Best exercises to fix your posture.

The easiest way to fix posture and rounded shoulders is the Dead Hang.

The second easiest are Angels & Devils.

Pair these 2 exercises together and you’re equipped with the best tools to counter hours at the desk, doom scrolling and chest dominant workouts.

Let’s see why.

DEAD HANGS

The beauty of hanging is its simplicity.

Find any fixed bar and hang for as long as possible.

Not only does this work your grip strength (which translates well to barbell and dumbbell exercises) it also decompresses the spine and stretches out your shoulders & upper back.

I’m often surprised at how quickly my neck and shoulders tense up after a few hours of work. Hanging from a chin up bar alleviates these symptoms instantly and has now become a habit whenever I’m working from home.

How to Dead Hang

There are a few things to keep in mind despite the simplicity of hanging:

• Start Small. If you’ve never supported your body weight since swinging on monkey bars as a child, you may be unpleasantly surprised. Start with 3 sets of 5 second holds and then progress from there.

• Relax. Your grip should be the only tense part of your body. Everything else should be relaxed (or ‘dead’). I like to imagine being stretched and becoming taller from this exercise. To borrow from yoga philosophy, you want to create internal space.

ANGELS & DEVILS

I prefer this movement over Face-Pulls for a variety of reasons.

The main one is execution. There is only one way to perform Angels & Devils which isn’t the case with Face Pulls.

What I love about Angels & Devils is that I notice an instant change in posture when I stand up. This is likely a result of the constant tension required across the lateral and posterior deltoids that pull the shoulders back.

How to Angels & Devils

• Lie face down onto the floor.

• Elevate your arms and legs off the floor by engaging your core and glutes (imagine you are flying like Superman).

• Hold this position and move your arms as you would in a snow angel.

• Once your hands meet at your glutes return to the starting position.

• Continue this movement pattern for 60 seconds.

The rotation of the arms is key for this exercise as it takes the shoulders through its full range of motion.

While focusing on pull ups or barbell rows can help balance out rounded shoulders, they are not the best exercises to also address posture.

Good posture is the ability to sit and stand holding a neutral spine comfortably. This requires active core engagement and a strong posterior chain.

If you incorporate both Dead Hangs and Angels & Devils into your routine, I’m certain you’ll be standing tall in no time.