If you are a woman know what I’m talking about as far as the head towel wrap on the top of your head, then you would know that it adds extra weight to your head. This added weight on the top of your head will give you a good neck workout by strengthening your neck muscles. This also makes you go slow to control the towel from unraveling and dropping it onto the floor. Going slow will let your muscle gain control and build neck muscle strength.

I did the head movements back and forth and side to side with the towel as a gentle neck workout. You can actually do a bunch of different neck exercises with the towel wrap on top of your head. For example, leave the towel wrap on your head while brushing your teeth and do a chin tuck when you are over the sink. You may feel a bit more resistance in the back of your neck when doing this neck exercise. This would be a good neck workout in the morning or evening after taking a shower or bath.
See if you can do a face or head clock with the towel on your head or even try some upper trapezius stretch exercises as part of your now towel wrap neck workout. Get creative and see what you can do with this added resistance as a morning or evening neck workout. You can maintain neck flexibility along with the neck strengthening.

As always, there should be no pain with any neck exercises or sudden movements. I don’t recommend whipping your head around to make you dizzy as a neck workout. Have fun and let me know about your new routine with the towel wrap.

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Tonight as I was putting my 1 year-old son to bed after his
regular night time routine, I realized that we could all benefit from a night
time routine to reduce any stress from the day’s activities. Do you find that
after a busy day, your muscles in your neck feel tight, tired or stiff? Have
you ever thought about taking 10 minutes of your evening or night time to focus
on yourself and eliminate any stress that may have accumulated throughout the
day? No? How about starting one now?

Starting a night time routine that includes a simple neck
workout can help to relieve the day’s stresses. How do you relieve some neck
tension, stress or muscle tightness? One of the easiest ways to reduce stress is
to breathe deeply and slowly, this is also known as diaphragmatic breathing.
You get the most oxygen for your muscles and brain. This will be described at a
later time.

Other ways to reduce neck stress are to take a warm bath, read
and do some neck exercises. A quick but thorough neck workout that includes neck
range of motion, flexibility, strengthening and stretch exercises are great to
reduce built up neck tension. A simple neck workout can also help improve your
posture.

Doing a neck workout can also benefit you to a good night
sleep. Be sure your neck is properly supported by a pillow to avoid any neck
pain when you wake up. Also be sure to avoid clenching your teeth at night, not
only does this keep your face and jaw muscles tight but can grind your teeth
and cause temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems. When you do strengthening
neck exercises, you can also tone your neck to avoid snoring at night.

On this blog there are many different neck exercises that
help with neck and head range of motions, stretch exercises to help with
flexibility and stress reduction and strengthening neck exercises. Other
exercises for neck include jaw and face as well as relief from headaches. With
these neck exercises to choose from, you can develop your own night time neck
workout just for you. Let me know what works for you.

Do you have a night time routine that includes a neck workout? If so, share here and let us know what works. What are some other stress relieving methods you do?

Technorati Tags: exercises for neck, face, flexibility, head, jaw, muscle tightness, neck exercises, neck pain, neck tension, neck workout, posture, range of motion, strengthening, stretch exercises

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.  

Technorati Tags: chin tuck, face clock, head clock, neck exercise, neck exercises, neck range of motion, neck rotation, neck workout, SCM, shoulder blade pinches, sternocleidomastoid

Happy New Year’s to everyone! Today, let’s do quick hands on shoulder neck workout. The hands on shoulder neck workout will consist of raises, squeezes and circles. Most of these hands on shoulder neck workout are variations of previous neck exercises. These exercises for neck will give you a relaxing start to the New Year. 

The series of hands on shoulder neck exercises will help loosen up the upper trapezius muscles. The upper trapezius muscles are attached from the base of your head or skull to the top of your shoulders. The other neck muscles that will be used in this neck workout are the rhomboids and levator scapulae. The rhomboids will help to squeeze the shoulder blades together and the levator scapulae will help raise your shoulder blade up. 

This neck workout should help with neck tension and shoulder stiffness. You can do them standing or sitting. I’ll describe the hands on shoulders neck workout standing. 

Standing Position:

• Feet shoulders width apart
• Knees slightly bent
• Stand straight up
• Relax your shoulders
• Perform a chin tuck where your chin is brought back towards your shoulders
• Your eyes should be level and looking straight ahead

Hands on Shoulder Neck Workout:

Starting Position:

• Raise your hands 
• Place the tips of your fingers on top of your shoulders
• Your elbows should be pointing out away from your side

Raises:

• Breathe in
• Bring your shoulders up towards your ears
• Breathe out
• Lower your shoulders down 
• Repeat 10 times

Squeezes:

• Breathe in
• Bring your elbows back towards your shoulder blades
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Bring your elbows towards your chest
• Repeat 10 times

Circles:

• Breathe in
• Circle the tips of your elbows clockwise
• Breathe out
• Repeat 10 times
• Breathe in
• Now circle the tips of your elbows counter clockwise
• Breathe out
• Repeat 10 times

All these hands on shoulder neck exercises are a great neck workout for breaks. This neck workout should be pain free. All these exercises for neck should be done in slow, smooth and controlled motions. Remember to breathe with each neck exercise and avoid clenching your jaw. Other hands on shoulder neck exercises will be described later. Have a good day!

Technorati Tags: chin tuck, exercises for neck, neck exercise, neck exercises, neck tension, neck workout, shoulder blade

Ever feel neck and shoulder stiffness when driving? The other day when my husband was driving, he mentioned to me that his shoulders felt stiff and that his neck hurt. I turned to evaluate his driving position. After 20 minutes of driving, my husbands’ hands were at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions with his shoulders raised and rounded in, his left arm propped on the window sill, seat slightly reclined with back rounded, his head and chin forward. Does this look and sound familiar to you? Try doing a neck workout to avoid discomfort.

Proper posture while driving will relieve tension in the neck, shoulders, arms and back. Avoid resting your elbow on the window sill; this will prevent your shoulders rising towards your ears and turning in towards your chest. Instead, have your elbows near your sides and bring your hands down closer to 9 and 3 o’clock positions. The easiest correction in driving is to sit without slouching – this will avoid the forward head and chin and eliminate neck and back pain. When doing various neck exercises and stretch exercises while driving, the neck workout will loosen your muscles and reduce tension in them.

When you are driving for longer than 20 minutes at a time, be sure to take breaks to avoid neck or back pain discomfort. Sounds silly to keep stopping every 20 minutes to take a break but it is good for your health. When you are not able to, try the following neck exercises to help alleviate neck pain, stiffness and tension. I’ll focus on the head, neck and shoulders for you to do a neck workout when driving.

Let’s begin your neck workout!

Head:

• Bring your head and chin back towards the headrest x 10 times

• Try to maintain this chin tuck position while driving and don’t forget to breathe!

• Be sure not to clench your teeth

Neck:

• Nod your head up towards the roof and down towards the floor while continuing to look straight ahead on the road x 10 times

• Turn your head left towards the outside mirror and turn right towards the passenger side while maintaining your stare forward x 10 times

• Bring your right ear towards your right shoulder and then your left ear towards your left shoulder while still staring in front of you x 10 times

Shoulders:

• Raise the top of your shoulders towards your ears x 10 times

• Pinch your shoulder blades together in the back x 10 times

• Roll your shoulders forward and then backwards x 10 times

Repeat all neck exercises at least once every 20 minutes. This neck workout is a quick summary of previous neck exercises posted on the blog. There should be no pain or discomfort when doing any exercises for neck. Remember to always keep your eyes on the road and drive safely! 

When not driving, check these other neck exercises to do:

• Release Tension with Shoulder Neck Exercises

• Shoulder Blade Neck Exercises

• Chin Down Semi Circle Neck Exercises

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