A barre instructor says training this one muscle group is just as important as the core for improving posture—this is the three-part sequence she recommends

Woman in domestic setting holding dumbbells.

You can’t fix bad posture overnight. As well as adjusting the way you sit and stand, it’s important to strengthen the muscles in the upper body that support good posture and that takes time.

You’ll often see people talking about strengthening the core as an important element of improving posture, but according to Pilates and barre instructor Tara Riley, the upper-back muscles might be even more important, especially becaause upper-back exercises don’t feature in workouts as much as core ones.