Ever feel the side of your neck is tight or have neck pain? Do you find talking on the phone while holding the phone between your ear and shoulder and looking the opposite way difficult? Let’s learn to loosen the neck muscles up by doing head up rotation neck exercises with a twist! We are going to go through the head and neck motions as if you were talking on the phone without the neck pain. 

These head up rotation neck exercises will help to loosen up those neck muscles and give you more flexibility in the neck. This neck exercise will reduce tension on the Sternocleidomastoid muscle also known as SCM. Other muscles in these head rotation neck exercises are the upper trapezius, and splenius capitis and splenius cervicis. The splenius capitis and cervicis extend the neck when both muscles are activated and side bend and rotate to the same side when done on one side only. These splenius neck muscles are deep and also connected with the SCM.

The head up rotation neck exercises, SCM stretch exercises, and neck range of motion exercises are a great neck workout. These neck exercises will help to keep neck tension or stress down and reduce the forward head posture. Reducing neck tension in the SCM will prevent numbness and tingling sensation or even dizziness. I’ll teach the head up rotation neck exercises sitting.

Having the correct and good posture helps the neck motions and eliminates any other neck pain. Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor, relax your arms by your side or on your lap, bring your chin back towards your shoulders for chin tucks, relax your shoulders and look straight ahead. This is your starting position.

Take a breath in and bring your right ear towards the right shoulder while maintaining the chin tuck. Your eyes and nose should still be towards the wall in front of you. Now turn your head towards the left upper corner of the ceiling while still maintaining the right side towards the shoulder. Your eyes and nose should follow to the left. Breathe out and bring your nose and head towards the right chest/shoulder. Repeat the head up rotation neck exercises motion 10 times. You will feel the stretch and movement from the left SCM. Now bring your head back to starting position and reverse direction for the right side of head and neck motions and repeat for 10 repetitions.

There should be no pain, dizziness or numbness and tingling with the head up rotation neck exercises. There should be a gentle stretch. The neck motions should be slow and controlled with ease. You should feel looser when moving your head from shoulder to shoulder now. Other head rotation neck exercises will be described at a later time. Try this head up rotation neck exercise now and repeat daily until the head feels completely loose.

Have you been feeling tension in your shoulders lately? Or have you been carrying heavy bags on your shoulders? You may be experiencing tightness in your upper trapezius muscles that can elevate your shoulders to your ears. Stress and tension can affect both the neck and shoulder areas unless they are relieved. Doing stretch exercises will help reduce head and neck tension. The upper trapezius stretch exercises will help loosen up the neck and shoulder muscles to be more flexible.

The upper trapezius stretch exercise along with shoulder shrugs, shoulder rolls, shoulder blade pinches and chin tucks are a great neck workout to do for quick breaks. These neck exercises will help to reduce neck tension as well as improve posture. The upper trapezius stretch exercises can be done sitting or standing.  I’ll describe the upper trapezius stretch exercises in sitting with good posture.

It would be best if you have a supportive chair for your back. Sit straight up in the chair, your feet flat on the floor, your shoulders relaxed, your arms to your sides, your chin tucked, and your eyes looking straight ahead. 

I will describe how to do the upper trapezius stretch exercises for the left side of the neck.

Begin by taking a breath in and bringing your right arm up and placing your right palm on top of your head. Your fingers are pointing towards your left ear. Gently bring your right ear towards the right shoulder. The right hand should gently follow and guide your head to hold this position. Hold this position for 30 seconds and breathe out. You should feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. Return back to the starting position and repeat three times. Switch sides to do the right upper trapezius stretch exercises. 

You want to feel a nice stretch with these stretch exercises. You will find that you are able to bring your head and ear closer to the shoulder after each repetition. You want to be sure that your eyes are still looking at the wall straight ahead and that your chin does not turn towards your shoulder. There should be no pain with any of these stretch exercises. Other upper trapezius neck exercises will be described at a later time.

Do you feel hunched over? Do your shoulders roll forward and your chest caves in? Let’s reverse the forward hunch posture and open up your chest area out by doing stretch exercises. These chest stretch exercises focus on the pectoralis muscles especially the pectoralis minor. This stretch exercise will lengthen your muscles in the front and shorten the muscles in the shoulder blade area. These towel stretch exercises will also help with mobility of the spine especially the thoracic spine.

I like to have you start off with a rolled up towel, either a beach or bath towel. The towel should be folded in half length wise and then tightly rolled up. You can put string or rubber bands to hold the towel from unrolling. This towel will be underneath you when you lie down to do these stretch exercises. The towel should be along your spine from the base of your head down the middle of the spine towards your low back. 

These towel chest stretch exercises are best done on the floor. To position yourself for these stretch exercises, the main part of the towel needs to be under your mid back spine area. The back of your head also should be on the towel. Your feet flat on the floor, knees bent, your back pressed up against the towel, the back of your hands touching the floor, your chin tucked and towards the towel and eyes looking straight up at the ceiling.

Take a breath in and let your arms touch the floor where your fingers are going towards your feet. Press your shoulders back and perform a shoulder blade pinch. Maintain your chin tuck position and breathe out. Hold this position for one minute. Relax by crossing your arms across your chest. Repeat these chest stretch exercises three times. These stretch exercises will help to improve your posture and relieve neck tension.

Once you complete these stretch exercises, slowly rise up to avoid the blood flow rushing towards your feet and become dizzy. You will feel a stretching sensation throughout your chest and arms. There should be no pain with these or any neck exercises given. You can also do this neck exercise with a foam roll. Other towel stretch exercises will be described at a later time.  

Are you feeling stressed or tension in your neck and surrounding areas from sitting in front of the computer, driving or from less than optimal posture? Our shoulders and neck carry this stress in the upper trapezius muscle and can cause neck pain, discomfort and even numbness and tingling down the arm. Neck tension can cause headaches and improper neck posture. Stress and tension on the neck muscles can cause muscle imbalances that can lead to neck discomfort and pain. Neck exercises especially with the shoulders can relieve neck tension and improve posture. 

Shoulder neck exercises help to relieve neck tension by taking the pressure off the upper trapezius as well as stretching and strengthening the chest and mid back areas. The shoulder neck exercises help with the chest muscles by opening up the area when bringing the shoulders back just like the shoulder blade pinches. This neck exercise will correct your posture and avoid the forward head and rounded shoulders. 

The shoulder neck exercises that I will describe to you are just variations of shoulder shrugs and shoulder blade pinches. You can do these neck exercises sitting or standing. I’ll describe the shoulder neck exercises standing. Begin by standing up tall with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, arms and shoulders relaxed, perform a chin tuck by bringing your chin towards the back of your neck, and look straight ahead.

Be sure to maintain your balance with these shoulder neck exercises. Each direction for these neck exercises will be in three movements – low, medium and high. Each incremental direction is a small movement that should not cause any pain. There are four directions going up, going down, going forward and going backwards that will be covered with the shoulder neck exercises.

Raising the Shoulders: (Going up, up, up)

Take a breath in and bring your shoulders just a bit higher than the starting position, then up half way towards your ears and then all the way up towards your ears. Hold 10 seconds while up towards your ears and breathe out. Return your shoulders half way back down, then a little more and then finally relax your shoulders. Repeat this neck exercise 10 times. 

Dropping the Shoulders: (Going down, down, down) 

Take a breath in and drop your shoulders down a bit towards the floor, then a little more and then try to reach towards the floor with your hands to bring your shoulders down even more. Breathe out and hold at the bottom for 10 seconds. Reverse the direction and repeat 10 times.

Forward Shoulders: (Caving in,in,in) 

Take a breath in and bring your shoulders forward towards the wall a little bit, then a little more and then all the way so that your shoulders are in front of you. Hold this position for 10 seconds and breathe out. Reverse the direction to the starting position and repeat 10 times.

Backward Shoulders: (Opening up,up,up)

Take a breath in and bring your shoulders back towards the other wall a little bit, then some more and then all the way to open your chest. Hold this position for 10 seconds and breathe out. Reverse the directions to return to the starting position. Repeat for 10 times. 

These shoulder neck exercises should help relieve neck tension when this is done a couple of times a day. Combine these with other neck exercises to feel the full benefits of stress release in the neck. 

The standing shoulder shrugs are a progression from the sitting shoulder shrugs neck exercises described earlier on. The standing shoulder shrugs, shoulder rolls, shoulder blade pinches and chin tucks are a great neck workout that relieves neck tension. These are also great exercises for neck breaks. 

These standing shoulder shrugs neck exercises help to take off the upper trapezius muscle tension when raising the shoulders up. This upward motion puts slack into the neck muscles and therefore gives relief off the neck. The up and down motion of the shoulder shrugs will also give flexibility to the upper trapezius muscles and other neck muscles. These shoulder shrugs neck exercises also will help to indirectly improve your neck posture as well.

So let’s get started with the standing shoulder shrugs neck exercises! Begin with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, your arms dangling, perform a chin tuck, and looking straight ahead. Breathe in and slowly raise the top of your shoulders towards your ears. Hold for 10 seconds and slowly breathe out. Slowly, return to the starting position and repeat these neck exercises for 10 repetitions. 

Be sure that your shoulders are brought straight up and not angled towards the front or the back. There should be no pain or any symptoms with these standing shoulder shrugs neck exercises. The motion should be slow and controlled. You might feel some clicking in the shoulders and as long as it is not painful, you can continue with this neck exercise.

 Try these standing shoulder shrugs neck exercises as a break and see how you can relieve your neck tension. Do these exercises for neck a couple of times a day. To see the greatest benefits combine this neck exercise with other neck exercises and stretch exercises to relieve neck tension. Other shoulder shrugs neck exercises will be described at a later time.