HOW: Start in an upright seated position. Without moving your upper body, look to the either side while only using your neck muscles to move your head and not your shoulders or trunk. Perform to whatever side is prescribed. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your neck muscles working. 

COMPENSATION: Don’t rotate your shoulders or trunk when looking in either direction, only allow motion in your head/neck.

HOW: Start in a seated position. Begin to look down slowly and isolate the neck muscles to tilt your head down for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your neck muscles working. 

COMPENSATION: Only allow motion in your neck, don’t let your trunk to slouch as you look down

HOW: Start in an upright seated position. Without moving your upper body, tilt the top of your head to one side. Think about bringing your ear down to your shoulder. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your neck muscles working. 

COMPENSATION: Don’t rotate your head while side bending. Don’t allow your opposite shoulder to come up while side bending.

HOW: Start in a seated position. Begin to look up slowly and isolate the neck muscles to tilt your head up and back for the prescribed amount of reps. 

FEEL: You should feel your neck muscles working. 

COMPENSATION: Only allow motion in your neck, don’t let your trunk arch back as you look up. 

HOW: Begin in a seated position on a stool or chair. Place your hand underneath your bottom anchoring down your shoulder. Keep your shoulder depressed down as you tilt your head to the opposite side away from the anchored hand. Hold for the prescribed amount of time. Feel free to slightly rotate your head to the left or the right to intensify the stretch in the side of the neck.

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in the side of your neck on the side you anchored your hand. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your shoulder down as you tilt your head to the other side, don’t engage your upper trap muscles.

HOW: Begin by lying face up then perform a chin tuck. The chin tuck is created by pushing the small of your neck in towards the floor. Think about creating a double chin to perform the tuck. Pushing your tongue on the roof of your mouth may make it easier for you to activate the neck muscles.

 

FEEL: You will feel the muscle on the front of the neck working with this exercise. You may also feel a stretch in the back of your neck.

 

COMPENSATION: Avoid arching or rounding your neck, keep your eyes facing the ceiling throughout this movement.

HOW: Begin by lying face up then perform a chin tuck. The chin tuck is created by pushing the small of your neck in towards the floor. Think about creating a double chin to perform the tuck. Then rotate from side to side in a slow and controlled manner.

 

FEEL: You will feel the neck muscles working with this exercise. You may also feel a stretch in the back of your neck.

 

COMPENSATION: Avoid arching or rounding your neck, keep your chin tucked throughout this movement.

HOW: Begin in the quadruped position. Your hands on the ground underneath your shoulders and your knees on the ground under your hips. Starting with a flat back, create a hump in your back as much as you can by pretending you have a tail and you’re tucking that tail in between your legs. Continue that hump in your mid and upper back while looking down with your neck. From here, reverse it and pretend like you are sticking your tail out as you arch your low, mid, and upper back while you attempt to look up. 

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your lower, middle, upper back working/stretching as you push away from the ground creating the hump in your back and arching it. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your elbows straight, don’t bend them as you arch your back. Don’t rock back and forth with your hips.

HOW: Start in a quadruped position with your hands and knees on the ground. Slowly rotate to one side by bringing your arm under your body and through to the other side. To increase the stretch, you can “crawl your fingers” and exhale at the end of the stretch. Then reverse the rotation and rotate the other direction, exhaling at the top. You can use your eyes to increase the stretch

 

FEEL: You should feel a nice and gentle stretch in the middle region of your back when you perform this exercise.

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to keep your hips on top of your knees, or even sink your hips back more towards your ankles. Do not let your hips come forward like in a modified plank position

HOW: Start in a sitting position with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground and a foam roller lying on the ground behind you at about shoulder level. You can either interlock your hands behind your neck or cross your arms across your chest. Keep your hips on the ground as you lean gently back into the roller bringing your shoulders, head, and neck down over the roller. Carefully work up and down the length of your mid back by lifting your hips up, rolling back, and extending over the foam roll.

 

FEEL: You should feel some pressure and stretch in the middle portion of your spine. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t go too fast, go slow and controlled over the foam roller.