Best Exercises for Neck and Back Pain

Hey there! How’s it going so far today? Usual aches and pains? Yeah, me too. I may have some help for you as soon as you pour yourself a mug of coffee and munch down a virtual treat or two! One of my chronic pain areas is neck and upper back. Nong says it is because I spend so much time sitting at the computer. Could be! You, too? Read on...

The root cause for the majority of neck and upper back pain comes from Forward Head Posture (FHP). FHP is insidious, because it’s everywhere in modern life, and it slowly but steadily has a devastating effect on your health. Fortunately, the solutions aren’t expensive, they simply require awareness and practice. In addition to the passive stretches and postures listed here, the exercises described below are ideal ways to reform FHP and to develop other aspects of your health like strength, mobility and cardiovascular health.

Rowing 

The rower is a phenomenal yet totally overlooked piece of cardio equipment. Rowing is a full body workout that trains your core, legs, shoulders and back. Done with proper form, you will not only get the sweaty cardio fix you’re looking for but also better strength and posture. So get off the treadmill and spin bike (which tend to leave folks looking like hunchbacks) and start rowing yourself into perfect posture!

Dumbbell Rows 

The dumbbell row is a time honoured weight training exercise that challenges your core, shoulder and upper back. It strengthens and contracts the muscles of the upper back that are chronically over stretched by FHP and counteracts the chronic contraction of the chest. If you are alive, you should be doing this.

Standing Wall Press 

This corrective exercise is awesome because it both strengthens your muscles of posture and re-calibrates your sense of being upright. The first few times you do this, it may feel really weird, as if you were pushing too far back or would fall over without the wall. This is because your nervous system is so used to being in a forward head posture that it thinks the vertical wall must be wrong. Do this exercise frequently and you will counter FHP quickly.

Prone Back Extension 

The prone extension is the opposite of a sit up, yet it is still a great core exercise and back muscle strengthener (it firms up your butt to boot!). This exercise can be practiced for multiple reps for short moments of contraction or for only a few reps with longer periods of contraction (30 seconds to a minute). Don’t forget to breathe!

Wheel Pose

Wheel pose is not for everyone, but if you are fit and mobile enough to practice it, it’s a great tools for countering FHP. It’s also the opposite shape of what most people curl into after hours sitting in offices and cars – making it an ideal technique for re-patterning your posture.

Source and to see videos on these exercises, go to: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/best-exercises-for-people-with-neck-and-back-pain.html#ixzz3hqKksjwk

Normally, reading the above would be exercise enough for me but this time I think I may have to take some of the advice and do these exercises... except the wheel pose. No way, José! I already do a form of the Standing Wall Press so I’m ahead of the game the way I figure it.

Don’t forget to take a break every once in a while for another coffee and VT fix.

See ya, eh!

Bob