Chronically Fit: Upper Body Stretches

     It's super important to keep your muscles loose and your joints active in order to prevent unnecessary pain. This is especially important when you're dealing with chronic pain already. To do this you will want to get in some daily stretching. Just keeping your body moving is going to help your pain levels compared to doing nothing. I talked about how bad deconditioning can be for our bodies and pain levels in last week's post. If you haven't given that a read, make sure to do so as it also contains some lower body stretches. This week we are going to focus on our upper body including our chest and back. The first two stretches will be for your neck and shoulders, which is especially great for migraine sufferers. The last video is a combination of arms, shoulder, back and chest stretches. As always be sure to check back next Friday for more exercises.

Seated Upper Trapezius Stretch

GOALS:  REPS: 3 | SETS: 1 | HOLD: 10 SEC | WEEKLY: 5X | DAILY: 2X

Instructions

Setup

• Begin sitting upright on a table grasping the edge with one hand.

Movement

• Rotate your head up and to the side of your anchored arm and slowly lean it toward your shoulder, applying pressure with your hand until you feel a stretch and hold.

Tip

• Make sure to keep your back straight during the exercise.

Cervical Rotation AROM with Overpressure

GOALS:  REPS: 3 | SETS: 1 | HOLD: 10 sec | WEEKLY: 5X | DAILY: 2X

• Begin in a standing upright position.

Movement

• Turn your head to look over your shoulder and gently push your chin with your hand. Hold briefly, then return to the starting position and repeat.

Tip

• Make sure to keep your back straight and do not bend your head forward, backward or sideways.

5 Minute Upper Body Stretch Routine