#1 – Ear To Shoulder Stretch
Begin in an upright sitting position maintaining good alignment with your head, shoulders, and hips. Feeling a light stretch on the side of your neck, drop your head to one side, bringing your ear to your shoulder. Hold the position for 20 seconds. Return back to the starting position and repeat the movement on the opposite side.
Ear To Shoulder Stretch
Start off with 1 set of 2 repetitions, ideally holding for 20 seconds. Perform the exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good hold at the end position. Intensity is light. And the purpose of this exercise is to work on your posture and to loosen up the tight muscles in the neck area.
#2 – Chin To Chest
Begin in an upright sitting position maintaining good alignment with your head, shoulders, and hips. Feeling a light stretch at the back of your neck, drop your head forward, bringing your chin to your chest. Hold the position for 5 seconds. Return back to the starting position and repeat the movement.
Chin To Chest
Start off with 1 set of 5 repetitions, ideally holding for 5 seconds. Perform the exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good hold at the end position. Intensity is light. And the purpose of this exercise is to work on your posture, to stretch the back of the neck, and to work on the good head alignment.
#3 – Behind The Back Neck Stretch
Begin in an upright standing position maintaining good alignment with your head, shoulders, hips, and legs. Bring your hands behind then bring your shoulders together as you straighten your arms and push your hands away. Hold the position for 5 seconds. Relax and return back to the starting position then repeat the movement.
Behind The Back Neck Stretch
Start off with 1 set of 5 repetitions, ideally holding for 5 seconds. Perform the exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good hold at the end position. Intensity is light. And the purpose of this exercise is to stretch and loosen the muscles in front of the shoulders.
#4 – Seated Front Body Openers
Begin in an upright sitting position at the edge of the chair or bench, maintaining good alignment with your head, shoulders, and hips. Place both hands on the side of the chair. Straighten both arms out to lift your seat off the chair then bring your hips up in an arch or reverse plank position. Hold the position for 5 seconds. Relax and return back to the starting position then repeat the movement.
Seated Front Body Openers
Start off with 1 set of 5 repetitions, ideally holding for 5 seconds. Perform the exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good hold at the end position. Intensity is light. And the purpose of this exercise is to reverse the rounded position that dominates our movements throughout the day.
#5 – Screen Break
Take a break. Breaks allow our body and the muscles in our body to recover.
#6 – Apply Ice/Heat
Apply ice or hot compress the sore area and repeat each for 10 minutes at a time. Hot compress is best if you have muscle tightness and icing is best for inflammation.
Alternating hot and cold is called contrast therapy and it increases blood flow to the area, thereby improving mobility.
Take Care,
Rick Kaselj, MS
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