Top 10 Wall Posture Exercises to Fix Hunching and Slumping
Mar 16, 2025
Are you slouching at your desk, hunching over your phone, or leaning to one side while standing? You're not alone if you can relate to any of these common scenarios. Most people struggle with poor posture, whether due to habits we develop over time or an injury we’re trying to cope with. The good news is that posture correction exercises, like the wall posture exercise, can help you retrain your body to stand, sit, and move with more alignment and control. This article will outline the many benefits of wall posture exercises and offer tips to help you master the movement so that you can stand taller with a perfect posture free from hunching and slumping while feeling more assertive, more confident, and pain-free.
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Table of Content
Top 10 Wall Posture Exercises to Strengthen and Straighten Your Back
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Can You Use a Wall to Correct Stooped Posture?
Posture is your body's position when sitting, standing, or lying down. When we maintain a position for long periods, our muscles, ligaments, and joints adapt to that posture. Over time, these adaptations become permanent, which can lead to chronic pain and dysfunction.
Good posture helps your body put the least strain on supporting muscles, bones, and ligaments. It’s just one element of good spinal health, encouraging the brain to communicate more effectively with the rest of the body. This helps reduce strain, tension, and wear and tear.
Fix Poor Posture: Simple Solutions
Poor posture can develop due to habits like:
Slouching
Weakness in key muscles
When we spend most of our day in front of screens, it's no wonder that upper back and shoulder pain have become as common as smartphones.
Healthy habits, thoughtful ergonomics, and regular chiropractic adjustments are key in helping you achieve your perfect posture.
How a Wall Helps Correct Poor Posture
Using a wall to correct poor posture helps raise awareness of your body’s alignment. A wall can be a reference point to identify how far off your posture is from the ideal and guide you back to proper posture.
Using a wall to correct your posture helps you align your spine, engage key muscles, and build awareness of good posture.
How to Assess Your Posture Against a Wall
The Wall Test is an excellent way to assess your posture. Find some open wall space, clear of furniture or hanging decor. Stand against it with the back of your head, shoulder blades, and butt touching the wall.
Check Your Posture
Make sure you’re standing shoulder-width apart with your feet two to four inches from the wall. Your neck should be straight, and your ears should be aligned with the tops of your shoulders. Next, slip your hand behind the small of your back, palm flat toward the wall.
Your hand should barely slide into the small opening between the wall and your body for a correct lower back curve. If you find too much space, enough for one side of your hand to wiggle around or move without touching the wall or your body, it’s time to straighten up!
Maintain Proper Posture
Pull your belly button toward the spine, flattening the curve in your back. Bring it closer to the wall. If you find too little space, gently arch your back so your hand can slide behind you.
It should be a tight fit, but it shouldn’t be difficult. Take a moment to breathe, settling into your refreshed posture. When you walk away from the wall, hold this posture for as long as possible. If you slip out of it, return to using the wall as your checkpoint.
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Top 10 Wall Posture Exercises to Strengthen and Straighten Your Back
1. Wall Angels: Unlocking Shoulder Mobility and Stability
Wall angels are an exercise that can help improve posture, flexibility, and strength in your shoulders, upper back, and chest. Wall angels can be particularly helpful if you spend a lot of time sitting, working at a computer, or caring for and carrying small children.
What Muscles Do Wall Angels Work?
Wall angels strengthen several muscles but primarily target muscles in your upper back and shoulders:
Rhomboids
The muscles are located between your shoulder blades. They help you pull your shoulder blades together, which is essential for activities like:
Opening a door
Lifting objects
Driving
Doing chores around the home
Trapezius
A large muscle in your upper back that looks like a trapezoid. It starts at the base of your neck, extends across your shoulders, and then goes down to the middle of your back. The trapezius helps you move your shoulders.
Deltoids
The deltoids are the front, side, and back portions of your outer shoulder muscles. They help with lifting and carrying, swimming, and reaching for something on a high shelf.
Serratus Anterior
This muscle is located on the side of your chest and helps you rotate and move your shoulder blades.
Rotator cuff muscles
These include four muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis) that stabilize your shoulder joint. They help with everything from throwing a ball and reaching for something on a high shelf to getting dressed and brushing your teeth.
Benefits of Wall Angels
Here are some of the key ways that wall angels help your muscles and joints:
Shoulder mobility and stability: This can be particularly helpful if you have shoulder stiffness or are recovering from a shoulder injury.
Upper back strengthening: Strengthening muscle groups such as the trapezius, rhomboids, and deltoids can help counteract the effects of prolonged sitting or activities that cause shoulders to hunch.
Reduced neck and shoulder pain: Changing positions throughout the day helps reduce and prevent pain. Strengthening your upper back and shoulders lets you sit up straight and find different comfortable positions.
Better scapular movement: Moving shoulder blades (scapulae) is essential for healthy shoulder function. It can help prevent issues such as shoulder impingement.
Flexibility: Wall angles help increase flexibility in your chest and shoulders. They stretch out muscles that may become tight from staying in the same position.
To do wall angels:
Stand up tall with your back against a wall and your feet a comfortable distance away from the wall
Place the backs of your hands and arms against the wall with your hands at about head height
Slide your arms up toward the ceiling. Try to keep your arms on the wall, and avoid shrugging your shoulders
Slide your arms down to the starting position
As you do each rep, you might feel a stretch in your neck, upper back, and shoulders
Everyone is different, so you may need to modify this exercise to meet your needs.
Wall Angels Modifications
To make wall angels easier: Limit how far you slide your arms up the wall
To make wall angels harder: Start by getting into a wall squat position with your feet a couple of feet away from the wall. Then, bring your arms to the starting position and slide them up toward the ceiling as you hold the squat.
Variations on Your Everyday Angel
The wall angel isn’t the only celestial exercise on the block. Here are three tried-and-true variations.
Floor Angels
Not much of a wall person? You can do the same moves from the comfort of your floor and reap the same benefits. Simply lie on the floor with your knees bent and your spine straight.
Now, move your arms just like on the wall:
With the backs of your hands against the floor, stretch your arms straight above your head.
Squeeze your mid-back muscles as you slide elbows just below shoulders.
Hold for a sec.
Slide your arms back to the starting position and repeat.
Forward Wall Angel
Tight shoulders might protest when you first try a traditional wall angle, making it hard to keep them pressed against the wall. No need to push yourself to the point of pain — instead, try a forward wall angel.
Do the move with your arms and elbows just slightly off the wall. You can work up to traditional flight as you get stronger and more flexible. In the meantime, you’ll still be getting a solid workout.
Narrow Your “Wings”
If your muscles and flexibility allow you to take things up a notch, work on narrowing the Y shape you make with your arms and bringing your heels closer to the wall. This way, you’ll definitely feel more of a stretch and a burn.
2. Wall Sits: Build Core Strength and Stability
Wall sits (or wall squats) are an isometric exercise, which is an exercise where you hold a particular position without moving. “Isometric exercises work your muscles by making you hold them steady, rather than actively lifting, pulling or pushing,” explains Justen. “As you hold the sit, your muscles have to work against gravity. This resistance helps you build strength and works your range of motion.”
A wall sit looks like a squat (and as the name implies, you’re using the wall as support). But don’t rule them out if squats aren’t your jam. “The extra support of the wall is helpful for people who can’t do a squat on their own,” adds Justen. “And wall sits aren’t just for fitness beginners. You can make the exercise more difficult by going deeper or holding it longer.”
How to do wall sits:
Stand with your back against a stable wall. Keep your toes facing forward and your feet hip-width apart.
While keeping your back against the wall, walk your feet out before you. Bend your knees and allow your back to slide down the wall.
If you’re a beginner, try taking one step out (until your thighs are at a 45-degree angle to the floor). Take two to three steps for a deeper sit, but don’t let your knees extend past your toes.
Hold your squat for five seconds or up to one minute, depending on your ability and the challenge you want. Make sure you feel your weight in your heels, not your toes
To get out of a wall sit, push your palms against the wall and bend forward at your hips
Or bring one foot back toward the wall and slide your body up.
Benefits of Wall Sits
On the surface, wall sits can seem pretty basic — after all, you’re just squatting against a wall. But as soon as you get into position, you’ll start to feel the burn in your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. This exercise has several benefits, including:
Builds abs and back muscles
Wall sits are great for core strength. A strong core (muscles in your abdomen, pelvis, and lower back) supports your spine and may reduce lower back pain. “When you do wall sits, you use your core muscles to hold yourself steady,” says Justen. “This position helps you build the muscles in your abs, sides, and back.”
Burns fat
Cardio isn’t the only way to slim down. Muscle-building exercises can help rev up your metabolism so you burn more body fat. “The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest,” she explains.
Doesn’t require equipment
Don’t have exercise bands, weights, or other fitness equipment? No problem. “All you need is your body and a stable wall,” Justen states. “You can do wall sits any time of day, like during a work break.”
Offers accessibility
“You can do wall sits regardless of your ability if you start by going down just a few inches,” she notes. “As you gain strength, you can go deeper into your sit to make it more challenging. There’s a level of wall sit that’s right for nearly everyone.”
Improves posture
If you slouch during the day (who doesn’t?), wall sits can help you focus on your posture. “Wall sits are like a reset for the muscles that become weak from improper posture,” Justen says. “Pushing your back against the wall engages the muscles that help straighten your spine.”
3. Wall Roll-Ups: A Beginner-Friendly Core Strengthening Exercise
In Pilates, roll-ups are typically performed as floor exercises on a mat. Even so, NASM-certified personal trainer Maria Vazquez, head of training at MYWOWFIT, recommends trying wall roll-ups, a simple variation that activates the core while increasing spinal flexibility.
To try it, sit facing the wall with your legs extended and feet flexed. "Reach forward and roll down one vertebra at a time until you’re flat. Then roll back up to start," Vazquez tells Best Life. "The wall provides support for deeper and more controlled movement, making it great for beginners or those recovering from injury."
4. Wall Scissors: Strengthen Your Core and Improve Flexibility
Wall scissors can also work your abdominal muscles, including the obliques and lower abs, helping to strengthen the full range of your core over time. Vazquez says that to begin, you should lie on your back with your legs extended up the wall.
Then, lower one leg towards your head while keeping the other against the wall before switching to the other side in an alternating pattern. "The wall helps with alignment, reduces strain, and makes exercise more effective," she notes. It also improves hamstring flexibility.
5. Wall Planks: Modified Planks for Core Strength
Madison Collum, a certified Pilates trainer at BodyRok and a Pilates expert for The Trade Table, recommends trying modified wall planks that can help build core strength for people of all fitness levels.
To try the exercise, place your arms against the wall with your elbows at a 90-degree angle, shoulder-width apart. Then, step your feet back so that your core is engaged as you lean, holding this pose for 30 to 60 seconds. "This exercise targets the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques, and lower back muscles," Collum notes.
6. Wall Teasers: Strengthen Your Core and Improve Balance
Vazquez says wall teasers can be a great addition to your exercise routine that builds core and leg strength. Sit with your back against the wall, your knees bent, and your feet flat. Then, extend your arms forward and lift your legs into a tabletop position.
Hold that pose, then lower your body back into your original position. "This exercise helps with balance and lower abs," Vazquez says. "The wall provides support for better stabilization and makes it accessible for all levels."
7. Wall Pikes: An Advanced Wall Pilates Move
Vazquez recommends trying a wall pike if you’re ready to intensify your wall Pilates workout. This exercise begins in a plank position with your feet against the wall. Walk your feet up the wall while lifting your hips towards the ceiling, forming an inverted “V” shape with your body.
Hold that pose, then return to a plank. "This improves shoulder stability and the whole core," Vazquez says. "The wall adds resistance, making it more challenging and promoting more muscle activation."
8. Wall Squats with Overhead Raises: A Dynamic Core Exercise
Squats can help you achieve a more toned physique from the waist down, but experts say that people often overlook the core benefits of these workouts. Collum recommends trying wall squats with overhead raises, a "dynamic exercise that works not only your lower body but your core as well."
Begin by squatting down, creating a 90-degree angle with your legs and back pressed against the wall. Next, lift your hands over your head and bend forward over your knees, allowing the core to bend as your hands lower to the floor.
9. Wall Hundreds: A Classic Core Exercise
The hundred is a foundational Pilates move known for building core strength. Vazquez recommends trying a wall hundred, which is a slight variation. Begin by lying on your back with your feet propped against a wall.
Lifting your head and shoulders off the floor with your arms by your sides, pump your arms up and down while breathing in and out for five counts each. "It builds endurance in the core and breathing control. Wall support means proper form, maximum benefit, and less risk of injury," says Vazquez.
10. Wall Bridge: A Great Glute and Core Strengthener
Wall Bridges will work the entire core, glutes, and lower back, promoting posterior chain strength.
Muscles Engaged: Targets the glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and abdominals
Steps to Perform:
Lie on your back with your feet pressed against the wall, knees bent at 90 degrees.
Place your arms at your sides for stability.
Engage your core and glutes, and lift your hips towards the ceiling to form a straight line from knees to shoulder.s
Hold the bridge position for a few seconds, then slowly lower your hips back to the floor.
Make sure the movement is slow and controlled, focusing on squeezing the glutes at the top.
Repeat for 10-15 repetitions.
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