1. Cervical Isometrics
Let’s begin with a simple exercise that anyone can do, even if they are experiencing pain. If you’re feeling like exercise is not an option for you right now, this technique may be just what you need. To perform this exercise, use your hand as resistance by placing it on the front, back, or side of your head. Then, gently push your head into your hand without letting your head move. It’s essential to avoid increasing your pain level during this exercise. Even applying a small amount of pressure can be beneficial, so don’t worry if it doesn’t feel like much. However, if you can’t perform this exercise with even the lightest pressure, it may be time to consult your primary care physician or physical therapist for further assistance.
So, what benefits can this simple exercise provide? To kickstart the healing process of your muscles, they need to be stimulated. When muscles contract and relax, blood flow is increased, which helps move biochemicals, nutrients, and oxygen to the affected area. If there is not enough blood flow, the muscle tissue can remain in a state of pain and spasm, creating an acidic environment that results in even more discomfort. By doing this easy exercise, you can promote better blood flow and accelerate the healing process of your muscles.
2. Supine reaching
This is a staple in most of our programs to establish a baseline for posture and alignment in a variety of other movement patterns. This exercise is going to help you develop a good foundation by starting your postural correction at your pelvis while also incorporating reaching to improve shoulder blade control. Control and strength in your shoulder blades matters so much because there are many neck muscles that connect to your shoulder blades, so they have work together.
Technique: Lying on your back with your knees either bent or resting up on a chair or couch. The first part is an exercise all on its own, called a pelvic tilt. Here, you will roll your pelvis “backward” to flatten your low back onto the floor. Then roll your pelvis forward to increase the gap between your low back and the floor. Once you understand this motion well, you should flatten your back out to press it lightly on the floor, but you do not need to push firmly into the floor. Next, reach your arms toward the ceiling. Breathing deeply in and out, try to reach a little further with each exhale. Reach as far as you can until you feel your neck or upper back is going to want to lift off the ground. Make sure that as you get near your end range, you are able to keep your neck muscles relaxed. Progressing this exercise is as easy as adding some weights!
3. Wall Slides
This exercise is one of my favorite ways to reverse some of the effects of long periods of sitting. It is going to force you get straighten out your upper back and open up your chest. It is also challenging enough that it will work the postural muscles in your upper back, neck and shoulder blades.
Technique: Stand against a wall and flatten your lower back out enough that you can barely squeeze your hand between the wall and your low back. Next, raise your hands up as if you are signaling for a touchdown! Ideally, you would have your head, elbows, and hands all touching the wall. If you cannot achieve this position at first, start by placing your upper back on the wall and getting your elbows and hands as close as you can comfortably. Next you raise your arms up, sliding them along the wall as high as you can. This will usually be 6 inches to 2 feet at most.
4. Neck flexion
As I discussed in my blog about neck stiffness, one of the most common culprits is weakness. This exercise is designed to target the deep muscles of the front of your neck . These muscles are often weak and in an elongated position from sitting with a forward head. This one is often sneaky difficult when starting, but you can notice rapid improvement within even a few weeks of practice.
Technique: Start lying on your back with your knees bent. Best practice would be to flatten your low back into the floor or your bed, this will put you in an optimal posture for the exercise. Roll up a small towel and place it behind your neck. To initiate the movement, feel like you are trying to pull just your chin down toward your chest, followed by slightly lifting your head while keeping a constant pressure in the towel. Now you are going to continue the movement by continuing to curl your chin toward your chest. It is tempting to just pick your head and neck up as one unit. Try to avoid this and ensure you are performing by slowly curling until you cant bring your chin closer to your chest, this typically happens when your neck just barely lifts off the towel.
5. Band pull-aparts
This is one of my all time favorite exercises for several reasons. You will be reversing the all-too-common curled up posture that our world of sitting has created by really making your postural and shoulder blade muscles work really hard! The second main benefit….it is really tough to mess this one up.
Technique: Standing either against a wall or in the middle of the room, stand in a “tall” posture, basically make yourself feel like you are 1 inch taller than you normally are. Hold the band straight in front of you and start with your grip about shoulder width apart. Then, just pull apart. You should try to really squeeze or pinch your shoulder blades together as you are finishing the movement. As you are coming back to the starting position, allow your shoulder blades to move freely or even reach your hands forward which forces your shoulder blades to now move around your rib cage for added benefit!
Now it is time to try them out! Remember to avoid any exercises that cause pain and try to stay consistent with the exercises you enjoy the most. Let us know what you think and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!