Ever feel that the front of your neck may need stretching? Are you looking up at the ceiling a lot? Do you ever lean back in your chair and bring your head back to look up at the ceiling? Why not add front neck stretch exercises to your daily routine? Doing neck flexor stretch exercises will help to relieve neck tension and keep your head flexible. 

Not sure if you have the time to do stretch exercises in your day? I’m pretty sure you do the motions of bringing your head back, now just add a bit of pressure as part of neck exercises. So simple to do and no one knows you are actually doing a stretch. These stretch exercises can’t get any easier than this.

The front neck muscles that are used in these stretch exercises are the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and scalene. These two front neck muscles help to bring your chin towards your chest. The neck muscles that help bring the head back are longissimus capitis, semispinalis capitis and splenius capitis. These are small neck muscles in the back and side of your head. 

These neck flexors or front neck muscle stretch exercises can be done sitting or standing. Some may feel these stretch exercises more when sitting. The reason being is that when looking up, you are not worried about losing your balance and falling backwards. I’ll describe these neck flexor stretch exercises in sitting. Let’s begin!

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on the floor
• Sit up in the chair
• Rest your hands by your side
• Relax your shoulders
• Be sure to bring your chin back towards your shoulders
• Your eyes should be looking straight ahead

Neck Flexor Stretch Exercises:

• Breathe in
• Interlock your fingers together
• Tilt your head back and have your chin point towards the ceiling
• Place the palms of your hands on to your forehead
• Press your hands gently down onto your head 
• Breathe out
• Hold for 10 seconds
• Bring your head back to the starting position
• Repeat 3 times

Be sure to avoid raising your shoulders with this neck exercise.  You also want to have you mouth closed for these stretch exercises. If your mouth is open, you will lose the effect of the stretch. There should be no pain with any stretch exercises. If you begin to feel dizzy, don’t tilt your head back as much. The standing position will be described at a later time.