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.  

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