Ever feel that your mid back needs to be stretched? Do you feel the muscles in between your shoulder blades are tight? Then let’s do some stretch exercises for your rhomboids. I felt a good stretch in my rhomboids after giving my 1 year old son a tight hug. It’s like getting a big bear hug but as a stretch.

The hug me or bear hug stretch exercises focuses on the rhomboids mainly as well as middle trapezius, latissimus and posterior deltoids. Other muscles that are stretched are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres major and minor. These particular stretch exercises with the rhomboids targets both the major and minor muscle parts. 

These rhomboid muscles start from the cervical spinous process of C7 and down to thoracic spinous process T7. They attach along the medial border of the shoulder blade from the top of the scapula spine down to the inferior angle. The motions the rhomboids are responsible for are bringing the shoulder blades together (retraction) and a downward rotation of the scapula (shoulder blade). The rhomboid muscles named mainly for the shape by how the muscle fibers run obliquely and downward.

The rhomboid stretch exercises will be described in a standing position. These stretch exercises along with other neck exercises will help reduce neck tension, stress and pain. This stretch will help loosen the muscles in the mid back and keep your mid back flexible. Rhomboids also help in maintaining good posture.

Standing Position:

• Start with your feet shoulder width apart

• Knees slightly bent

• Pelvis tucked in 

• Stomach taught

• Your chest towards the wall

• Shoulders and arms relaxed

• Your chin back like a chin tuck

• Your head level 

• Eyes looking straight ahead

Rhomboid Stretch Exercise:

• Take a breath in

• Bring your right arm up and place your right hand on your left shoulder blade

• Bring your left arm up and around your body 

• Place your left hand on the right shoulder blade

• Breathe out and give yourself a squeeze

• You can bring your chin and head down towards your elbows

• Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times

There should be no pain with these stretch exercises. You should feel in the middle of your back a stretch. You can try to bring your shoulder blades apart more by trying to bring them forward with more pressure. Don’t forget to breathe on this stretch. Other rhomboid stretch exercises will be described at a later time.

In the mean time, enjoy other mid back neck exercises from the blog:

• Shoulder Blade Pinches

• Shoulder Blade Pinches Alternative

• Relieve Tension with Shoulder Blades Neck Exercises

• Lower Cervical / Upper Thoracic Stretch Exercises

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

Are you feeling tightness in the back of your neck while talking on the phone? Do you tend to lift your shoulder and tilting your head while holding the phone up at the office? Are you unable to turn your head without pain? The neck muscle that may be causing pain is the levator scapula. To undo the neck stress and tension build up, perform the levator scapula stretch exercises.

The levator scapula attaches to the first four cervical vertebrae of the spine and attaches to the top corner of the scapula. The motions that the levator scapulae are responsible for are shoulder elevation (combined with the upper trapezius muscle) and inward rotation of the scapula. The attachment on the neck also causes neck rotation when the scapula is not moving. 

When doing the levator scapula stretch exercises combined with neck exercises such as shoulder shrugs and sitting head rotations will relieve neck tension. By relieving the neck tightness or neck stiffness, this will keep your neck flexible and mobile.  The levator scapula stretch exercises will be described in a sitting position. 

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on the floor

• Relax your shoulders

• Bring your chin back towards your shoulders like a chin tuck

• Eyes looking straight ahead

Levator Scapulae Stretch Exercises: (Left side)

• Take a breath in

• Raise your right arm up and place your right palm on your right shoulder blade

• Turn your chin towards your left hip

• Raise your left arm up and place your left palm on the top of your head

• Gently guide your left hand to bring your chin down towards your left underarm

• Breathe out

• Hold the position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times

• You should feel a stretch in the back of the neck

• Reverse directions for stretching the right side

When doing these levator stretch exercises, be sure to remember to breathe. If you begin to get dizzy, try just turning your head a little bit less when you bring your head down.  You also want to make sure your shoulders are down and relaxed. By performing these levator scapula stretch exercises, your neck should be more flexible and pain free. 

Other stretch exercises from the blog:

• Upper Trapezius

• Sitting Upper Trapezius

• Towel Stretch for Trapezius

• Behind the Head

neck muscles most responsible for your stiff neck and trigger … – levator scapulae that dreaded stiff neck is most often caused by a neck muscle called the levator scapulae. this muscle attaches to the sides of the 1st 4 cervical vertebrae (c1, c2, c3, and c4) or transverse processes and connects to …

Do you find yourself having trouble looking over your shoulders while driving? Did you happen to wake up with a stiff neck and unable to turn your head in one direction? Relieve your neck tension or stiffness with head rotation neck exercises. These head rotation neck exercises will give your neck flexibility and mobility to restore your range of motion in your neck. 

This sitting head rotation neck exercises are similar to the lying down rotations. I’ll be describing the head rotation neck exercises in various range positions. By breaking up the head rotations into different movements will give your neck to be flexible. You’ll find that you gain more range when doing these head rotation neck exercises.

When you keep your head and neck flexible and mobile, you relieve neck tension and any neck discomfort. You will be able to breathe easier and won’t feel dizziness or any numbness and tingling. The side neck muscles when tight can clamp down on arteries, veins and nerves that produce the preceding symptoms in the neck and surrounding structures. With regular neck exercises and stretch exercises these reduce any neck pain and improve neck posture. 

When doing these head rotations neck exercises, think that your shoulders are part of the clock or a protractor. Your nose and head should first be straight ahead at 3 o’clock or 90 degrees. Each head rotation movement will go in increments of a number or approximately 30 degrees. Your left shoulder will be 12 o’clock or 0 degrees and your right shoulder will be 6 o’clock or 180 degrees.

Let’s get started!

Sitting Position:

• Feet flat on the floor

• Rest your hands on your lap or by your side

• Relax your shoulders

• Bring your chin back towards your shoulders like a chin tuck

• Eyes looking straight ahead

Head Rotation Neck Exercises:

• Take a breath in and breath out with each movement

• Lead your nose and chin to the left to 2 o’clock and then turn towards 4 o’clock

• Turn towards 1 o’clock and then turn towards 5 o’clock

• Turn left towards 12 o’clock and then rotate right towards 6 o’clock

• If you can, rotate your head towards 11 o’clock and then rotate right towards 7 o’clock

• Repeat 10 times and hold each position for a few seconds

These head rotations should be slow and controlled with no neck pain or discomfort. You may feel a stretch as you reach 12 o’clock or 6 o’clock. These head rotation neck exercises should be smooth movements with no jerkiness. Remember to relax the jaw to keep the face muscles from tensing up. You should now feel looser in the neck and be able to turn your head to see behind you when driving. 

Other related neck exercises for rotations from the blog:

Chin Down Semi Circles

Head Up Rotation

Ever feel the back of your neck tight while looking down? Are you able to bring your chin towards your chest without pain? Here’s a good neck exercise to do for the back of the head. The neck extensor stretch exercises are great to loosen the small muscles in the back of the neck. This behind the head stretch exercises is also good for those who golf and want to be able to look down at the ball without pain.

This neck extensor stretch with the following lower cervical / upper thoracic and bicep / chest stretch exercises are a great neck exercises warm up. For a more complete neck workout be sure to include the chin down semi circle, shoulder shrugs and neck rotations. These exercises for neck will make looking down easier and pain free.

The behind the head or neck extensor stretch exercises can be done sitting or standing. I’ll describe these behind the head stretch exercises standing. You want to stand upright with your feet shoulders width apart, knees slightly bent, your shoulders relaxed, bring your chin towards back for a chin tuck and look straight ahead. Interlock your fingers and place your palms on the top part of the back of your head. Your elbows should be open towards the front and pinch your shoulder blades together. 

Take a breath in and slowly exhale while bringing your chin towards your chest. As you bring your chin down, have your hands guide your head down. Let your elbows come in towards your ears and let your shoulder blades separate from each other. Hold this position 30 seconds. Slowly bring your head back up and return to the starting position. Repeat this behind the head stretch exercises three times.

Be sure to keep your shoulders down while performing these stretch exercises otherwise you will lose the tension in the back of the neck. When you bring your head forward and down with your hands do so gently without straining the back of the neck. You should feel tension behind your head and neck release and dissipate. There should be no pain with any neck exercises or stretch exercises. 

Try this neck extensor stretch exercises and see if this improves your golf game. At the very least, you should be able to relieve neck tension and keep your neck flexible. I’ll describe other neck exercises to help with the golf game later on.

Ever feel the back of your neck tight? Maybe you even feel neck stiffness. Neck tension in the back of your head and shoulders could lead to muscle fatigue and neck pain. The neck extensor and upper trapezius muscles when tight will raise your shoulders towards your ears. Doing chin down semi circle neck exercises with other exercises for neck will help relieve neck tension. This neck exercise is similar to the head circles to help with neck range of motion.

The emphasis of chin down semi circle neck exercises is help with the deep neck extensor muscles be flexible. There are little neck muscles along the spine that connects from the base of the head and along the spine at various levels. These small neck muscles help with your neck range of motion. This neck exercise will also focus on the main neck extensors muscles for stretching and strengthening.

This chin down semi circle neck exercises will be described while sitting down. The key in these neck exercises is to have good posture. Be sure to sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor. Relax your hands in your lap and be sure your shoulders are down. Your chest should be pointing towards the wall while bringing your chin towards the back of your shoulders as a chin tuck. Your eyes start off by looking straight ahead.

Take a breath in and bring your chin down towards your chest while still maintaining your chin tuck. You should start to feel the back of your neck feeling a stretch. Your eyes should be looking towards the top of your knees. While maintaining your chin towards your chest, roll your left ear towards your left shoulder and hold for 10 seconds. You should feel a stretch feeling on the right side of your neck and the back of your neck.

Breathe out and semi circle roll your head towards the right shoulder. You will feel a stretch on the left side of your neck. Remember to keep your shoulders down for these neck exercises. Hold for 10 seconds and roll towards the left shoulder. Repeat this chin down semi circle neck exercises 10 times.

Doing these neck exercises as well as other stretch exercises will keep your neck from being stiff or tense. Combine this chin down semi circle with shoulder shrugs and the upper trapezius towel pull down stretch as a neck workout. Other neck tension neck exercises will be described at a later time.

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.  

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.