| Do you have any idea how important your shoulders | | | | and engaged your shoulder stabilizer muscles every |
| are? | | | | time you did an exercise, a lot of the stress that you |
| They do so much for you and yet most of you quite | | | | put into your shoulders would be gone - overnight. |
| literally dump the weight of the world on them on a | | | | What's more, the stronger your upper back muscles |
| daily basis. In times of stress, when you feel cold or | | | | are, the less load your body will have to dump on your |
| you when lift something that's too heavy, you pull your | | | | shoulder joint, to make up for their weakness. When |
| shoulders up around your neck. | | | | you exercise, you need to engage the scapular and |
| The more often you do this, the more ingrained the | | | | abdominal muscles to support the exercises you are |
| habit becomes. Some of you are literally walking | | | | doing. If you are feeling tension in the neck or the |
| around 24 hours a day with your shoulders raised and | | | | shoulders it's more than likely that your upper back |
| the feeling of a stiff, sore neck. This can be down to | | | | muscles need a bit of a kick! |
| excess stress, but more often than not it's down to | | | | Here's a tip: If in doubt, stand up straight, draw your |
| neglected posture. | | | | belly button in slightly away from your belt line, lift the |
| Sitting at a desk or in the car for hours at a time | | | | chest slightly, draw the shoulders down away from |
| causes your body to migrate forward, which sees | | | | your ears, and pull the shoulder blades slightly back. |
| your chest tighten and your shoulders slump forward. | | | | This will cause you to hold good posture and take the |
| Combine this postural position with the stress of | | | | strain off your upper back and shoulders, while |
| deadlines and getting to places on time and you can | | | | reducing neck pain in the process. Try this little |
| see how easy it can be to bring your shoulder joint out | | | | exercise for a minute or two at a time, and slowly build |
| of line... | | | | it up over time. |
| Of course there is a solution, and I spend every single | | | | The more you practice this exercise, the more aware |
| one of my client training sessions trying to fix it; | | | | you will become of your posture and when it is and |
| 'Shoulders down!' | | | | isn't optimal. You may end up feeling like a proud |
| 'Draw the shoulder blades back!' | | | | peacock, but so what? Good posture is definitely |
| Lift the chest!' | | | | something to be proud of... |
| If you just learned to use your core more efficiently, | | | | |