A tight shoulder is caused by:
- Carrying your backpack on one shoulder without regular or frequent exchange or you’re used to holding your phone to your ears with your shoulder
- Sitting all day long at the computer with your head and neck stretched a bit forward
- Stress: Stress can make your rib cage to drop a bit. Stress affects your shoulder and upper back.
- Bad sleeping position
- Injuries
A tight shoulder can cause you a level of pain and discomfort, back pain, stiff neck, tension headache, and also limit your motion if not checked.
Nine Easy Shoulder Stretches to Fix a Tight Shoulder
Stretch 1: Raising Your Shoulder
- In a standing or sitting position with a straight posture, and your arms by your side, lift your shoulders slowly towards your ears
- Hold for five seconds before dropping your shoulder down slowly
- Repeat this exercise five times
Stretch 2: Rolling Your Shoulder
- Maintain a straight posture while standing or sitting,
- Roll your shoulder up, back, and bring it down slowly
- Repeat this exercise 10 times
- Roll your shoulder up, forward and bring it down slowly
- Repeat this exercise 10 times
Read Also: 10 Effective, Quick and Easy Exercises to Get Rid of Neck Pain Fast
Stretch 3: Retracting Your Chin Forward and Backwards
This exercise is an excellent remedy for a tight shoulder if you sit at the computer for long periods, usually 8 hours or more.
- In a straight sitting or standing posture,
- Your head and neck should be in a straight position with your spine
- Stretch your chin forward as far as it can go without straining the neck
- Pull your chin back towards your throat and neck, as far as it can go
- Repeat this move ten times
Stretch 4: Rolling Your Neck Left to Right
- Incline your head toward the right shoulder
- Roll down your head slowly bringing your chin to your chest as close as it can get without straining
- Roll your head from left to right and back to left
- Repeat this move five times
- Note: your head should go in the forward direction and sideways not backward.
Read Also: 8 Knee Strengthening Exercises to Get Rid Of Knee Pain Fast At Home
Stretch 5: Stretching Against the Wall
- Place your two palms on the wall
- Walk back (without getting your hands off the wall) until your arms are straight and your body is in a bowing position
- Don’t push the walls and don’t raise your arms too high
- Remain in this position for three minutes.
Stretch 6: Pendulum Stretch
- In a standing position with hips spread apart
- Bend forward head facing the ground
- Place your right hand on a table
- Your left arm should be dangling down
- Swing your left arm in a clockwise circular motion in a gentle manner for 45 seconds
- Repeat the same action in step 5 above but in an anticlockwise direction for 45 seconds
- Change position and swing your right arm in both clockwise and anticlockwise direction for 45 seconds each.
Read Also: 10 Yoga Stretches to Relieve Sciatica and Lower Back Pain
Stretch 7: Standing Arm Swinging
- In a standing position with a straight posture,
- Let your arms rest on each side of your body with the palms facing the body
- Swing your arms forward and as high as you can without raising your shoulders
- Lower both arms down bringing your palms to rest at the sides of your hips
- Continue for a minute
Stretch 8: Standing Arm Lifting
- In a straight standing posture, form fists with both hands
- Lift your hands as high as it will go while your fists are clenched
- Breathe in as you raise your hands till both fists meet high above your head
- Bring your fists down towards your hips
- Repeat this exercise 10 times.
Read Also: 10 Best Yoga Exercises to Relieve Back Pain
Stretch 9: Standing-Bending Forward on Wide Legs
- In a straight standing position with the distance between your feet more extensive than the distance between your hips
- Interlock your hands behind your back while your chest is open
- In a bending position, raise your interlocked hands from your back towards your head with your head hanging down facing the floor
- Remain in that position for 1 minute
Stretch 10: The TYI Movement
- Rest your back against the wall standing in a straight posture
- Let your palms rest at both sides of your hips facing out
- Raise your arms slowly to the same line with your shoulder forming a ‘T’ while your palms are facing downward
- Continue raising your arm to a ‘Y’ shape with both palms facing each other
- Keep raising your arms till they get directly above your head, palms touching in ‘I’ shape with your shoulder blade resting against the wall
- Repeat this motion ten times.
ead Also: 9 Easy Yoga Poses to Relieve Hip Pain
Stretch 11: Lateral Arms Swinging
- Stand in a straight posture with feet apart, (do not lean against a wall)
- Stretch out your arms to form a ‘T’ while breathing in
- Swing both arms towards each other with the right arm crossing right under the left arm without bending your arms (you should breathe out while doing this)
- Swing back your arms to ‘T’ position. This squeezes your shoulder blades
- Swing back again but with the left crossing under the right arm
- Repeat this exercise 10 times
Stretch 12: Child’s Pose Yoga
This pose helps stretch out your shoulder muscles
- Kneel on the mat with both big toes facing down and touching each other
- spread your knees apart
- Sit up straight with your butts sitting on your heels
- Breathe in deeply and raise your arms above your head
- Breathe out, bow forward with your arms stretched towards the floor
- Your palms should be resting on the floor flat down
- Let your elbows rest on the ground
- Sit back resting your butts on your heels while your head is bent towards the floor
- Breathe in deeply, feel the stretch in your shoulder muscles
- Remain in this position for the next 1 minutes
Conclusion
Stretching your shoulders regularly through the various exercise regimes described above gives you the following advantages
- It loosens up and also strengthens your shoulder muscles
- It releases tension from your body
- Stretches improve your wellbeing
- Makes your body and muscles more flexible
- Increases your range of motion
- It Prevents injury.
Read Also: 7 Easy Home Remedies to Get Rid of Hip Bursitis