Dr. Hribick recommends doing each stretch three to five times a week or even daily if you already are experiencing upper back tightness. “The best time to do them includes after a period of prolonged sitting, part of a warm-up before exercising, or after exercising,” he says.
1. Child’s pose with side stretch
All three experts we spoke with are big fans of child’s pose, especially when incorporating a side stretch. It’s a gentle way to decompress the spine and relieve muscle tension.
1. Kneel down on your knees, keeping your butt on your heels.
2. Lean forward, stretching your arms straight out in front of you and resting your forehead on the floor.
3. Extend your right arm out to the right side. Reach your left arm up toward the ceiling.
4. Hold for 30 seconds to one minute and repeat on the other side, with the other arm.
2. Cat-cow stretch
Like child’s pose, cat-cow is another stretch you may already be familiar with if you do yoga. “It helps improve spinal mobility and release tension in the upper back,” Dr. Gallucci says.
1. Start in a tabletop position, with your hands and knees on the floor, hip-width distance apart.
2. To move into the cat stretch, round your spine and tuck your tailbone, bringing your pubic bone forward. Your head should be pointed toward the floor.
2. Come back to the starting position. Now, move into the cow stretch by pressing your chest upward and allowing your belly to sink.
3. Slowly alternate between the cat and cow poses for one minute.
3. Thread the needle
“Thread the needle provides a deep stretch for the shoulders and thoracic spine,” Dr. Gallucci says. In this one stretch, you’ll feel all the tension in your shoulders, neck, and upper back melt away.
1. Start in a tabletop position, with your hands and knees on the floor, hip-width distance apart.
2. Extend your right arm up and look toward it.
3. “Thread” your right arm beneath your left arm while keeping your hips high and allowing your chest to move toward the floor.
4. Push your hips back and hold the position for 30 seconds while continuing to breathe in and out.
5. Come back to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
4. Open-book stretch
This is one of Dr. Hribick’s favorite upper back stretches. It pulls double-duty by increasing flexibility in both the spine and hips, and it opens the chest up, which in turn helps stretch the upper back.
1. Lie on your side with your hips and knees both bent at 90 degrees. Extend both arms out straight.
2. While keeping your bottom arm on the ground, rotate your upper back and extend your top arm as far as you comfortably can.
3. Hold for two to three breaths. Then, come back to the starting position.
4. Repeat two more times. Then, repeat the same stretch on the other side.
5. Wall angels
Wall angels, recommended by Dr. Hribick, target the postural muscles in the upper back, which strengthen them and help with flexibility.
