I've had upper back discomfort .. shoulder blade tension and nagging pain for decades and always suffered particularly badly after a long ride .
Strong massage / chiropractor etc gave short lived relief. It always returned and I suspected bad posture/upper cross syndrome type as I
I tried all sorts without much luck .
I had tried chin tucks in the past again without much success but decided to try again and really focus on correct form ( loads of info on YT ) to strengthen the deep neck flexors which I suspected may be implicated.
I had read an article about a chap who had spent a year and a lot of money visiting all-sorts of specialists re a similar issue who finally discovered it was all down to the same muscles ..hidden deep inside the neck .
Anyhow .. I started with 10 x 30 second tucks twice a day ..lengthening the back of the neck also and trying not to use other muscles which often come in to compensate.
I immediately felt it was targeting the problematic area between the shoulder blades etc which I had presumed was rhomboid or similar .
Within a few days I felt less tension and it was easier to have a better posture than ever before.
Since then ..after a month of daily exercises I haven't even thought about the problem that plagued me for years apart from trying to remember to continue to do the strengthening .
Today the effect of this simple exercise really became clear as I decided to drop my bars by over 2 inches to aid climbing . I hadn't been able to do this without discomfort since the late 90's but came back without any tension,neck or back ache which was remarkable .
Anyhow . Thought I'd tell this story in case others have similar issues and if you do decide to commit to target these deep neck flexors like I did just make sure you have good form and isolate those muscles by reading up / watching a few videos that show how to do it properly . Hope it helps someone else.
Over and out !
Following a motoX accident my deep postural neck muscles shut down, meaning my traps had to hold my head up. The relentless pain of cramp for all waking hours for 6 weeks was the most painful thing I've experienced.
The physio got me doing chin tucks, and the relief as the dormant muscles got back to work was almost immediate.
Chin tucks are awesome!
Could you link to the YT vids you found useful, I've been struggling with shoulder and neck pains due to what I diagnosed as bad posture.
Thanks
What is a chin tuck? I've an idea but suspect it isn't right...unless it really is trying to get your chin flat against your neck?
It works even better if you put arms overhead, we do overhead lunges with chin tucks, probably because we're glutens for punishment. 🤣
glutens for punishment
erm... gluttons for punishement ;o)
I will find the videos and post a link later today. Remember .. form is so important!
Looking forward to the link too 👍
Interested here. I’m committed to summoning at least once a a week now to keep my shoulders in order
The old deep neck flexor stretch. An oldie but a goodie!
Could you link to the YT vids you found useful, I’ve been struggling with shoulder and neck pains due to what I diagnosed as bad posture.
Thanks
+1 please
Also +1
And me...just in case it was missed earlier!
I've also been struggling with a pain that sounds not dissimilar for the last couple of years. Certainly willing to give this a go. Thanks for sharing.
Interested if there's a YT vid you found particularly useful, but a quick search for "chin tucks" turns up loads so I'm sure we'll work it out 😉
Thanks for sharing Kaiser. I've been struggling with something very similar for 16 or 17 years now. A physio did get me doing chin tucks once, but nowhere near as much per day. I'm going to try the 10 x 30S/day routine as of today.
Also interested in links to any videos you found particularly useful, especially re. Keeping correct form.
Timely reminder for me to start doing these again!
Hi all .. apologies for the delay in providing YT links to the vids that gave me the effective form required. I will describe the main points and later link to the better vids / info if I can find . The trouble is so many Y Tubers jump on the bandwagon and copy stuff to create clicks without being knowledgeable so buyer beware . There is an extensive article on physiopedia as well but perhaps too complicated for many .
I have just seen that a video was linked to above but again he seems to have missed certain details which improve the exercise
The simple description would be that you draw your chin back towards your throat without tipping your head too much either way . You must also try to avoid using other muscles that will want to get involved .. particularly the 2 big ones either side called the sternomastoid ? iirc.
Any therapist would be watching for this or palpating the area to make sure you are isolating the deep neck flexors alone to do the work. This is important.
I didn't bother re lifting the head either.
If you isolate those muscles properly you can increase the effort ..in fact many pros suggest using a blood pressure cuff behind the curve of the neck on the floor so you can monitor the pressure you exert.
You are almost trying to flatten that neck curve against the floor .. you won't make it though !
You hold this position for ? Seconds then release . I did 10x 30seconds twice a day.
At the start I immediately felt a twinge/ activity between the shoulder blades which no longer occurs.
The other thing is that as well as tucking the chin ( rather than rotating the head) and aiming to flatten the neck , try to imagine the neck getting longer. It does actually extend and where the back of the head touches the ground I now aim to almost slide it backwards a little .away from the body along the floor which does work and extends the neck as well as strengthening the deep neck flexors . If you prefer to do it against a wall some people put a sheet of paper between the wall head contact point . During the exercise of someone held it it would rise .
After a short time with just this exercise my posture is much better, I experience little tension and rides are no longer a pain in the neck .
I also can now rest my head on a headrest when driving which was almost impossible before. I am 58 yrs old and the upper back ache has been no friend for decades but hopefully the cause has been found and I really feel so much better as a result I can hardly believe it simply by investing 10mins a day for a few weeks then the occasional top up.
I also try and do some whenever I remember.. driving, cycling, walking , using the laptop etc. You may look like a turkey but it's worth it .
Hope it helps someone .
If you decide to commit please report back .
Good luck !
Thanks. Just did my first 10x10
Posting so I can find this again..
sounds like this is something need to try!
Don't know if I'm just over doing it, but I'm getting a lot of ache at the base of my neck between my shoulders. It is getting easier to do though. Just worried I set off a neck cramp and all that fun.
I'm doing it against a wall (slight squat and also flattening nlowr back to walk) which seems much hard than on the floor, which is harder than doing it freestanding.
My mam has a horrendous hunchy back (76yo) so I'm keen to avoid that. I find it impossible to lie flat on floor with out a pillow (though I can after doing this exercise) and also never have my head anywhere near a car headrest.
I'm feeling some improvement now and able to relax it to it a bit too
@jonwe..
I've tried to explain it in detail earlier in the thread as when I looked for the resources that pinpointed the importance of technique I got a bit overwhelmed as I live with recurrent depression and am currently struggling with everything . I will be back and attempt to pick the info I found best including videos etc so just check back when the thread reappears in the list due to more comments. This simple exercise combined with discipline and correct technique has worked better than I could have imagined , improved my posture and removed more chronic daily tension from the upper back and neck than anything I've tried over several decades.
Bill
@kaiser - no worries, i started doing the exercises that you described this morning and think I’ve got the hang of it so please don’t add to your stresses looking for the videos.
@jonwe
Good luck and keep doing sets of them daily ( multiple times if possible )
Within a week or 2 you will hopefully notice something has changed ie less tension, perhaps better posture and that the exercise becomes easier both in form and ability to hold.
Again .. 2 very important points that many vids on YT forget ( normally bandwagoners desperate for content to copy )
are
1/ flattening the neck curve / extending the nexk away from the body ... So if standing effectively you may feel taller.
2/ During the chin tuck aim not to use the big Sternocleidomastoid ( SCM ) muscles to achieve this .
You want to be using the deep neck flexors instead both to do the tuck and to hold it . The tuck is both a small rotation but a rearward retraction at the same time.
You can do this by palpating that area ( feeling ) that the 2 large muscles (SCM) either side are not tensing much and feeling hard .
Physiopedia has an in depth article .
Try it fellow text neckers/ shoulder blade achers .... You may be pleasantly surprised ..I certainly was and am ..and that's after 20 plus years of trying all-sorts ..often daily .
I wouldn't have ... and obviously didn't believe such a small thing could make such a big difference and was convinced the problem was between the blades themselves .
Forgot to mention.. I have practised meditation on and off for 30 yrs and was always frustrated I could never relax with an upright position . Pain/tension/ aching would always appear within a few minutes making concentration difficult .
I tried again yesterday and things felt much better indeed so perhaps that's an added benefit for anyone likewise challenged.
My physio had me doing it up against the wall, as above the aim is to lengthen the neck.
To deactivate muscles that were not to be involved I was told to press my tongue against the back of my top teeth, with teeth not touching.
Ah - I was doing the exercises lying on the floor and lifting the back of my head slightly but when I do this my SCMs are rigid so clearly activated. Will try doing them against the wall next time.