Fitness

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Upper back stretch

Stretching the muscles in your upper back can promote good posture. To stretch these muscles:

• Stand in a relaxed position with your arms extended in front of you, parallel to the floor (top image).
• Pull your shoulder blades together behind you, bending your arms slightly at the elbows. You'll notice that your arms spread a little wider as you do this (bottom image).
• Hold about 30 seconds
• Repeat as desired.

1. Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 4, 2011.
2. Montico MP, et al. Injury prevention. In: McKeag DB, et al. ACSM's Primary Care Sports Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007:133.
3. Woods K, et al. Warm-up and stretching in the prevention of muscular injury. Sports Medicine. 2007;37:1089.
4. Beedle BB, et al. No difference in pre- and postexercise stretching on flexibility. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2007;21:780.