Pain in both the neck and shoulder is very common, and being pain-free is something people take for granted until it’s gone. There are many causes to this annoying or even debilitating pain, but oftentimes it may be due to everyday actions such as bad posture at work and at the office.
If you are having neck or shoulder pain, take a break and do these 7 moves!
Here is a video demonstrating all of the exercises:
And here we break down each of the exercises in more detail:
1. Trigger Point Your Upper Traps – the top of your shoulder (:05)
- 1 minute per side
- You can also roll the rest of your upper back and shoulders against a wall if you have other hot spots
2. Stretch Your Upper Traps and Levator Scapulae (:16)
- 45 seconds per stretch per side
- Both these muscles hold tension and tend to stiffen up with prolonged sitting while driving or at a computer
3. Foam Roll Your Thoracic Spine – mid-back (:35)
- 1-2 minutes of rolling
- Here we demonstrate rolling with a flexed spine as well as thoracic extension movements
4. More Spinal Mobility Work – to get you out of that rounded posture (1:00)
- 5-10 reps, exhaling ALL the air out of your lungs as you come down
- This movement also will stretch your lats if they are tight (and they probably are!)
5. Thoracic Rotation Work – important for overall shoulder and spinal health (1:20)
- 5 reps per side
- Make sure you lead the movement with your head – your body will follow!
6. No Money – don’t worry, us too (1:40)
- 10-15 reps with a light band (no band is fine too)
- This creatively-named exercise will help to strengthen the muscles you work so hard at weakening all day while hunched over at your computer
- Make sure you do NOT feel tension in your upper traps – If you do, complete this drill without a band or try doing it while lying on your back. This allows you to relax your postural muscles and focus on engaging the working muscles instead, which in this case is the back of your shoulders in the region between your shoulder blades
7. W’s – similar but at a slightly different angle than exercise #6 and a bit more challenging (2:03)
- 10-15 reps with a light band (no band is fine too)
- Doing both exercise #6 and #7 is ideal , but if this one causes discomfort in your neck or shoulders, then start with the No Money and progress to adding this in after a week or two
Please note that in general, it is important to take breaks and build small consistent routines like this into your work week. This will result in a huge impact and with relatively little effort. Through the exercises, also make sure that you are breathing well and moving in ranges of motion where you don’t have any pain.
For some related links, check out this previous BIM Lab article: https://balancemotion.com/three-exercises-for-neck-pain/
We hope you found this exercise series helpful and if you have any questions or want to know more about anything featured in this post, please feel free to email Andrea at andrea@balancemotion.com.