Shoulder Mobilization and Back Activation to Strengthen Posture & Support the Neck
Posture plays a key role in how we function in everyday life, and how we feel as a result. If we have poor posture, that can affect many other parts of our life because we will be putting strain on other parts of the body, whether it is the lower back or the neck. But there are some simple exercises that you can do to help correct your posture in through your shoulders to alleviate any issues you may be experiencing with your neck. As you can see in the image below, poor posture can have many side effects.
If we look specifically at the upper back and neck, we can see that rounded shoulders then leads to a forward head position, placing incredible strain on the muscles in the neck to support the weight of the head. As a result, this can lead to cervical disc issues, headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, numbness in the hands, even tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing.
Here are some simple exercises that you can do to help improve your posture and possibly alleviate some of the discomfort that you may be experiencing.
Standing Reverse Fly with an Exercise Band
This exercise will help open up the chest and strengthen the muscles in the upper back to start to pull the shoulders into alignment.
- Stand tall with your ribcage stacked over your hips.
- Hold on to the resistance band with your hands shoulder width apart.
- Maintaining a tall posture and keeping your shoulders relaxed and away from your ears, hold the resistance band out in front of your chest with your arms straight.
- While keeping your arms straight, pull your hands apart by squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Then return to the starting position.
How to Perform the Standing Reverse Fly with Exercise Band
Resistance Band Shoulder Mobility
This exercise is a shoulder mobility exercise to again get a slight stretch in the chest but to also start to strength some of the muscles in the shoulder.
- Stand tall with your ribcage stacked over your hips.
- Hold on to the resistance band with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart with slight tension on the band.
- Maintaining that tension, lift the arms up and over head and back behind the head as far as it feels comfortable and without straining your range of motion.
- Hold this position for a deep breath to aid in the stretch of the chest and then return to the starting position.
How to Perform this Shoulder Mobility Exercise with Resistance Band
Standing Resistance Band Row
The resistance band one arm row to strengthen the rhomboid muscles in the upper back that help hold the shoulder blade in place.
- Making sure that the resistance band is firmly attached to an object that won’t fall on you as you perform the movement, stand tall with a slight bend in your knees, “rooting” your self into the floor.
- Maintaining a strong core, hold the resistance band out in front of you.
- Slowly pull the resistance band back until your hand is on the side of your ribcage.
- Focus on squeezing your shoulder blade in towards your spine.
- Hold for a count of 4 before slowly returning to the starting position.
How to Perform the Standing Resistance Band Row
By performing these exercises, you can improve your posture through your shoulders, thereby relieving tension in the neck.
