Three Back Strengthening Exercises You Can Do Without Getting on The Floor

Hello, humans.

 My name is Saara Haapanen. I'm the owner of Performance is Haapanen, the creator of moveatworkchallenge.com, and I give you a happier and healthier body at work. 

Today, I'm going to show you three exercises you can do without getting on the ground to help strengthen your back.

Strengthening Exercises for Back Pain

Back pain is one of the biggest complaints I get from all of my humans.

For these three exercises, you won't need anything. You can do them right now.

I actually encourage you to stand up and follow along with me. You can do so by watching the video or reading below, this will take you less than five minutes and you'll feel better I promise.

What Are My Rules?

• Never go into or through pain
• And smile :-)

1. Good Morning

The first one we're going to do is a good morning.

So, you're going to put your hands on your head. We're going to bend our knees just a little bit, so we have soft knees. We're only going to be hinging at the hips.

Our hands are going to go on your head. We're going to squeeze our shoulder blades together. Our belly button is pulled in. Our spine stays flat.

You're going to tip forward until you're almost parallel to the ground. Then you're going to come back up.

You're going to keep that soft bend in your knees and you're going to feel this all the way up and down your spine. We're going to do about 10 of these. Of course, you can always do more if that's what you want if you feel like that's what your body needs.

Make sure you squeeze your shoulder blades together. We don't want a hunchback here. The flattest back you ever did see.

2. Shoulder Blade Squeeze

This next move, I want you to pretend there's something like a pencil or a marker right in between your shoulder blades and you're going to pinch it. 

You're going to reach out in front of you and then we're going to pull back. We're going to pinch it three times and then reach out in front. 

While you are here, I want you to squeeze your cheeks together, (not the ones on your face). Pull your belly button in, and slightly tilt your pelvis forward.

Are you doing all that? You're getting bonus abs! You're welcome.

We'll do ten rounds of these and then we're going to do a little bonus at the end.

Keep squeezing those cheeks together. Keep pulling that belly button in, more like you're getting punched versus trying to put on skinny jeans.

On your final one, hold it back and do 20 little pulses. Squeeze those cheeks!

3. IYT Back Strengthening Exercises

This next exercise is going to get all the way up and down your spine.

You're going to tip over, super flat back again. Think about pinching those shoulder blades, pull that belly button in, and tip over. Arms stay straight.

You're going to reach your arms up to the ceiling, staying narrow. I call this the letter I.

Bring your arms back down, thumbs stay facing up, and then reach your arms up to the ceiling, a little wider in the shape of the letter Y.

Bring them back down. Thumbs stay facing up and reach your arms up and out to the side to form the letter, T.

My neck is long. I'm looking straight down. I, Y, T.

We're going to do 10 of those. It's actually 30 when I say 10 because there are three moves.

If it helps, you can think about pinching that pencil in between your shoulder blades every time. 

You should have a beautiful burning sensation along your spine, which is different from pain. You are going for endurance and that "work feeling".

Join the Move at Work Challenge

As always, I'm so proud of you for doing something for you today and taking care of your body, because it's the one and only place you have to live.

If you're interested in this or you think your company would love to have Move at Work, I encourage you to visit moveatworkchallenge.com.

 I would love to see you here again soon.

Meet Your Coach:

Saara Haapanen

Bsc., MSc., PhD Candidate

Beaming beacon of positivity and unparalleled source of motivational energy. Saara's professional aspiration is to transform client's lives utilizing approaches that are fun, engaging, and exciting. Under her tutelage and guidance, clients learn to make sustainable long-term changes, without resorting to ineffective fitness fads, destructive diets, or other trendy nonsense.

Her academic background and personal passions are firmly rooted in performance psychology and health promotion, and she strives to push people to be their best selves. In college, Saara received an athletic scholarship for diving and studied kinesiology (human movement), health promotion, and psychology. Deciding that sport and exercise was totally her thing, she moved to Finland to pursue a Master`s degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology.

While studying, she was also diving for the Finnish National team and training for the 2008 Olympics where she was the first overall alternate for the Beijing Olympic Games. 

Saara has coached and trained divers of all levels from beginner to international for 15 years in three different countries. Having worked with many Olympic level coaches and athletes, she knows what works and what doesn't.

Saara leverages her unique combination of academic excellence, athletic prowess, and extensive experience when training and coaching clients. There's a masterful method to her madness: currently a Ph.D. candidate in Sports Psychology (if you are interested in some of her research work click here), Saara is also an appointee for the Colorado Governor's Council for Active and Healthy Lifestyles. She aims to help make Colorado one of the healthiest states in the nation. 

In her free time, she enjoys drinking homebrews and other craft beers with her husband, playing with her boxers, and exploring all that Colorado has to offer.