A fitness expert says you only need this three minute mobility routine to improve your posture – so I tried it

My posture isn’t the worst in the world but it’s far from the best. I spend eight hours of my day sat in front of my laptop screen, sometimes slouched, other times with my legs crossed and sometimes not even at a desk (hello sofa my old friend). The end of my day is often met with me reaching my arms up towards the heavens to stretch out my stiff limbs.

While we’re all told we need to break up our days with movement, this is something I still struggle to find the time to do. So, when I stumbled across this daily three-minute mobility routine from Fitness Coach, Jeremey Ethier, Founder of Buit With Science, I knew there were no excuses. I had to give it a try.

Ethier says the chosen exercises focus on relieving tension in the three most problematic areas from sitting— our shoulders, back and hips— which can help boost our posture and increase our range of motion. What’s better is you don’t need any home gym equipment, just a wall, door, or wardrobe, at most. Here’s how I got on…

The wall clock

Either says this stretch is excellent for loosening up “rounded and locked up shoulders”. You know the feeling, right? But, as well as increasing your shoulder’s range of motion, he adds that it will also strengthen the muscles in them, and your upper back, which can improve your posture.

How I found it: As someone who gets extremely stiff shoulders, I loved this exercise, and what’s great about it is that all it requires is a wall (as you can see I used a wardrobe). Our shoulder has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body, so moving my arm through a circular motion instantly woke up my shoulder muscles which had been doing virtually nothing all day. It also revealed that I have less range of motion in my left shoulder, as I struggled more on this side. However, Ethier says you can make the movement easier by standing further away from the wall (or closer if you want a deeper stretch), which definitely helped. My shoulders were left feeling lovely and looser afterwards— result!

Try it yourself:

• Stand side ways with your fingertips touching the wall and your thumb touching down
• Slowly draw your palm in a semi circle forward and up the wall, letting your shoulder blade move forward and up as you do so
• Move your arm back and down the wall to complete the circle
• Reverse your arm back to the starting position
• Do this for 30-seconds on each side

Cat cow twist

A stiff neck and tight back after eight hours of sitting is incredibly common, but Either promises this exercise can help to wake up those muscles that have been on standby. You’ve probably heard of the cat cow before, but there’s a twist to Either’s version (literally).

How I found it: The cat cow is one of my all-time favourite mobility exercises and one that I always include in my gym warm-ups, so I was pleased to see Either also rates it. It’s a great way to aid flexibility in the spine and it instantly relieved the pent-up tension in my back from a day of (trying) to sit up straight. I really focused on my breathing too, inhaling as I curved my spine and exhaling as I flexed it, and afterward, I felt so much more relaxed. Adding the side-to-side twist was new for me, but it's something I’m definitely going to add into my own cat cow, as it was a great way to stretch out the lats.

Try it yourself:

• Get on all floors and place your hands so that they’re directly under your shoulders
• Externally rotate your elbows to engage your lats
• As you inhale, tilt your pelvis back so that your tailbone reaches towards the ceiling, squeeze your shoulder blades together and raise your head towards the ceiling
• Then, exhale, and tilt your pelvis forwards, tucking your tailbone underneith to round the spine and tilt your head towards the floor
• Perform this for 30-seconds
• Bring your spine back to a netral position and then turn your head to look towards your right foot
• Return to centre, then turn your body to look towards the left foot
• Do this for another 30-seconds

90/90 hip stretch with a forward lean

Sitting in the same position all day causes the hip flexors to shorten and become tight and stiff. However, this exercise will give them some well-deserved TLC, as well as the glutes and piriformis.

How I found it: This exercise surprised me the most because it doesn’t look like you’re doing much, but the payoff is big. I was met with a very satisfying stretch on the outside of my glutes but I discovered that the key is to keep your spine neutral as you lean forward. That might mean you can’t lean forward very far at all (like me), but it ensures you get a deep stretch in the area you need it most. I was far tighter on my left side than my right, but by focusing on my breathing I was able to lean slightly more forwards with each rep to get a decent stretch. This ones a keeper!

Try it for yourself:

• Sitting on the floor, place one leg in front of your body and the other to the side of you, both at a 90-degree angle
• Straighten your posture and try to position your shoulders square to the front of your shin
• Exhale and reach your chest forward towards the floor until you feel a stretch on the outside of your glutes or leg
• Inhale and lift your chest back up to return to the starting position
• Continue doing this for 30 seconds, then repeat on the other side

Would I do it again?

Overall, I really liked Ethier’s three-minute mobility routine. It's accessible to everyone as you don’t need any equipment and all the exercises are fairly beginner-friendly. My shoulders, back and hips were left feeling relaxed, which meant I could return to my desk and sit taller than before (which was pretty slouched). Personally, I would prefer to do each exercise for a minute, as 30 seconds just flew by, and I was really enjoying the instant relief they’d give my muscles. However, if you’re pushed for time, or struggle to break away from your desk, three minutes is probably perfect and easy enough to slot into your day. If you have more time on your hands, and get particularly tight in your shoulders and back, then I'd also recommend this seven-minute mobility routine from Stretchologist, Rachele Gilman.