Since having my first baby six months ago, I’ve been acutely aware of some long-standing aches and pains. Maybe it’s because I’m carrying around my 15-pound son for most of the day, but my usual middle and upper back pain has increased significantly in the past few weeks.
Back pain is quite common and tends to become more prevalent with age. According to the CDC, around 28% of 18 to 29-year-olds experience back pain. That number increases to 46% for those 65 and older.
I knew that if I didn’t address these middle and upper back issues soon, they’d only get worse as time went on (and as my son got heavier). I decided to pull out my yoga mat and try doing one of my favorite mid-back and shoulder rehab exercises — the ‘Prone W’ — every day for two weeks straight.
How to do the Prone W
- Lie on a mat face down.
- Bring your arms to a “W” position at your sides, with your elbows bent and your hands aligned with your shoulders.
- Engage your core.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together and lift your arms off the floor.
- Hold for a few seconds.
- Lower your arms back down to the ground.
- Continue for the desired number of reps.
Despite a lengthy history of back and shoulder pain, I hadn’t included any Prone Ws in my routine recently. I eased into my 14-day experiment by doing one set of 15 reps. That started to feel less challenging after a few days, so I gradually increased my volume until I was doing two sets of 20 reps comfortably.
The Prone W exercise targets your middle and lower trapezius, rhomboids, rotator cuff muscles, and rear deltoids. Strengthening these muscles will improve your posture, stabilize your shoulders, and prevent potential pain and inflammation.
Here are my takeaways from two weeks’ worth of Prone Ws:
My middle and upper back pain diminished significantly
Before my daily Prone Ws, my middle and upper back would be sore and fatigued by the time the evening rolled around. I would always do a few stretches before I went to bed, and while that would provide some temporary relief, nothing really improved the pain.
Fortunately, the Prone Ws did start to improve the pain. After 14 days, I didn’t feel like I had to stretch out before bed anymore, and I was able to sit at my desk and work without constantly adjusting my posture.
If you’ve been dealing with some mid-back pain and fatigue, doing this exercise could alleviate the problem.
My shoulder pain got better, too
I’ve dealt with nagging shoulder pain for quite some time, and while it doesn’t limit me in most day-to-day activities, I definitely notice it whenever I’m doing overhead presses.
The Prone W exercise strengthened the muscles between my shoulder blades, which in turn helped my posture and opened up my shoulder joint. I wouldn’t go as far as to say my shoulder pain disappeared, but it was less prevalent on my upper body training days.
Prone Ws have many benefits, especially if you deal with both back and shoulder issues.
I added 5 pounds to my dumbbell rows
I knew that Prone Ws would help my posture and possibly lessen my back pain, but I was somewhat surprised when, after a relatively short amount of time, my dumbbell rows started to feel easier.
I’ve been struggling to regain overall strength after the birth of my son, and my back has been the slowest to come around. About halfway through my Prone W experiment, I was finishing my dumbbell rows without feeling tired. I started doing them five pounds heavier and got through all of my sets without any form compensations or pain.
Prone Ws can serve as a great warm-up move for your upper body days, and may even help you add a little weight to your exercises.
Holding my son got easier
Most importantly, two weeks’ worth of Prone Ws made holding my son a lot easier. I was able to cart him around for longer without sitting, and he even served as a very wiggly weight on a few upper-body exercises.
Even if I hadn’t seen any of the other positive changes, this alone would have made my two-week experiment well worth it.
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