Would you like to know how to loosen up your neck after a
long day or even in the middle of the day? Want to be able to keep your neck
range of motions and muscles from tightening up? Ever feel you need to shake
your head from side to side? Try doing some head up wobble neck exercises to
loosen your neck muscles and joints.

These head up wobble neck exercises are similar to other
side to side (lateral flexion) neck exercises. The added motion of tilting your
head up while doing a head up wobble neck exercises will loosen up the sides of
your neck. The first couple of levels in the neck or cervical spine are the focus
of these head up wobbles neck exercises.

These head up wobble neck exercises are good for releasing
shoulder and neck tension. These neck exercises can be done sitting or
standing. I’ll describe these head up wobble neck exercises in sitting to avoid
any balance deficits. These can also be done on a ball or on the bed. Let’s
begin!

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on to the floor
• Sit up tall
• Bring your chest up and toward the facing wall
• Relax your hands in your lap
• Bring your shoulders down from your ears
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together
• Perform a chin tuck by bring your chin back towards your
  shoulders
• Relax your jaw, by keeping your lips together but teeth
  apart
• Eyes looking straight ahead

Head Up Wobble Neck Exercises:

• Breathe in
• Tilt the top of your head back by 45 degrees
• Have your eyes look up at the ceiling
• Breathe out
• Bring your left ear towards your left shoulder
• Then tilt your right ear towards your right shoulder
• Be sure that your head doesn’t twist away from the facing
  wall
• Repeat 10 times

There should be no pain or discomfort with these head up
wobble neck exercises. Begin with slow, smooth and controlled motions. You can
start with small tilts and then big tilts to the side when your neck is warmed
up. Avoid clenching your teeth with these neck exercises. These head up wobble
neck exercises can be done a couple of times a day to keep your neck range of
motion and limited neck tension. Other neck exercises will be described at a
later time.

Are you feeling tightness in your chest and the front of
your shoulders while working on the computer? Do you ever feel you need to do
some stretch exercises in these areas after a long and tiring day? Or do you
want to improve your posture and bring your shoulders back with neck exercises?
All of these can be accomplished with arm behind your back stretch exercises.

These arms behind your back stretch exercises will work on
your front chest muscle pectoralis major and your shoulder muscles anterior and
middle deltoids. You will also be strengthening your rhomboids while doing
shoulder blade pinches. These arms behind your back stretch exercises will help
relax your shoulders by strengthening your lower trapezius muscles. Other
muscles that may feel being stretched out are the levator scapulae (neck),
pectoralis minor (chest), supraspinatus (top of shoulder), serratus anterior
(rib cage) and coracobrachialis (inside of upper arm).

These arms behind your back stretch exercises can be done
sitting or standing. The best way to feel the stretch is standing up straight. When
bringing your arm behind your back, avoid bending forward or you will lose the
stretch at your chest. These arm behind your back stretch exercises works on
your shoulder and arm range of motions. Let’s begin with this standing arm
behind your back stretch exercises!

Standing Position:

• Feet shoulder width apart
• Knees slightly bent
• Your hips and pelvis should be pointing forward
• Have your chest up and out towards the wall
• Relax your shoulders down
• Pinch your shoulder blades together
• Perform a chin tuck by bring your chin back towards your
  shoulder blades
• Relax y our jaw
• Look straight ahead

Arm Behind Your Back Stretch Exercises:

• Breathe in
• Raise your right arm behind your back
• Bend your right elbow up to 90 degrees
• Place the back of your right hand on your back
• With your left hand, hold on to your right elbow
• Breathe out
• Using your left hand, guide your right arm across your back
  and up towards your shoulders
• Hold this position for 30 seconds
• Repeat 3 times
• Relax and switch arms to stretch the left side

You should feel various muscles stretched but no pain in any
direction. Only bring your arm up as far up your back to feel a stretch. You
can adjust bring your arm across by holding on to your wrist instead of your
elbow. You will feel the extra stretch by focusing on pinching your shoulder
blades together. Overall, this arm behind the back stretch exercises should
give you more range of motions in the shoulders and arms as well as relieve
neck tension and improve posture. Avoid any over stretching with this stretch
exercise. Other stretch exercises will be described at a later time.

Do you ever catch yourself with your neck and chin out forward? Want to strengthen the front of your neck and stretch the back of your neck? Are you just tired of doing regular chin tucks? How about trying doing the chin tucks in different angles and directions for your neck exercises? By doing chin tuck neck exercises, you will relieve both shoulder and neck tension.  

What are chin tucks? Chin tucks are where you bring your chin back, sort of like a drawer being closed shut. Isn’t a chin tuck just a chin tuck?  It’s true that a chin tuck is just a chin tuck but by doing them in different directions you can also work on your overall neck posture. When you strengthen a neck muscle, just like any other strength training, you want to go through all of the range of motions for the neck. These chin tuck neck exercises are a great way to make sure your neck gets training in all areas.

I’ll describe chin tucks in sitting but you can choose to do them in standing as well. People may never know you are doing chin tuck neck exercises and they are simple to do. There are different directions I want you to think of, the up and down or nodding motion and the rotation or side to side motion. This chin tucks neck exercises will focus on both directions. 

For the up and down or nodding motion, think of 12 o’clock above the top of your head, 9 o’clock is your starting position looking forward and 6 o’clock is where you chest is. When you do the neck rotation motions, think of 12 o’clock your right shoulder, 9 o’clock is your starting position and 6 o’clock is your left shoulder. Let’s begin!

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on the floor
• Sit up straight
• Your chest up and facing the wall in front of you
• Place your hands on your lap
• Relax your shoulders
• Perform a chin tuck by bringing your chin back towards your shoulder blades
• Relax your jaw
• Eyes look straight ahead

Nodding Chin Tucks Neck Exercises:

• Breathe in
• Tilt the top of your head back to 12 o’clock
• Don’t let your mouth open when you tilt back
• Bring your chin back towards your shoulder blades
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Breathe in
• Return back to starting at 9 o’clock
• Perform a regular chin tuck
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Breathe in
• Bring your chin down towards your chest or 6’clock
• Tuck your chin in towards your chest and up towards the ceiling
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Repeat these chin tucks for the 11 and then 7 o’clock positions
• Then perform these chin tucks again for the 10 and 8 o’clock positions
• Be sure after each motion to go back to the starting position
• Repeat each direction 10 times

Neck Rotation Chin Tuck Neck Exercises:

• Breathe in
• Turn your head to your right shoulder to 12 o’clock 
• Perform a chin tuck towards your left shoulder blade
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Breathe in
• Return to the starting position at 9 o’clock
• Bring your chin directly back to your shoulder blades
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Turn your head to your left shoulder towards 6 o’clock
• Bring your chin back towards your right shoulder
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Return back to starting and go through the rest of the clock 11 and 7, 10 and 8
• Repeat 10 times each

You should not feel any pain in any chin tuck neck exercises. You may begin to feel a burning like sensation in the back of your neck after all these chin tuck neck exercises. When you do these chin tucks neck exercises a few times a week, your overall neck muscle strength will increase. Your endurance to do these neck exercises will also increase. This chin tucks neck exercises will improve your overall neck posture and avoid postural related conditions. Other chin tuck neck exercises will be described at a later time.

Do you ever feel stiff looking over your shoulders? Do you ever feel you need to do more than just turning your head to release neck tension? How about combining some neck exercises to give you more range of motion as a neck workout? Here I will talk about taking your neck rotation and adding a head or face clock. You can do these neck exercises through the whole range of your neck rotations.

Sometimes, just turning your head left or right doesn’t quite give you the relief you would like. I’ve added a new twist to the normal neck rotation neck exercise. The neck muscles that help rotate your head are: transversospinalis rotatores, splenius capitis, sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and levator scapula. The transversospinalis rotatores and SCM rotate the head to the opposite side where as splenius capitis and levator scapula rotate the head to the same side.

You can do this neck workout sitting or standing. I’ll describe the neck rotation and face clock in sitting. When doing the head or face clock portion of the neck exercise, think of 12 o’clock above your forehead, 3 o’clock your left ear, 6 o’clock below your chin and 9 o’clock your right ear. When doing the neck rotation, be sure to go as far as you are comfortable without any neck pain. Let’s begin!

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on the floor
• Sit up tall
• Your chest up and towards the wall in front of you
• Do shoulder blade pinches by squeezing them together
• Rest your hands in your lap
• Drop your shoulders away from your ears
• Perform a chin tuck by bring your chin back towards your shoulder blades
• Relax your jaw
• Eyes looking straight ahead

Neck Workout: Rotation and Clock

• Breathe in
• Lead with your nose and turn towards your right shoulder
• Breathe out
• Do a face clock by starting at 12 o’clock
• Repeat 10 times
• Reverse and go counter clockwise
• Repeat 10 times
• Breathe in
• Turn your head to your left shoulder
• Breathe out
• Perform a face clock
• Repeat 10 times
• Reverse the direction and go counter clockwise
• Repeat 10 times
• Return your head back to the starting position
• Repeat this neck workout 10 times

There should be no pain or discomfort with this neck workout. If you begin to feel dizzy, stop and avoid rotating all the way to your shoulder. After this neck workout, you should feel your neck looser. Any neck tension or stiffness should be less than when you first started. Other neck workouts will be described at a later time. Enjoy your neck workout today.