Shoulders, upper back and hips

Reverse Table: Chair Supported

Strengthens and opens your shoulders and chest in an accessible way: no need to get down to the floor.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit on the front edge of a stable chair

   Feet flat on the floor, knees over the ankles. No getting down to the floor is needed for this version.

2. 2

   Take hold of the sides of the seat

   Hands beside your hips, gripping the edges. Turning the fingers slightly toward your body is an option if the wrists prefer it.

3. 3

   Press through hands and feet to lift the hips

   A partial lift is the whole exercise here. The chest opens as the hips leave the seat by a small amount.

4. 4

   Keep your gaze level and forward

   The head stays level rather than dropping back. Shoulders stay down away from the ears.

5. 5

   Hold, lower, then repeat two or three times

   Each hold lasts about fifteen to thirty seconds. Rest between rounds and make each lift smaller if the previous one felt like a struggle.

What to watch for

A chair that slides or tips as you press into it, so set it against a wall first. Keep the lift partial and come down if the front of the shoulder starts to pinch rather than pressing on through it.

Ways to adjust it

• Fingers turned toward the body
• Reduce the lift height
• Gaze forward instead of dropping the head back
• Partial lift only

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Reverse Tabletop versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Reverse Table: Classic
• Reverse Table: Hands on Blocks

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.