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North Vancouver Chiropractor: 3 Exercises to help improve neck and midback posture
North Vancouver Chiropractor: 3 Exercises to help improve neck and midback posture
By: Bryson Chow
My patients often ask me what it means to have poor posture. Great question! Simply put, poor posture is a result of poor compensation strategies in your body after accumulating stress and tension over time. Due to the demands of globalization and our reliance on technology, many of us have neglected our postures when sitting and standing to complete tasks at work.
Doing a task too much for a long period of time causes something health professionals like to call repetitive strain. Have you ever heard that doing something too much is no good? The same principle applies with your posture. Doing something for a long period of time will cause repetitive strain in your neck, shoulders and lower back. For example, sitting with poor posture at a computer trying to figure out your taxes for a whole day will definitely cause pain in your neck and shoulders. If it wasn’t your taxes causing discomfort, sitting for a long period with poor sitting posture will definitely affect your posture.
When we think of poor posture, we usually associate this with people who slouch over either with standing or sitting. Health professionals like to call this upper cross syndrome. In a nutshell, upper cross syndrome is defined as tightness in the upper shoulders, and chest region with weak muscles in the midback and neck.
Not to be outdone, poor posture in the lower back and pelvis can be as nagging as upper back issues. Health professionals have coined poor posture in the lower back and pelvis as lower cross syndrome, where the stomach and buttocks areas protrude out due to muscular imbalances in these areas. It is a result of poor core muscular strength and buttock strength.
While these all may be manageable with regular exercise and activity, if you feel you have aches and pains related to poor posture habits, it worth giving Chiropractic, Massage, and Physiotherapy a shot where tension can be released in tight musculature and tense joints, and an exercise program can be tailored to your specific needs as a long term strategy of caring for your body.
Overall, consider the following 3 exercises as a general strategy to prevent further progression of upper cross syndrome.
1) Neck Stretches – sitting nice and straight, drop your ear to your shoulder. You should feel a slight stretch in your upper shoulder. Secondly, drop your nose to your armpit (like you’re trying to smell your armpit), and slightly stretch out your neck. Hold stretches for 30 to 45 seconds and repeat twice.
2) Dorsal Neck Glide – sitting nice and straight, glide your chin forward to back and keep your neck straight. Do not bend your head forward as you’re tucking in your chin (Imagine grooving your head to Michael Jackson’s Thriller). Hold your chin back for 5 to 6 seconds and you should feel a slight stretch in the back of your neck. Ideally, you want to complete 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
3) Brueggers – sitting nice and straight with your hands at your side, bring you shoulder blades down and slightly together like you’re tucking them into your pants. Rotate your shoulders back and open up your palms, then do a dorsal neck glide to complete the exercise. Hold for 5 to 6 seconds and ideally, do 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
About the author: Dr. Bryson Chow is a Chiropractor offering North Vancouver Chiropractic services at Avita Health. Dr. Bryson Chow is a member of the BC Chiropractic Association and the College of Chiropractors of BC. Dr. Bryson Chow was rated one of the top 3 Chiropractors in Vancouver in The Georgia Straight Best of Vancouver 2011. Bryson enjoys working with elite athletes and weekend warriors. He is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the Simon Fraser University Men’s Lacrosse Team.
Credits for Images:
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Adam Husney, MD, MD – Family Medicine & Carla J. Herman, MD, MD, MPH – Geriatric Medicine
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