Shoulder Tension! How to Fix Shoulder And Neck Tightness

if your neck and shoulders are always tight a massage only gives you temporary relief it usually means one of two things either you've got tight restricted joints at the base of your neck or overactive upper traps so here's how to fix both if you've got stuck joints at the base of your neck the shoulder muscles will react by tightening up so let's loosen the spinal joints first lying face down with your forehead on a fist allow your chin to relax down you'll notice that it drops down and towards your fist then simply draw it the other way back and in as far as you can comfortably go hold for a few seconds and then relax it back down and repeat that 10 to 20 times slowly as you pull your chin back you'll feel it stretch and strengthen muscles at the base of the neck and the upper back but as it moves in this direction it's also opening up spinal facet joints that get stuck in this area there's a couple of great alternatives to this exercise that i'll put links to in the description box below you can also open joints at the base of the neck by tractioning and moving the neck to the side lying on a firm surface with legs bent start off by lengthening the back of the neck to open up the joints then place your hand on the base of the skull on the opposite side traction the back of the neck away from the body and then stretch it to the side don't lift the head off the floor any more than you need to keep it as low as you can hold the side stretch for a few seconds at the end and repeat three to five times it helps if you breathe out fully as you go to the side do this away from the side of neck and shoulder tension if you have tension on both sides you can do it in both directions but never do it if it feels sore especially on the side that you bend to or if it causes any symptoms down your arms all you should feel is a stretch of the muscles on the lengthened side and maybe a click or two retraction combined with neck traction is the third way to release joints in this area so that's our next exercise lying face up with your head and neck completely off the end of a bed take the full weight of your head in your hands then tuck your chin in slightly and lower your head as far as you can comfortably go you should feel a stretch in your upper back as you lower down if that feels comfortable use your hands to traction the back of the neck away from the body hold for a few seconds and then ease off the traction and repeat that traction 10 times slowly in that lowered head position an alternative way of doing this exercise is on a rolled up towel on a hard surface this lifts the mid back higher than the neck in the same way simply place a rolled up tail directly under your spine in the middle down the length of the back so that it ends at the base of the neck and then do the same motion looking at devices positioned on your lap or stomach and sitting in a slouched position on the sofa or in bed are the number one causes of jammed joints at the base of the neck so avoid these positions i have a video on better ways to position yourself as you do these things so i'll leave a link to that video in the description box below a lot of people have over active upper traps causing constant tight shoulders the upper muscles that move and stabilize the shoulder blades should be balanced with the lower muscles that move and stabilize the shoulder blades but poor posture and poor gym form can cause this balance to get out of whack if we can activate and strengthen the lower shoulder blade muscles and get the body to use them more it can help switch off overactive upper traps and levator scapular muscles so exercises that isolate and work the lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscles can help bring that balance back i feature these next two exercises in my shoulder fix video but i'll include them here to make it easier to access to activate the serratus anterior start off on all fours with a towel bedding or a yoga mat underneath you and arms and thighs roughly vertical grab a fold of the towel actively pull it away from your body and maintain that traction for the whole exercise then push your body away from the floor so that your shoulder blades move apart and then move backwards towards your feet pushing the tail away from your knees to keep that traction the whole time as you lower right back keep your shoulders down then return the opposite way keeping the shoulders down and maintaining traction on the towel as you rise back up finally relax your body back towards the floor to finish so it's traction the towel push up lower down keeping your shoulders down then return slowly maintaining traction and then finally lower your torso back down without bending your elbows with your feet about 20 centimeters out from a wall place your pelvis and shoulder blades against the wall and tuck your chin in begin with your arms straight out with thumbs facing keeping your elbow straight slowly raise your arms straight up as far as you can comfortably go actively keep your shoulders down but do this gently not too hard then keeping your hands and elbows back as far as you can comfortably keep them lower your arms right down hold this for a moment to work the lower trapezius and then return the other way keeping the elbows and hands back finish by lowering the arms again with elbows straight and shoulders gently down repeat this motion slowly five or ten times or so until the muscles feel slightly fatigued keep your chin in and back the whole time and stomach muscles slightly tensed so the mid-back doesn't arch back now all of these issues can cause shoulder knots so if you want a great way to quickly release any muscle knots that have formed in your upper traps i'll leave a link below to show you how to do that as well anyway i hope you liked the video if you did please consider liking and subscribing because it always really helps and let me know how you go in the comment section below okay cheers

Channel: Body Fix Exercises

Views: 36,086

Keywords: fix shoulder and neck tightness, shoulder tension, fix neck tension, neck pain, neck stretches, shoulder pain, stiff neck, neck pain relief, neck and shoulder tension relief, relieve neck and shoulder pain, relieve neck pain, how to relieve neck pain, shoulder muscle knot, neck pain exercises, neck muscle knot, neck and shoulder tension release, neck pain relief exercise, tense neck muscles, tense shoulders, tight shoulders, neck tension, shoulder tension relief

Id: ZvArx5Kuhfw

Length: 7min 20sec (440 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 28 2022