These exercises are great to fight that poor flexed posture most of us getting from long hours sitting at our desks, staring blankly into a computer screen.
Typically, these exercises are done as a progression that should include the vertical foam roll, vertical foam roll with arms overhead, chest press, and finally, the horizontal foam roll. The final progressions we will discuss today are the upper back cat (similar to the cat camel) and medicine ball overhead.
Upper back cat (Figure 1)
Medicine ball overhead (Figure 2)
The pictures and explanations are courtesy of Dr. Craig Liebenson's self care instruction sheet titled "Postural exercises on the foam roll" from the Journal of Body Movement Therapies and Dr. Byall's notes from Dr. Liebenson's seminar titled "Faulty Movement Patterns".
The information and pictures are for patient educational purposes. Copies of the entire exercise sheet are available at our office. For more information on these or other exercises, please contact our office by phone at (260) 755-5953 or e-mail at [email protected]