By: Suzanne Andrew
Slouching? Headaches? Neck & Shoulder pain? Difficulty with deep breathing? Maybe your rhomboids need a bit of strengthening….
Many of the conditions of modern life such as hours spent in front of a computer (especially laptops), driving, holding newborns, living with chronic pain or illness, cause overstretched, weak rhomboids along the back of the chest between the shoulder blades; along with overly strong, shortened pectoral muscles in the front of chest. Over time, this becomes the look of slouchy posture, and often the feel of headaches, shoulder & neck pain, shallow breathing. Even the nerves, arteries and veins can become impinged interrupting nervous and circulatory system flow.
To undo this arrangement in the body, it is important to both deeply stretch the pectoral and front chest muscles; plus strengthen the rhomboids in the back of the body. If you’ll take a break from your computer work or driving or writing or talking on the phone every hour and do these two simple exercises; you’ll notice a difference in how your body looks and feels quite quickly.
1. Stretch the pecs and front chest muscles by doing the Chest Expansion stretch.
- Lengthen your spine and balance your weight evenly over both sitting bones
- Reach behind your back, keeping arms straight, interlace finger.
- While keeping the spine long and upright, reach your interlaced hands as far upwards as possible. Feel the stretch in your pecs. Hold this posture for 5 deep breaths.
2. Strengthen your rhomboids
- With the same long spine starting posture, relax your arms down at your sides by your hips
- Gently but firmly squeeze your shoulder blades together.
- Repeat 15 times in sequence with the breath; inhaling to squeeze together, exhaling to relax the shoulder blades apart.
It isn’t unusual for the mid-back to feel sore the first week or so you practice this sequence. But keep after it, especially if you have a tendency to slouch. In the long-run, you’ll probably experience less pain, better posture and improved shoulder range of motion – a great pay off for a few minutes of your time.
Suzanne Andrew is a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist, Yoga Anatomy teacher and Small Business Coach. Contact her directly to arrange an appointment: 727-641-6941 or Suzanne@TryThaiYogaMassage.com
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