If you have been doing a lot of driving over the Christmas break, your neck and back may be a little stiff and sore. The exercises in this video are really simple but will help to relieve any neck or back stiffness that you may have.
Neck movements are a great place to start to loosen up your joints, especially if you have been sitting and driving for long periods of time. You can start with these ones below. Try at least five times each.
- Moving your neck up and down
- Looking right to left
- Tilting your neck side to side (ear to shoulder)
You can then move on to stretching your neck. A few stretches that you might include in your routine are below. You should hold each of these for a minimum of 30 seconds.
- Ear to shoulder
- Nose to shoulder
The chin tuck is a great way to counteract a poke neck posture, which is the posture that people fall into after they have been sitting for long periods. It is characterised by rounded shoulders, a rounded upper back and a chin that is protruding forwards. To perform this exercise start by sitting up straight and then gently tuck your chin in, creating a slight double chin but not bending your neck so that you look at the floor. Remain looking forwards. Relax and repeat. You can hold the chin tuck for a few seconds.
Moving on to the upper back. Try the following:
- Turning your upper back right and left (cross your arms over your chest)
- Turning and holding onto the back of the seat in the car
- Back extension (hands behind back and bend from the upper back)
If you need help then come and visit us in the clinic. To book an appointment visit www.origin.physio or call us on 02 6179 5814.
Written by Natalie D'Rozario see LinkedIn profile