Text Neck and Shoulder Tension

Here are some tips and tricks to decrease text neck and shoulder tension and increase upper back, shoulder and neck mobility. Why? We spend too much time sitting, our shoulders get hunched and our head hangs forward. How do we strengthen our shoulders and neck to pull back? Y, T, W & L movements. These are movements you can do anywhere and you don’t need any props.

YTWL Lying Down

• Lying down on the ground, go through the movements of Y, T, W, L
• Make sure in each position you are pushing your arms into the ground
• Pushing the arms into the ground is going to create the slow muscle contraction while you’re holding that position

Doing that drill well? Next version is to try it standing up.

YTWL Standing

• Stand up against a wall placing feet out in front of you
• Place head back against wall
• Make sure your lower back is flush against the wall
• Go through the movements…
• Y
• T
• W
• L

For those of us that are worried about the slumped shoulders and forward head carriage, the holding of the one position of the exercise is great because it’s forcing that muscle memory and it’s creating that new nerve pattern. If you can hold that for a prolonged time, even better.

Can you hold the above drill for more than 30 seconds? Want an extra challenge?

• Do same drill as above, but with one foot raised
• Go through the movements…
• Y
• T
• W
• L

Thank you for watching! We want to hear your thoughts and comments, so please feel free to do so below. Also, please like or share to anyone you think would benefit from these mobility videos.