Soar away from your sore back

Many people complain about how their upper back feels tired and their head feels heavy at the end of the day. That is because the muscles of the upper back and shoulders are fatigued from holding your head up while doing countless “forward head” activities, like: texting, typing, playing iPad, reading and the like.

To counter this, correct it, and prevent the issue in the future, we want to strengthen the upper back. When the upper back is stronger, it keeps the head balanced like a golf ball on a tee. This proper skeletal position is natural and takes less effort to hold the head up and thus less strain on the neck and upper back.

We previously shared videos for forward head and text next. In today’s video Dr. Brett Cardonick will show you a set of more Intensive exercises for returning proper muscle form and range of motion to the upper and middle back.

The average head weighs about 10 pounds, and when it is resting balanced atop the shoulders, with the ears in line with the shoulder line, it takes no effort to keep upright.

However, when the head is chronically head forward of the shoulder line, the muscles of the neck and upper back need to work constantly to keep it from falling forward and pulling you off balance. To do this, the shoulder and back muscles tighten and hold in place in a state of constant contraction. This reduces blood flow and leads to those “rocks” you feel in your shoulders and chronic pain.

Upper back exercise basics

To do this exercise you will lie down on your belly. Here, Dr. Brett is using his chiropractic table but you can use the floor or sofa, too.

If you are on the floor, take a towel and make a donut shape with it so that you can rest your head in it, face down, without putting pressure on your nose and cheeks. Oh, and so you can breathe!

[Note: If you have a lower back issue, then when doing this exercise you will want to place a pillow under your hip to help stabilize your pelvis and minimize strain on lower back.]

There are three exercise positions or shapes: making the letters I, Y and T. You will do each exercise shape two times. First with your palms parallel to the floor and again with your thumbs up.

I-Y-T exercise

Lie down on your belly with head straight and face down and arms outstretched in front of you (like flying). (In the video Dr. Brett’s head is elevated; this is only so he can talk while showing the exercise).

With arms extended forward you will raise both arms up parallel (like a letter I), pause for two to three seconds, then lower them back down. Repeat this five times.

Then you will raise both arms up extended diagonally (like a letter Y), pause for two to three seconds, and then lower them back down. Repeat this five times.

Last, you will raise both arms perpendicular to the body (like a letter T), pause for two to three seconds, and then lower them back down. Repeat this five times.

Now take a break for a minute or two, then repeat the same set of three arm raises, but this time with thumbs pointing upward.

Notes

By lying down and raising extended arms you are using the muscles of the upper and mid back, thus strengthening them. This will help return proper tone to the muscles, which get improperly elongated and then tight because of forward head positions.

Each time you change position from the I to the Y to the T, you are working a different set of stabilizing muscles. And by moving from palms down to thumbs up you are changing how the muscles are working through different ranges of motion.

Do this full exercise set (three shape raises, five times each) once a day and you will feel stronger, more balanced and stable, and have less shoulder and neck pain soon.