Ever feel like technology has ruined your upper back and neck? Do you worry about forward head posture and slumped shoulders?

If so, you'll want to check out today's video.

I’ll show you an exercise that addresses one of the most overlooked aspects of upper back and shoulder health: your arms' relationship with your spine.

You see, your upper back doesn’t just hold itself up on its own, and no single muscle keeps your spine upright.

Keeping your spine upright is a group effort of all your back muscles.

And your back muscles respond to what you do with your body, especially with your arms.

It might not seem like your arms and spine are too related, but consider this chain:

• Your hands attach to your arms 
• Your arms attach to your shoulders 
• Your shoulders attach to your shoulder blades 
• Your shoulder blades attach to your spine

Your arms essentially connect your hands to your thoracic spine!

I don’t know about you, but if I’m not intentional about taking my arms overhead, I’ll spend the entire day with my arms out in front of me—on the computer, cooking, driving, phone, etc.

This limited arm movement is a massive modern-day contributor to slumped spines, forward head posture, and rounded shoulders.

Today’s exercise is not only effective for addressing these issues, but it’s also easy to build into your existing daily habits. That’s what I love so much about this one—not to mention it feels fantastic.

No exaggeration: I do this one at least five times a day!

Check out the exercise in today’s video if you want to:

• Improve your posture and alignment
• Feel an incredible back and shoulder stretch
• Have a simple yet effective exercise in your back pocket you can easily fit into your day
• Relieve tightness in the back, shoulders, hips, and hamstrings
• Improve mobility in your thoracic spine and shoulders

Have you tried this exercise? Share your experience in the comments below—I'd love to hear how it worked for you!

With a positive pull of arm tension on my back,

Sydney

Ready to get stronger and more flexible so you can stay active? The Pilates Tonic Online Membership is a mix of live classes and self-paced videos tailored to your unique needs.

Depending on your goals, this program will help you identify what area of your body to focus on — and the exercises that’ll help you get out of pain, add more flexibility, and become stronger.

Inside the Pilates Tonic Online Membership, you get a movement practice you can stick to.