizen) shares 6 easy exercises and stretches you can do virtually anywhere.

---

As a busy person, we can assume that you hunch over your computer, tablet, and phone all day long. Not just at work, but at home too. The negative impact this has on your body includes back pain and poor posture.

While we have all of this technology to improve our lives; unfortunately, it’s also destroying our bodies, creating aches and pains that could be avoided if we were more aware of our posture. Bad posture puts our bodies in a peculiar position affecting our entire body, from our shoulders to our hips, knees, and spine. Muscles stretch and tighten incorrectly, organs are unable to work properly, and chronic back pain and stiffness can make us feel just awful.

Exercises & Stretches for Improving Your Posture

Let’s fix that by aligning your joints, muscles, and ligaments so you can live without pain. Here are a few easy exercises and stretches to counteract—and alleviate—your bad posture.

Exercises for Improving Your Posture

Plank

Begin in a push-up position, balanced on your forearms. Make sure your forearms are parallel with both legs extended behind you. Hold for as long as you can without losing proper form.

Swimming

Lie face down on the floor with your arms in a v-position over your head with. Keep your legs straight behind you. Lift your arms, legs, head, and chest off the ground. Flutter kick your arms and legs for 8 counts. Repeat this 3 to 6 times.

Bridging

Lie down on your back with your feet hip distance apart. Your arms should be by your sides. Take an inhale, an exhale and lift and lower your hips off the floor 10 times. On the tenth hip lift, pulse your hips up 10 times. Repeat this exercise 3 to 6 times.

Stretches for Improving Your Posture

Pec and Shoulder Stretch

Grab a towel with both hands. Keep your elbows slightly bent. Circle the towel clockwise around your head 10 times. Repeat counter clockwise.

Side Bend

Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart. Place your left hand on your hip and your right arm out to the side. Lift up and side bend over to the left. Then back to the start position, keeping the weight on both feet the same. Repeat 5 to 10 times on both sides.  

Roll Down

Stand with your feet hip distance apart. With your abs lifting up and your shoulders pulling your back down, drop your chin to your chest and roll down one vertebra at a time until you can go as low as feels comfortable. Try not to rock your weight back into your heels, and keep your knees soft so they don’t hyperextend. Once at the bottom, pull the abs in and roll up through the spine, stacking your body back up until you’re standing tall again. Repeat 10 times.

For more exercise tips and tutorials, check out the Fitness section on Inspirations & Celebrations.

---

Fitness Contributor: Jacqueline Hinton

If this article inspired you, share the love by Pinning, Tweeting, Facebooking, or sharing on any other social platform. For more lifestyle tips, pics and videos, follow Inspirations & Celebrations on Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter. To win deluxe prize packages, enter the Inspirations & Celebrations’ Monthly Giveaway.