Back-strengthening exercises to shape your waistline

Let’s be real: Many women want an hourglass figure — big bust, small waist, and round hips. Even those who prefer a more petite shape usually yearn for a slim waist too.

If that is your physique goal, don’t neglect your back. Strengthening your back helps to slim your waistline and shape your back to give the illusion of a smaller waist. While doing back exercises will not help you lose fat around your waist, they will strengthen and sculpt your body.

Another reason to work on your back? Back injuries, especially in the lower back, are common due to weakness in the back muscles. One likely culprit? Sitting for long hours.

Here are five exercises to add to your routine, for a stronger, shapelier back.

Superman pose

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Why you should do it: The superman pose is a fun way to build back and core strength. You’ll have to use your back and entire body to fight against gravity to lift yourself up. This is a great way to learn how to engage your upper, mid, and lower back, as well as your shoulders, arms, glutes, and legs.

How to do it: Start by lying flat face down on the ground. Reach your hands straight out in front of you, shoulder-width apart and your legs straight behind you, hip-width apart.

Tuck in your tailbone, engage your glutes, lift your lower belly up to your spine, engage your core, and push your chest forward as you lift your hands and legs up. Imagine there’s a string pulling your arms and legs up towards the sky. Keep your fingers extended and your toes pointed to lift yourself up. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds and repeat five times.

Dish hold

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Why you should do it: This is the flipped version of the superman pose. Although it looks like an ab exercise, it also works your back. In fact, building well-rounded core strength should comprise both ab and back work.

How to do it: Start by lying flat on your back. Point your toes and engage your legs to squeeze your thighs together. You can place your hands by the side of your body or straight overhead.

Tuck in your tailbone, lift your lower belly up to your chest, and engage your core to press your lower back firmly into the ground — there should be no gap between the floor and your lower back. Once you’re ready, take a deep breath and lift your legs and upper body off the ground. Your shoulder blades should not be touching the floor. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds and repeat five times.

Upward dog

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Why you should do it: Many people use this pose to stretch their back, open their chest, and take a quick breather during a yoga flow class. While that is an accurate description of the pose, the upward dog can also build spine and back strength if you engage all your muscles and hold the pose for a few breaths.

How to do it: Lie face down on the ground and place your palms beside your shoulders while keeping your elbows close together. Point your toes and press your feet firmly into the ground. You can bring your feet together or hip-width apart if your back is tight. Next, squeeze your glutes, tuck in your tailbone, lift your lower belly up to your chest, and engage your core.

From here, roll your shoulders back, draw your shoulder blades down, and press through your hands and feet to push your body up. Keep your shoulders down as you straighten your elbows. Keep your hands and shoulders aligned as you push your chest forward. Keep engaging your quads to lift your thighs off the ground. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat five times.

Half superman pose

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Why you should do it: If you want to level up your upward dog, try this. It’s a modified superman pose where you only lift your upper body as your lower body stays on the ground, making you look like you’re doing an upward dog without using your arms for support. This is one of the best yoga poses for building lower back strength.

How to do it: Lie face down on the ground. Bring your feet together or hip-width apart. (The closer your feet are, the more challenging it will be. However, don’t go farther than hip-width apart as that can cause compression in your lower back.) Point your toes and press your legs firmly into the ground. You can either interlock your hands behind your back, bring them beside your body, reach them out to the side, or extend them straight out in front of you.

(The closer you get to the front, the more challenging it will be.) Then, tuck in your tailbone, lift your lower belly up to your chest, and engage your core to lift your upper body up. Engage your fingers and pull away from your body to lift your stomach off the floor. Keep engaging your glutes, back, and core to pull yourself up towards the ceiling. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds and repeat five times.

Bird-dog with flat back

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Why you should do it: The bird-dog pose involves a cat-cow movement (hunching and arching of the back while you’re on all fours) while you extend one arm to the front and the opposite leg to the back.

This is a great way to work on your balance and coordination while warming up the body. The straight-back variation of this pose takes away flexibility and momentum from the formula, making you rely on the strength and stability of your back and core in order to perform this exercise.

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How to do it: Start on all fours, making sure your knees are aligned with your hips and your palms are aligned with your shoulders. Engage your core and draw your belly button to the back of your spine. Try to keep a flat, neutral back and maintain this position throughout. Look down in between your index fingers as you reach your right hand straight out to the front and left leg to the back, about hip height.

Avoid reaching too high as you don’t want to arch your back. Try to form a straight line from your fingers to your toes. Maintaining that flat back, bend your right elbow and left knee, bring them to touch. Extend right arm and left leg again. That’s one rep. Do 10 reps on each side.

Remember: Life’s not just about how your body looks, but how your body feels and what it is capable of doing. Instead of focusing purely on weight or fat loss, why not work towards building strength to be injury-free?

This article was first published in Her World Online.