Winged scapula exercise

Back Toning Exercise
By Jennifer Adolfs Jennifer Adolfs Level: Platinum Jennifer Adolfs is an ACE Certified

Advanced Fitness Specialist and Certified Mat and Equipment Pilates Instructor. She

specializes in working with people who have musculoskeletal ...

Who doesn't want a toned, attractive back? Especially when the summer months loom and you

are unenthusiastically facing swimsuit season, or during the holiday season as you eye that

glittery, back-baring party dress.

A well-developed upper back gives you that appealing V-shape, which makes your waist and

hips look slimmer. (Remember those big shoulder pads from the 80's-there was actually some

logic behind that fashion faux pas.) And a strong back makes good posture possible.

Your mom was right: When you stand up straight, you look 10 pounds lighter.

Give yourself a hug! Feel the winged bones that stick out of your back? These bones are your

shoulder blades, or scapula. These bones, along with a few muscles groups, keep the spine

erect and stabilize the shoulder girdle.

Try this: Bring your shoulder blades together. Do you feel you chest open as well? See how

that improves your posture as well as your general sense of well-being?

The following exercises strengthen the muscles that stabilize the scapula: the muscles

between your shoulder blades (the rhomboids), the muscles that depress your shoulder blades

(the trapezius) and the muscles that hold it in place (the serratus anterior.)

So pick out a Back Toning Exercise (or three or four), give it a try, and you're well on

your way to a strong, healthy and sexy back.

Back Toning Exercise #1 - The Dart

Position:

Lay on your stomach with your forehead on a towel and arms at your sides, palms face down.

Movement:

"Zip up" your abdominal muscles like you've just put on a tight pair of jeans and hollow out

your pelvis. Lift your chest and head off the mat, keeping your nose
pointed down and raising your hands up, reaching for the end of the mat and
rotating your thumbs out and up. Work up to 4 repetitions trying to hold longer each time,

up to 20 seconds.

Tips:

Keep looking down and reaching out through the crown of your head. Abs stay zipped up as you

feel your shoulders slide down your back.

Back Toning Exercise #2 - Bird Dog

Position:

Kneel on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

Be sure your elbows are not locked.

Movement:

As you breathe out, engage your abdominals and extend your right arm and your left leg. Try

to hold them level at shoulder and hip height without losing your balance or letting your

back arch. Breathe in to return to start position. Alternate 4-6 repetitions on both sides.

Tips:

Keep the trunk as still and unmoving as you can. Lengthen out from your
tailbone to the crown of your head. Draw your belly button in, but do not round your spine.

To keep tension out of your upper body, think of keeping your chest open and neck long.

Back Toning Exercise #3 - Spine Twist

Position:

Sit tall on the mat with your legs extended long in front. Your heels and hips are glued

together and your feet flexed. Arms extend out to the sides as you reach out through your

fingertips.

Movement:

Inhale to lift up out of your hips. Exhale and rotate from the waist to turn your upper

body, as if you're trying to see your wrist, pulsing two times as if to wring the air out of

your lungs. Inhale to return to the center and then exhale before repeating movement to

twist the other way. Do three to five sets.

Modifications:

If you have tight hamstrings or less-than-perfect posture, you can sit on a small cushion or

rolled mat, which will enable you to sit up tall even with your legs straightened out in

front of you. Another variation is to do the Spine Twist while sitting on an exercise ball

with knees bent, feet parallel and just wider than hip distance apart.

Tips:

As you rotate the spine, focus on cementing the body from the hips down, to avoid shifting

your hips. Stay anchored from the base of your spine to the very top of your head. Grow your

fingertips long from your arms as you twist. Think heavy on the tush, as if you are anchored

in cement from the hips on down. Head follows hand. Think tall, taller, tallest!

Back Toning Exercise #4 - Swimming

Position:

Lie on your stomach with your arms stretched out overhead and your legs extended long behind

you. Draw your shoulder blades down your back to stabilize your shoulders. Think heavy in

the torso as you scoop your belly button to the spine.

Movement:

Hover your limbs slightly off the mat, along with your chest and head. Inhale for five beats

as you quickly alternate your arms and legs as if you are swimming, lifting the torso a

little. Exhale for five beats and then inhale for five beats as you lift opposite arms and

legs in a flutter kick style.

Modification:

Do the above movement slowly, without fluttering. Lift your right leg off the mat and also

your left arm. Hold and then reverse limbs. Another modification is to keep your chest and

head lower.

Tips:

Keep your gaze down on the mat with the back of your neck long. Be sure your hips do not

rock side to side as you lower and lift your limbs. Think: "Stable trunk, arms and legs move

around the trunk." Legs lengthen out of your hips.

Time to Rest! The Shell or Child's Pose Position

Position:

Kneel on all fours.

Movement:

Leaving your hands in the same position, lower your bottom backward onto your heels. Lower

your upper body until your forehead is resting on the floor and stretch your hands in front

of you as far as you can. This should feel REALLY good.

Tips:

Try this exercise between the back strengthening exercises to stretch your back, and also at

the end of the session.


Jennifer Adolfs is an ACE Certified Advanced Fitness Specialist and Certified Mat and

Equipment Pilates Instructor. She specializes in working with people who have

musculoskeletal issues, specifically back and joint conditions. Check out the many articles

and her ebooks about how Pilates-based exercises can help you strengthen and tone your back

at: http://www.pilates-back-joint-exercise.com/pilates-ebook.html