with so many of us gazing into computers
or staring down at our smartphones most
of the day it's no wonder that some of
us have developed neck problems a stiff
neck is typically characterized by
soreness pain and difficulty moving the
neck it may also be accompanied by a
headache
shoulder pain and/or arm pain in some
cases stiff neck is caused by a simple
muscle strain or sprain that will heal
on its own within a few days but there's
also a chronic kind of stiffness which
is typically the result of muscles
weakening over time from poor posture or
from overuse muscles during repetitive
movements it's also possible that the
problem is joined related this joint
related problem will also affect your
muscles because they want to protect
your neck and react with spasm to
correct this issue we have to eliminate
our bad habits in the first place
looking down at your computer monitor or
your smartphone all day can cause you
neck problems because some muscles
around the neck joints will get tired to
become over stretched while others
become too weak putting your monitor at
eye level sitting up straight and the
voiding tilting and twisting your head
down or to the side while you're on the
computer can help you avoid neck pain
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when you're driving or looking at your
smartphone avoid having your neck bent
forward for long periods of time you
also should pay attention to your sleep
positions sleeping on your stomach with
the two high pillow will force your
cervical spine into an extension and
rotation this can put a lot of stress
onto your spine the muscles around it
and also your nerves to release the
stiffness of the tight muscles and
strengthening the weak ones we put a
little routine together that you can
follow easily in this routine you will
stretch the stiff muscles which are
typically the sternocleidomastoid the
levator scapulae the upper trapezius and
the neck extensors and you will also
activate the antagonists like the lower
trapezius and the neck flexes exercise
one roll your shoulders backwards and
down for thirty Seconds
exercise to pull your shoulder blades
down and together three times with the
ten-second hold exercise 3 push your
head backwards and hold it for 30
seconds exercise 4 bring your ear to
your shoulder and push the other
shoulder downwards hold each side for 20
seconds
exercise 5 grab a towel and put it
around your neck
now you rotate your head to the side and
bring your ear to your shoulder use the
towel to pull your head closer to your
shoulder do this with both sides for
about 20 seconds you can do this routine
a couple times a day but always be very
careful when you do these stretches and
don't overdo it
if the problem is joined related you can
use a towel to adjust the word race here
we grab the towel and pull it carefully
forward while moving the head in to
different positions you can pull the
towel with both sides equally and tuck
your chin or rotate your head but it's
also possible to pull the towel on one
side while your head is fixed in a
neutral position the purpose of this is
to fix one or a couple of vertebrae
while you adjust the other ones when you
pull the towel forward as well the
stretches always be careful with your
spine and don't use the towel to pull as
hard as you can the last point is about
massage here we try to trigger some of
the muscles which cause a problem
some muscles like the trapezius can be
triggered with cranes and massage balls
while others are hard to get and can
only get triggered with your fingers
it's okay to feel pain when you trigger
yourself but don't overdo it
if the pain is too much your muscles
will tighten up even more and can't get
relaxed so if you feel pain only at
slight pressure in the beginning and if
the pain fades increase it step by step
after you fix your neck issues you could
train with a full body workout program
to get and maintain a strong and healthy
body as you might know we are still
having a 20% discount for all workout
bundles until the end of March so just
visit our website and get your discount
if you have any other questions just
leave a comment thanks Alex