I am looking for a simple resistance training program that will offset the adverse effects of sitting on my muscles and posture. Taking a look at this figure:
I see that I must strengthen the glutes and the upper back muscles. Since what I need is enduring strength rather than max strength I must exercise these muscles with low load for many reps. To make things simpler I want a program that takes approximately 15 minutes and consists of as few exercises as possible (preferably 3 or less). Also the exercises should ideally easily be done at home without large equipment. I already train with heavy barbells twice a week so I was planning on doing these exercises all the other days. In addition I train interval running once a week and go for walks so my heart is fine. Its just some of my muscles that are weak and some that are tight.
Which exercises should I do?
I have very thight hips and this is a problem when I squat so lately I have been doing monster walks and sideways walks with resistance bands as a warmup to my weight training and this is something I enjoy as I feel that it really opens up the hips. I also tried the banded bodyweight squat to reverse lunge and I liked that exercise since it reinforces the squat pattern and seems very effective for the glutes (I could really feel the "burn").
Also before starting heavy barbell training I did some training with kettlebell two hand swings. I dismissed it as not as effective way to gain strength as barbell training but now I am thinking that doing lighter kettlebell swings almost every day may be a good thing for the posterior chain. Having one kettlebell at home is fairly practical, it does not take a lot of space.
Even if weak ab muscles are not shown in the figure above I think this is a problem. When standing we must have some pressure in our abdomen. When sitting none. So I think the plank should be one of the exercises. I already know that I am terrible at it so it sounds like something I need.
Regarding the upper back mucles it is somewhat more difficult to find a practical exercise for this. Kettlebell or dumbell bent ower row is one option but that takes twice as long since each arm has to be trained separately. I am fortune enough to be member at a gym that is located 100 m from my apartement so I am considering using one of their rowing machines for this. I have read that rowing trains 83% of the muscles in the body. Not sure if this means that just rowing 15 mins a day on its own might be good enough exercise to offset the adverse effects of sitting? This would certainly fit the simple program criteria.
Edit:
After having researched a bit it seems both kettlebell swing and rowing machine are great exercises but they have one problem; they both tend to tire the lower back. Because of this it is difficult to do them everyday.
Body weight squats and the plank on the other hand seem to be something that can be done every day.