8 of the best physical therapy exercises to strengthen the muscles in your neck, back, and shoulders, alleviate pain, and improve neck posture. These are the exercises I recommend to my physical therapy patients all the time with awesome results.
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OTHER HELPFUL VIDEOS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO
HOW TO CORRECT NECK POSTURE:
BEST EXERCISES FOR NECK STIFFNESS:
BEST EXERCISES FOR A PINCHED NERVE IN NECK:
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Get Jared’s EXERCISE BALL at this Amazon link:
(Please note – these exercises are intended for information purposes only and should not be taken as recommendations for your unique needs. You’re encouraged to consult a local doctor or physical therapist for the exercises that will be best for you.)
Neck pain. It happens to all of us at some point in our lives and it can be a real… well… pain in the neck. In fact I would say that aside from lower back pain, neck pain is the most common condition that I treat as a physical therapist.
Luckily there’s a lot that stretching the right areas and strengthening the right muscles can do to alleviate this neck pain and help you feel better. Today I’m sharing 8 of my go-to home exercises to strengthen the muscles of your neck and upper shoulders to help improve your posture and alleviate your neck pain.
WHAT CAUSES NECK PAIN?
Pain in our necks most often comes from the muscles, joints, or discs. Muscle pain is stiffness and soreness and most often caused by poor posture or traumatic incident (car wreck, slip and fall, etc). Joint pain can be sharp and stabbing and is often elicited with certain motions and movements. Cervical disc pain is typically categorized as either sharp or dull and may or may not be accompanied by numbness, tingling, and/or weakness in one or both arms.
WHAT IS MECHANICAL NECK PAIN?
Most of the neck pain that I see in my clinic can be classified as “mechanical” neck pain. This is neck pain that can’t always be attributed to anything directly specific (no accident or injury). It comes on slowly over time and gradually intensifies. The most common causes of mechanical neck pain that I see are poor posture and degenerative changes (arthritis and degenerative discs).
WHAT ARE THE BEST STRETCHES FOR NECK PAIN?
The most-common symptom that accompanies the majority of neck pain that I see is stiffness. When there’s damage/an injury to an area, your body sends the surrounding muscles into spasm; tightening them up to prevent further injury. Often this neck stiffness lingers and intensifies, thereby causing more pain in the neck. You can see it’s an ugly spiral to get into.
Fortunately there’s a lot that the right stretches can do to help alleviate this pain and stiffness. Check out this video for my best exercises to treat neck and shoulder muscle stiffness:
WHAT ARE THE BEST EXERCISES TO STRENGTHEN MY NECK AT HOME?
When we talk about neck strengthening, the most important thing you can do is to make the muscles strong in the right way. We don’t want to do anything that would further exacerbate or perpetuate the problem. You have to not only strengthen the right muscles in your neck, you have to do it the right way in order to maximize your outcomes.
The exercises demonstrated in this video to strengthen your neck and postural muscles are:
1. Chin Tucks – great for posture and your “deep neck flexors”.
2. Cervical Flexion – keeping your face flat to the ceiling lift your head straight up.
3. Cervical Sidebend: lateral flexion to strengthen the side bending motion.
4. Cervical Extension: try to maintain good posture as you pull the back of your head up towards the ceiling.
5. Y’s: great exercise to activate your lower traps – important in postural correction.
6. T’s: middle trap exercises – pulls your shoulder blades closer together to minimize “rounding” of your shoulders.
7. I’s: upper and middle traps – posture corrector.
8. Wall Angels: one of my favorite home exercises. Tons of activation for rhomboids and middle traps to improve posture and strengthen your back.
When it comes to correcting neck pain, one of the most important things you can do is strengthen the postural muscles that support your neck and head.
Performing these exercises can be a great benefit to increasing neck and postural strength and help you to feel better.
