Upper Back Pain Exercise Guide

Get Fit While Relieving Upper Back Pain

By Jarrett Kruse

Upper back pain is common for those of us who work at a computer or who spend a lot of time driving a car. Exercise is crucial to combating back pain of all kinds, and any comprehensive upper back pain treatment should include a specific program of upper back pain exercise not only to ease back pain but to prevent future injury. Being limber, expanding the range of motion, and strengthening supporting muscles re critical to back pain prevention and may even cure upper back pain over time. Exercises such as upper back pain stretches can be performed almost anywhere, including at work, so you can work on the back pain as soon as it hits.

Keeping your whole body in shape is the best way to prevent back injury or minimize pain once you sustain an injury. But there are exercises you can do to increase strength and flexibility specifically in the upper back. If you are injured or in severe pain, begin very gradually, with only a few repetitions, until you have a tolerance for more. A doctor or physical therapist can recommend exercises and offer exact demonstrations or diagrams of the movements Here are a few upper back exercises:

  • Rows: Lifting dumbbells while leaning forward to strengthen the latissimus dorsi, (lats) the muscles along either side of the back.
  • Arm slides: Leaning your back and arms against a wall while standing and slowly sliding up and down.
  • Shoulder blade squeezes. Slowly squeezing you shoulder blades together and then holding the position for a few second, standing or sitting.
  • Upper back stretches: Crossing your arms behind your head and slowly leaning forward while sitting in a chair.
  • Pullovers—leaning back over an exercise ball with lifting weights to strengthen the lats, chest, and triceps.