Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises: The 10 Best Exercises To Relieve Upper Back Pain, Neck Pain And More
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises: Dynamic and static stretches and strengthening exercises can help relieve upper back pain. Working on your core muscles may also help.
Ouch! Neck and back pain cramping your style?
Regardless of the cause of your pain — hunching over a smartphone, sitting at a desk all day, or even injury — stretching and strengthening exercises can go a long way in your recovery.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Below, we’ve compiled 10 moves to help stretch and strengthen the muscles in your:
Neck
Shoulders
Upper back
Mid back
Lower back
Try incorporating these stretches and exercises a few times weekly for the best results.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Sample routine for upper back pain relief
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises: How To Warm Up
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, First things first: Loosen up the muscles in your problem area with a dynamic warmup that includes mobility exercises.
Before you start your workout, you want to prepare your muscles, ligaments, and joints for the work ahead. Adding some dynamic stretching can help you warm up. You may also benefit from a 5–10 minute cardio warmup, such as walking, cycling, or a gentle jog.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, While static stretches — where you hold a stretch in one position for a period of time — help restore and maintain flexibility and improve range of motion, they should mostly be left until after your workout or included within a more dynamic warmup routine beforehand.
This is because prolonged static stretching (especially 60 seconds or more) may temporarily reduce your muscular strength and endurance, reaction time, and overall performance.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, If you do want to add some static stretching to your warmup, try to limit the stretches to 10–20 seconds. Otherwise, leave it until your workout is completed.
Dynamic stretches for the neck, shoulders, and upper back
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Select a handful of the following exercises and perform them before your workout for 30 seconds to 1 minute each.
1. Neck Roll
Good for: neck and upper back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Stand or sit facing forward. Begin by tilting your neck to the right. You should feel the stretch through your neck to your trap muscle.
After a second or two, slowly roll your head counterclockwise.
Pause for a second or two when you reach your left shoulder.
Complete the rotation by ending where you started.
Repeat these steps, rolling clockwise.
Repeat this sequence 2–3 times.
2. Shoulder Roll
Good for: shoulders and upper back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Stand with your arms down at your sides.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Roll your shoulders backward in a circular motion, completing 5 rotations. Then, complete 5 rotations forward.
Repeat this sequence 2–3 times.
3. Arm Circles
Good for: shoulders
Gif by Dima Bazak
Stand with your arms out to your sides, parallel to the floor, with your palms facing down.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Slowly circle your arms forward, making small circles at first and eventually larger ones. Do this 20 times.
Reverse the movement and do another 20 circles.
4. Overhead Arm Reach
Good for: shoulders and upper back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Sit in a chair, facing forward, with your feet on the floor.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Extend your right arm above your head and reach to the left. Bend your torso until you feel your right lat and shoulder stretch.
Return to the starting position. Repeat 5 times, then do the same thing with your left arm.
5. Chair Rotation
Good for: upper, mid, and lower back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Sit sideways in a chair. Your right side should be resting against the back of the chair.
Keeping your legs stationary, rotate your torso to the right, reaching for the back of the chair with your hands.
Hold your upper body in rotation, using your arms to stretch more deeply as your muscles loosen.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times on each side.
6. Cat-Cow
Good for: mid and lower back
Start on all fours with your neck neutral.
Your palms should be under your shoulders, and your knees should be under your hips.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, On an inhale, tuck your pelvis and round out your mid back. Draw your navel toward your spine and drop your head to relax your neck.
After 3–5 seconds, exhale and return to a neutral spine position.
Turn your face toward the sky, allowing your back to sink toward the floor. Hold for 3–5 seconds.
Repeat this sequence 5 times.
7. Knee To Chest
Good for: lower back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Lie face-up on the floor. Bend your left leg and bring it to your chest. Hold for 5 seconds, then release.
Repeat with your right leg.
Complete this sequence 3 times.
8. Thoracic Extension
Good for: upper and mid back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
For best results, you’ll need a foam roller or a chair.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, If you’re using a foam roller, position it under your thoracic spine. Allow your head and glutes to fall on either side. Extend your arms above your head to deepen the stretch.
If you’re using a chair, sit facing forward and allow your upper body to fall over the back of the chair. Extend your arms above your head for a deeper stretch.
Hold either position for 5 seconds, then release. Repeat 3 times.
Strengthening exercises
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Strengthening the muscles in your back, shoulders, and neck is vital to reduce and prevent pain. Choose a handful of the moves below to target them.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Some of these moves involve dumbbells or resistance bands, and some use just your body weight. Pick a mix of both types, if possible.
9. Row
Good for: upper back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Use a resistance band or a light to medium dumbbell to complete this move.
Affix the resistance band to a stable surface and grab each handle, extending your arms.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Pull the handles straight back by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your body. You should feel your lats working.
If you’re using a dumbbell, hold it in your right hand and brace yourself on a wall with your left hand, arm extended.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Hinge at the waist to a 45-degree angle, allowing the dumbbell to hang down.
Keeping your neck neutral and your knees soft, pull the dumbbell directly up with a tucked elbow.
Perform 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.
10. Face Pull
Good for: shoulders and upper back
Gif by Active Body. Creative Mind.
Use a resistance band to complete this move. Affix the band to a stable surface above eye level.
Grab each handle with an overhand grip.
Back Pain And Neck Pain Exercises, Pull directly toward your face, flaring your upper arms out to the sides and squeezing your shoulders together. Pause, then return to the starting position.
Complete 3 sets of 12 reps.
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