One Week Workout Plan For Better Posture & Strength

Last updated on May 4th, 2021 at 02:41 pm

If your lifestyle involves many hours of sitting, you’re probably going to need this one week workout plan for better posture and strength! These are some of my favorite workouts to tone the core, the back, the lower body, everything! You don’t need a subscription – all exercise routines are available for free on Youtube, feel free to change workouts as you like!

Why Better Posture and Strength

I need to seriously do something about my posture and about my neck and lower back pain, I can’t even joke about the hunchback without shedding a tear anymore. Who am I? Don’t answer, I know I’m turning into a hypersensitive Gen Z and I’m going to cancel everything and everyone. The good news is that I’m obviously getting younger and younger and aging in reverse.

So, painful hunchback. What’s the plan? What am I going to do? How am I going to survive? Well, after the panic attack, I realized something. I know for a fact that all my pain comes from sitting long hours and from having weak core muscles. So the focus for this exercise schedule will be to strengthen the core muscles and also, to open up the muscles on the front of the body – the hips, the chest, the belly – everything. Of course, the body isn’t just core or the front of the body. Everything is connected and working together. So we’ll be incorporating strengthening back and lower body workouts as well to help build muscle. Long-term a regular exercise routine is super important for preserving bone health and keeping your spine healthy.

Lifestyle Changes

A 30-minute workout every day is a great start, but if that’s all you do, it won’t help much. It’s how you spend the rest of your time that makes a bigger difference. I read a very interesting study where they compared the lifestyles of obese and lean “couch potatoes”. Turns out, the obese participants were seated for 164 more minutes a day than the ones who were lean. Note, we’re not even talking about moving, we’re just talking about standing. The authors further estimated that the obese participants could burn an additional 350 kcal a day if they didn’t spend those 164 minutes sitting. That’s a weight loss of 15 kg per year, if the energy intake remained the same. You can read more here.

So, the three other habits that I’m committing to will be 1) to take more breaks from my sitting marathons, 2) to walk at least 7,000 steps every day and 3) to be more mindful of my posture overall. To always engage the core and to allow myself to take up space whatever I do, wherever I go.

How To Create Your Own Workout Plan

To create a workout plan you need 3 things:

a goal
workouts
a plan

This week’s goal will be to increase my overall strength, but especially core strength, so I can improve my posture and reduce pain. The workout split will look like this:

Monday: Full Body Barre
Tuesday: Back And Core Strength
Wednesday: Lower Body
Thursday: Yoga Stretch
Friday: Arms and Shoulders
Saturday: Pilates Powerhouse
Sunday: Yoga stretch

Equipment

This workout plan calls for two things: dumbbells and a workout or yoga mat. Whatever you do, go at your own pace and use the weights for your level of fitness.

One Week Workout Plan For Better Posture And Strength

So, I went on Youtube, looked through some of my favorite workouts and created a workout schedule for a full week that I’m super excited about.

Day 1: Full Body Barre

It’s no secret, I love this barre workout by POPSUGAR Fitness is one of my favorites. It’s quick, it will make you sweat, it will make you stretch, it will make you feel amazing. I always feel so much more open in my shoulders. Here you don’t need any equipment.

Day 2: Back & Core

Haven’t tried this one yet, but it looks like it’s going to be pretty amazing. This trainer kept popping up in my feed and everyone’s been talking about Caroline’s workouts, saying that they’re really hard so I’m really excited and a bit scared to try this one. Hope I don’t crumble and cry with my weak back and core. It’s only 15 minutes and you only need a towel.

Day 3: Lower Body

I’ve done this lower body workout several times and I love it! It’s 20 minutes and you need a set of dumbbells, but I’ve also used a kettlebell for this one. I cannot quite walk without tears in my eyes the next day, but it’s good. I found Heather about a year ago after I bought a kettlebell and didn’t know what to do with it, so I did one of her workouts. And, I’ve done so many more after. She’s got everything – weights, HIIT, resistance bands, Pilates, barre, yoga, even a 12-week program on her Youtube channel, so go ahead and check it out.

Day 4: Yoga Stretch

This is at the moment, a favorite part of my week. Whenever I get to do this yoga routine by YOGATX I feel like a brand new person. It’s relaxing and opening and stretches everything, I highly recommend doing this on your off-days, you’ll really appreciate it after the first three days.

Day 5: Arms and Shoulders

My arms almost fell off doing this one and I couldn’t see anything from sweat. This workout by Heather Robertson targets the biceps, triceps and shoulders. It’s 30 minutes and you need dumbbells, a stability ball and an exercise mat. If you don’t have a stability ball, you can do the exercises on the floor.

Day 6: Pilates Powerhouse

Pilates is a great way to strengthen your core and improve your posture and this routine by efit30 looks perfect to do just that. In 30 minutes you’ll strengthen the entire powerhouse, which is the center of your body and includes your abdominal, lower back and glute muscles. Strengthening the powerhouse is really important when it comes to your spine health and posture.

Day 7: Yoga Stretch

We’re ending the week with a beautiful full body yoga stretch by YOGATX. It’s 30 minutes and you only need a yoga mat.

I hope you found some workouts that you’d want to add to your exercise schedule in order to stay healthy and happy. Please note that this is a workout plan that is challenging for my fitness level (which is intermediate) and I strongly suggest modifying to your own fitness level and preferences. Also, it’s generally strongly recommended to speak to a medical professional before starting a new workout regimen.