No matter what caused your neck pain or headaches, posture almost always plays a role in perpetuating the pain. It is estimated that for every inch your head sits in front of your shoulders, you add about 10 lbs of weight to skull. Now imagine sitting at desk for for 8+ hours a day and yeah is your neck starting to feel sore just from imagining this? Me too! It’s for this reason that I often prescribe exercises to strengthen the shoulders and upper back. Here are my 3 most commonly prescribed shoulder exercises to reduce neck pain: I’s, Y’s, and T’s
The Position:
My favorite way to perform these 3 exercises is over an exercise ball. Start by lying face down over a large exercise ball with your knees on the floor with your chest and abdominal region resting on the ball. Your neck should be in a neutral position – meaning that your back should be straight and your gaze should rest about 6 inches in front of the ball. By keeping your neck in a neutral position, you will also be working on the strength and endurance of the muscles in the back of your neck – a 2 for 1 special! With all of these exercises, start with 2 sets of 8 repetitions and work up to 2 sets of 15 repetitions before you consider adding hand weights.
1. I’s
Once your are in the starting position, squeeze your shoulder blades together and lift your arms straight back so they lift just a few inches above your hips. Now relax the shoulder blades and then lower the arms. It is important that you squeeze the shoulder blades together first!
2. Y’s
This exercise focuses on strengthening the lower trapezius muscle – which is typically weak. This means that this particular exercise will likely be the most challenging out of the 3 exercises. After your are in the starting position, lift your arms straight out in front of you so that they are by your ears. You will be in the “Y” position as if you are dancing to the “Y.M.C.A”. Lower your arms back down and repeat. Make sure you keep your neck in a nice neutral position with this one.
3. T’s
After getting into the starting position, bring your arms straight out to the side so that your body and arms form a “T” (are you sensing a theme here with the names of the exercises?). As with the I’s, squeeze your shoulder blades together and lift your arms up.
Modification
Those are my 3 most commonly prescribed exercises and I typically prefer for patients to perform them over the exercise ball for a few reasons:
- It’s less claustrophobic than being facedown on the floor.
- You get to work on strengthening the muscles that run along the back of your neck, mid back, and low back.
- You can still perform these even if you have limited range of motion in you shoulders. When you are on the floor, you have to work at the end range of your motion.
With that being said, if you can’t tolerate kneeling on your knees or don’t have access to an exercise ball, you can grab a towel roll. Roll up a towel, lie face down on the floor and place the towel roll under your forehead. And that’s it!
I recommend completing these exercises 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. Give these exercises a go!
The Headache Therapist 