Person demonstrating shoulder stretches outdoors

Tight Shoulders? Try These Stretches

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Tight shoulders can be very painful.

They are often seen in athletes because they use their shoulder muscles and ligaments too much. Tight shoulders can also affect the neck region and sometimes the whole upper body. If you don’t warm-up and stretch properly before muscle training, the chance of having tight shoulder blades increases. A tense shoulder blade restricts your movements and makes you feel anxious because it causes a lot of discomfort. It can keep you from getting a good night’s sleep and make it hard to do everyday activities.

Let’s check out some stretches that can give you relief from tight or stiff shoulders:

Infographic of shoulder stretches and exercises

 

Neck Stretch– Bend your head towards your left shoulder so that your left ear touches the shoulder. Placing your left hand over the right side of your temple, gently pull your head to the left. Maintain this position for nearly thirty seconds. Then repeat the same for the right side. 

Crossbody Arm Stretch– Keep one of your arms straight and hold it across your chest with the other hand. Pull the upper part of the crossed arm towards your body gently for ten seconds. Relax and repeat by switching the arms. 

Shoulder Rolls– Stand or sit in a proper posture. Keeping your arms straight, roll the shoulders up, forward, and down in sync. Swiftly continue this movement to the count of ten. Then repeat the same rolling movement backward. 

Chin Retraction– You can do this exercise while sitting or standing. Maintain a proper posture of the body and move your chin to the front (as far as possible without causing strain). Then tuck it back into your neck.

Arm Circles– Position your upper body properly while standing straight near a wall. Move one arm slowly in a circular motion. Keep making big circles with the arm till the count of 10 in each direction. Then turn the around to repeat the same exercise with the other hand. 

Back Hand Clasp– Keep your hands over your lower back, both the palms touching each other. Slowly angle your upper back so that the shoulder blades are tucked together.

Neck Rolls– Rotate your head by using forward and sideways movements of the neck. You can do it by making a semicircular shape with the movement of your neck by moving it from one side to the other. Stop and repeat in reverse after 5 rotations.

These shoulder exercises can help you by relaxing your shoulders so that you can quickly resume your training. 

 

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