My posture was terrible. I spent my twenties hunched over keyboards, and by my thirties my shoulders had decided to live in front of my ears. A physical therapist gave me a five-minute routine, and I have done it every morning for about a year. It did not turn me into a ballerina, but the difference is real, and so is the back pain that went away.

Five minutes of targeted movement beats an hour of trying to sit up straight, because your muscles actually learn the position.

The routine

1. Wall slides (1 minute). Stand with your back against a wall, arms up in a goalpost position. Slide your arms up and down slowly, keeping your back and elbows against the wall.
2. Chin tucks (1 minute). Sit or stand tall, and gently pull your chin straight back, making a double chin. Hold for three seconds, release. This strengthens the muscles that hold your head over your shoulders.
3. Shoulder blade squeezes (1 minute). Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for five seconds, then relax.
4. Doorway stretch (2 minutes). Stand in a doorway, forearms on the frame, and lean forward gently to stretch the chest, 30 seconds on each side.

Why this works

Bad posture is mostly weak back muscles and tight chest muscles. These moves strengthen the back and stretch the chest, which is exactly the balance you need. The wall slide in particular teaches your arms and shoulders where neutral actually is.

My results

The first week I felt silly doing chin tucks in front of the bathroom mirror. By the second month, I noticed my shoulders sat further back without me thinking about it. My neck stopped aching by mid-afternoon, which used to be my daily low point.

The one habit that multiplies it

The routine only works if you also fix your work setup. Raise your screen so the top is at eye level, and use a chair that supports your lower back. No amount of morning exercises beats a monitor that is six inches too low for eight hours a day.

It is five minutes. That is shorter than the time I used to spend complaining about my back.