talkhealth Blog

Very important muscles to exercise as we age are the upper back muscles to prevent that hunched over look where the chest muscles are too tight and the upper back muscles are weak.  Exercises that don’t use any equipment to work the upper back aren’t thick on the ground, however there are a couple.  If you can’t safely get up and down from the floor (which this exercise requires) then please comment and I will post another exercise that you can do.

The (snazzily named) Y-T-I raises target the muscles of your upper back that stabilize your shoulder blades  and strengthen your shoulder muscles.

Y Raise

1. Lie facedown on the floor with your arms resting on the floor above your head, completely straight and at a 30-degree angle to your body, so your body forms a Y shape.
2. Your palms should be facing each other so that the thumbs point up (as if you were doing an ok sign!)
3. Raise your arms as high as you comfortably can, concentrate on your upper back doing this work and not your arms.

 T Raise

1. Still lying facedown move your arms so that they’re out to your sides—perpendicular to your body.
2. Your thumbs should be still pointing upwards with palms now facing forwards.
3. Raise your arms as high as you comfortably can, concentrate on your upper back doing this work and not your arms.

I Raise

1. Still lying facedown move your arms so that your body forms a straight line from your feet to your fingertips.
2. Like with the Y your palms should be facing each other  with your thumbs pointing up.
3. Raise your arms as high as you comfortably can,  concentrate on your upper back doing this work and not your arms.

Do 10 reps of each Y, T and I  (immediately after one another) and then rest for 1 minute before doing another 10 reps of each exercise.

For a no equipment required lower back and core exercise please see the following article I wrote which details both Bird Dog (great name!) and the plank.

The post A simple back exercise. appeared first on Whole Life Fitness.

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Helen

Having worked in IT in London for 15 years I was made redundant in 2009. I had trained as a gym instructor whilst working and decided I would rather spend the rest of my career doing something I loved than look for another job in IT. I furthered my qualifications with a Certificate in Advanced Personal Training from the highly regarded Premier Training. Many personal trainers are generalists covering all areas of fitness but I took the decision to specialise in the over-50s and therefore went on to do a CYQ Award in Functional Training for the Independent Older Adult Level 3. My focus is on overall health rather than fitness. I believe that making small changes can have a long term positive effect on health and well-being.