Neck and Shoulder Priming Warm up

Video Transcript

Hey everyone, Dr. Alibhai here. Today, I’m going to teach you a shoulder and neck warm-up series to get you ready for the day, alleviate pain, and prime your body for activities. We’ll start by placing our left hand on our right collarbone, pulling it down, and bringing our ear towards the opposite shoulder to stretch and open up the neck.

First, let’s release the neck. Take a deep breath in, breathe out, and explore the range of motion. You’ll see how tight this can be. Every breath helps you go a bit further.

Now, let’s switch sides. Place your right hand on the left collarbone, pull down, and breathe out. This side may also be tight, especially in the scalene muscles that can cause headaches and restrict motion. Again, breathe in and out as you stretch, bringing your chin up towards the ceiling to vary the stretch. If you feel any tingling in your hand, ease off a bit.

Next, let’s do some shoulder shrugs. Roll your shoulders up towards the ceiling and then back down. We’ll do this five times.

Now, raise your right hand up in the air. You can adopt a scissor stance or a wide stance, whichever feels more comfortable. Extend your arm up as high as possible until you run out of space, then flip your arm backwards and bring it back up. Do this motion 10 times, aiming for a full range of motion without discomfort.

Switch sides and repeat, aiming high with your fingertips towards the sky. Allow some rotation in your body if needed.

Next, we’ll do a Michael Phelps-style warm-up. Extend your arms in front of you, then flick your fingertips towards the back wall. This helps lengthen the nerves from your neck through your hands. Do this a few times, then give yourself a big hug to conclude this part of the routine.

Now, let’s work on our arm range of motion. You might find one hand goes behind your back easily while the other is restricted. Swing your arms back and forth, gradually trying to reach higher up the middle of your back with each motion.

Finally, spread your feet apart, take a deep breath in, reach down to the ground, squat if you can, then breathe out and reach for the sky.

That’s it for today’s session. Let me know how it goes. You should feel more warmed up and loose. Have a great day and take care!