Strengthening middle back muscles & correcting poor posture

Therabands come in different tensile strengths. They're an excellent tool to help strengthen your middle back muscles — the muscles located between your shoulder blades. These "monkey" muscles help stabalize and support the shoulder atlas and are often neglected, since most of us no longer pick friut from trees, and no longer frequently reach our arms upwards. Strengthening the mid-back muscles, promotes good posture and counters our "lean-forward" postural misalignments.

It takes specific exercises, body positioning, and angles of pull to effectively target the mid-back area. This practice is designed specifically for the middle/low trapezius and the rhomboids.

Place the theraband over a door handle or something so it won't slide off. Stand far enough away so that the band is slightly taught, enabling you to bring both hands alongside and past your hips.

• Stand hip width apart, feet facing forward, knees slightly bent
• Tuck the chin slightly and try to create a bit more space through each vertebrae, imagine energy rising up the spine through the crown of the head
• Set your intention and focus to the middle back muscles
• Inhale with your arms in front, exhale slowly as you pull the theraband with dynamic tension alongside your hips

It's important to start with the most flexible theraband — usually the yellow one. Start slow doing 10 - 20 reps, working with your breath. Do this every other day and gradually build up to 30 but stop if you feel any pain of discomfort. After a few weeks you will start to see amazing results.