Are you someone who is constantly suffering from a tight neck or sore shoulders? Stretching or a massage isn't necessarily the solution, according to this Pilates instructor.
“I’d like to encourage a stronger focus on improving neck, shoulder, and upper back mobility and strength,” says Helen O’Leary, Pilates instructor at Complete Pilates.
O’Leary thinks people often forget about the importance of strengthening their upper body to reduce discomfort, particularly if it’s caused by bad posture in people who spend too long sitting down.
“The good news is that it doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your routine. Incorporating a few simple, targeted movements throughout the working day can make a meaningful difference in reducing the pain and stiffness associated with prolonged sitting,” O’Leary adds.
Below, she’s shared three underrated moves that will help mobilise your upper body and reduce discomfort.
1. Cat-cow
Sets: 1 Reps: 5-10
- Get on your hands and knees, with your knees hip-width apart positioned over your knees and your shoulders above your wrists.
- Shift your weight back so that 70% is in your lower body and 30% in your arms.
- Press your hands into the floor so your back doesn’t collapse between your shoulder blades.
- Slowly tuck your tailbone under to round your lower back, then continue rounding your spine up to your upper back, gently lowering your head to look towards your knees.
- Then lift your tailbone, carefully arching your back, finally lifting your head to look towards the top of your exercise mat.
“This exercise is so simple that it’s easy to ignore, but this really is a fantastic way to take your whole spine through its full range of motion, and nearly everyone can do it,” says O’Leary.
2. Thread the needle
Sets: 1 Reps: 5 each side
- Get on your hands and knees, with your knees hip-width apart, positioned over your knees and your shoulders above your wrists.
- Shift your weight back so that 70% is in your lower body and 30% in your arms.
- Move your right hand between your left hand and left knee, turning your torso to the left.
- When you can’t reach any further, bend your left elbow and lower your right shoulder to the floor.
- Reverse the movements back to your hands and knees, but sweep your right arm above you, turning your torso to the right.
- Return your right hand to the floor.
- Do all your reps on one side, then swap sides.
“Thread the needle can be done after you loosen up with the cat-cow, this adds a rotational component to the exercise, which really helps get the small spinal joints moving,” O’Learys explains.
3. Dart
Sets: 1 Reps: 10
- Lie on your stomach, with your arms resting by your sides.
- Lift your head just off the floor, keeping the back of the neck extended, and your chin tucked, as if to give yourself a double chin.
- Gently press your pubic bone into the floor, to give you a sense that you are opening the front of the hips.
- Reach your fingertips down towards your feet, as if to make your arms longer.
- Inhale, and start to lift your chest and shoulders, opening the front of your chest.
- Allow your arms to raise off the floor, but keep them in line with your body. The bottom of your ribs should stay in contact with the floor. Lift your gaze gently.
- Exhale as you slowly lower.
“It can be easy to overlook exercises that strengthen your back. A lot of workout style exercises focus much more on the abs, since this is the part of the body that people can see,” O’Leary says.
“But gently strengthening your back muscles helps to improve your ability to sustain an upright posture when you are sitting all day, and also helps to lessen the strain which leads to pain and stiffness.”
