The first rule in Jordan Peterson's book "12 Rules for Life" is "Stand up straight with your shoulders back". Dr. Peterson argues that standing up straight increases serotonin levels, which in turn improves social status and raises your position in the social hierarchy.

As office workers, we sit for most of the day. Sitting can easily increase bad posture and I don't know about you, but my posture is beginning to resemble that of a level 35 Goblin Looter. I thought it was time to do something about it.

So, I started my barefoot journey to destroy the O̶n̶e̶ ̶R̶i̶n̶g̶ my bad posture by watching some YouTube videos on the topic. After I had some inspiration, I started experimenting with different exercises and routines. After a few weeks I had a decently solid routine and I'll share it with you now.

The routine

Below is the routine as I am currently performing. Later I’ll explain how to customize it. I perform this routine every morning at breakfast, but you can perform it any time, and however many times you like. At breakfast, lunch or before bed? You decide.

Please note that this routine is not the be-all and end-all solution. Proper posture throughout the day and proper strength training can contribute as well. With that out of the way, let’s get started.

Prayer stretch

Grab a chair, sit on your knees and position your underarms on the chair so that your elbows hover just over the edge of the chair. Finally, fold your hands together. Picture yourself praying on the side of your bed.

While in this position, point your face to the ground and "push" your chest "through" your arms, by moving your butt back. While pushing down with your chest, simultaneously press "up" your arms and shoulders. Imagine reaching for something high up; make yourself as tall as possible.

Hold for a few seconds and take a few deep breaths in between. Make sure to breathe out while in the stretched position. Repeat a few times until you feel loosened up.

Shoulder dislocates

Grab a band or a stick and hold it in front of your thighs with extended arms. Raise your arms, without bending your elbows, up above your head and behind your back. Touch your gluteus maximus✨ and return to the start position to complete the first repetition. Perform a few times and move on to the next exercise.

Band pull aparts

Grab the same band from the previous exercise with an under hand grip in front of you at chest height. Pull your shoulders back and depress them down. Next, pull apart the band and hold one or two seconds at the end of the movement. Return to the start position and reset your shoulders before the next repetition. Prevent shrugging your shoulders up, because this stimulates bad posture. Aim for five to ten repetitions.

Push-up plus

Get in the position to do a push-up. Now, instead of doing a conventional push-up, do one just moving your shoulders. Without bending your elbows, let your body "sink" into your shoulders and push yourself up again. At the top of the movement you can exaggerate by pushing your shoulders down and rounding your back. Do these about ten times.

Elbow taps

This one is easy. Get in the start position of a push-up. Now alternate between tapping your right elbow with your left hand and tapping your left elbow with your right hand. Focus on stabilizing as much as possible; try and resist the urge to rock back and forth.

Tap both sides ten times or so to complete this exercise.

Back extension

Lay on your stomach with your arms by your side. Make sure your palms are pointed to the ground. Lift your arms and chest of the flour and pull your shoulders back and down. Holder for a few seconds and relax again to complete a repetition.

You can increase the difficulty on this exercise by moving your arms further up to the side of your body and eventually above your head.

Snow angel

Ok, last one. Lay down on your back with your arms by your side. Point your thumbs down, by rotating out and rotate your arms up. It is very important that the side of your index finger and your underarm stay in contact with the floor during the full movement. So tuck in your thumb and squeeze your shoulder blades as hard as you can to not lose contact with the floor.

This can be a very hard exercise, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t get your arms up as high as you would like. When I started, I couldn’t get my arms to make a “T”, but after a few weeks I gradually progressed.

Variation

You might have noticed that I didn’t give exact numbers for how often you should perform each movement. This is because I want you to figure this out for yourself. The point of this routine is to make it your own.

Feel free to add, remove and/or tweak any of these exercises to fit your specific needs and preferences. The best way to stick to something is to remove any obstacles that are blocking you from doing so. If, for example, a specific exercise is hard and demotivating: move it towards the end of the routine, reduce the repetitions or skip it completely. The goal is to stick to it, above all else. So, try it out for yourself and personalize the basic routine to your liking.

This might be obvious, but if you experience any pain or discomfort: stop and move to the next exercise. I had some popping noise and discomfort in my right shoulder and I avoided the exercises that didn’t feel right. Later I gradually introduced them back, only doing one or two repetitions to start. The goal is to improve and not to aggravate existing injuries.

Once you are consistent for a few weeks or months some of the movement might become a lot easier. Use this as an opportunity to find new exercises or substitute one for a harder variation. For example, you can introduce side planks right after the elbow taps or exchange the back extensions for YWT’s, illustrated in this video. Personally, I’m currently experimenting with adding under table rows to balance out my chest muscles, because I recently started bench pressing again.

Sidenote, while this routine doesn’t have a specific order, I do recommend with the stretching type movements, before the rest. This makes sure you are loosened up enough to correctly perform all other exercises.

Recap

Here’s a list of the exercises mentioned and a rough guide on the repetitions. Copy these to a location where you can reference them easily for the first few times you’re going to perform these. After a week or so, you should know them by heart.

If you struggle with posture or want to become slightly more active, I highly recommend you to try this routine for yourself.

Sources:

• EVERYONE can have pain free shoulders, just start HERE | SmashweRx | Trevor Bachmeyer

• How To Unf*ck Your Shoulders In 10 Minutes (FOR GOOD!)

• The Best Posture Workout At Home (FIX YOUR HUNCHBACK!)
  

Further reading:

• Feel Better in 5, by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee (haven’t read it myself yet, but listened to a podcast where Dr. Chatterjee was a guest)