If you’ve ever had neck pain, you’re not alone. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about one in three adults complain of neck pain each year. Naturally, we focus a lot on how to relieve that pain. Yet, how many of us regularly work on neck strengthening as a preventive measure? Here’s why you should strengthen the upper trapezius muscle and a video to show you how.
Your Neck
Your neck contains components that are both essential and vulnerable. This includes the trachea for breathing, the esophagus for swallowing, the carotid and vertebral arteries for blood supply to the brain, and the spinal cord that receives sensory information and sends out motor impulses.
In addition, your neck supports your head – which weighs 10 to 12 pounds. The muscles of the neck support your head and flex, extend, rotate, and side-bend to help you see and do things throughout your day. It’s a big job.
Think of holding a bowling ball up at chest height with one hand. That’s similar to how your head rests on your neck. Angle that bowling ball away from your body and you’ll experience the same sort of increased work that the muscles of your neck do to support your head as you lean and twist forward, sideways, or backward.
Now, what if you had to carry that bowling ball around all day? Your arm would get pretty sore. Instead of simply applying ice or heat, massaging it, or going to see a chiropractor, wouldn’t you look at how you might make it stronger to prevent pain?
Where to Start
You have a boatload of muscles in the neck and while all could benefit from attention, the upper trapezius is a good place to start. It’s a major muscle that’s easy to locate and strengthen. It also carries a lot of blame for neck pain.
We often experience constant low-lying tension in this muscle which can cause pain and limit our function. It’s a result of poor posture, less than ideal body mechanics, and stress. We need the upper trapezius to fully relax when it’s not working. At the same time, it needs to be strong enough to support that bowling ball of a head.
The upper traps are responsible for a variety of movements, including lateral flexion (side-bending), neck extension, and shoulder elevation. We’re going to focus on shoulder elevation (shoulder shrugging) as the basis for our two beginning neck strengthening exercises.
Exercise 1: Overhead Press
The overhead press is typically considered a shoulder strengthening exercise for the deltoids. But as you raise those weights, your upper traps kick in as well. A few key tips:
- Good upright posture is essential. Lengthen through the spine, whether you’re in sitting or standing.
- Keep the abdominal muscles engaged to avoid arching forward through the low back as you press overhead.
- As you press up, fully contract the deltoid and upper trapezius muscles. Then, when you bring the weights down, fully relax.
Exercise 2: Shrugs
Once again, start with good posture. You can also do these in sitting or standing. This exercise isolates the upper trapezius muscle, so focus entirely on getting a good solid contraction of it, followed by a full relaxation.
Added Benefit
You may find that the relaxation phase of these exercises helps you learn what a truly relaxed upper trap should feel like. Similar to progressive relaxation exercises – where you start with your feet and move up through the all the major muscle groups in your body, tensing and then fully relaxing – these two exercises should help you gain an appreciation for any low-lying tension you carry in your upper traps. And they’ll also teach you how to reduce that tension.
Stay fit!
This post is for education purposes only. Please seek medical attention if you have acute or chronic neck issues and/or pain.