Hey, I hope you had a great weekend.
I wanted to share with you something cool that YouTube prepared for everyone who attended their workshop in Vancouver last Friday. Check it out:
The little muffins were cute. However, to be honest, the chocolate ones didn’t taste very good.
Watch out for my upcoming YouTube videos. I learned a ton from the workshop, and I will implement this knowledge into my channel.
Today, I will be sharing four stretches that will help you alleviate shoulder discomfort from sleeping.
Enjoy the exercises!
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
I got Jenna to demonstrate the exercises.
1. Shoulder Shrug
In a standing position, bring the shoulders up, then roll the shoulders back and come back to start.
Shoulder Shrug
In this exercise, we are shrugging up to activate the upper trapezius and rolling back to activate the midback muscles. This aims to puts the shoulder in a good position, which helps to alleviate shoulder pain from sleeping and activate the muscles that were not working properly.
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement with a good contraction at the top and middle of the movement. Intensity should be light and you are looking for a good contraction in the upper trapezius and the muscles in between the shoulder blades.
2. Winged Band Pulls
Use a resistance band and attach it to something. In a standing position, keep your arm just below your shoulder height. Keep the wrist in neutral, not bending the wrist. Stay relaxed in the upper trapezius. Make a pull tension on the tubing and then bring the arm back, working on midback muscles.
Winged Band Pulls
In this exercise, we are working on the midback area―mid trapezius and rhomboids―which tend to not work properly if you have shoulder pain. We need to wake them up and turn them on to help in overcoming shoulder pain.
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement with a good stop at the end. Intensity should be low and you are focus on getting a good contraction in the midback muscles.
3. T-Raises Against the Wall
Move up against the wall. Bring your hips and mid back up against the wall. Bring your arms out to the sides. Focus on trying to have your upper arm, forearm, and hand up against the wall and then slide them overhead, trying to bring the hands together if you can, and then come back down.
T-Raises Against The Wall
We are trying to put the shoulder into a good position that will help to overcome shoulder pain from sleeping, activating the muscles around the shoulder blade, which are not activated in people with shoulder pain. Also, we are working on improving the flexibility of the shoulder with this exercise.
Perform one set of 5 reps―moving your arms up and arms down is 1 repetition―so a total of 10 movements in a smooth, controlled movement. Make a quick stop at the top position and a quick stop at the bottom position. Intensity should be light.
4. Figure-8 Stretch
This stretch involves trying to touch the fingers tips together, gripping the fingers and then pulling the hands closer together, stretching out the top and bottom shoulder.
Modified stretch: Many people will not have as much flexibility, so what you can do is utilize a towel. Grab a towel, starting at the top arm, and use the bottom arm to pull down. This will stretch out the top shoulder. Then, switch by having the top arm pull the bottom arm up and get that stretch in the bottom shoulder.
Figure-8 Stretch
This exercise is more of a stretch in the shoulder to improve the flexibility of the shoulder.
Perform one set of 2 to 3 repetitions, holding the stretch for 5 seconds, then progress to 10 seconds with light intensity.
So, there you go. These are the four exercises for you to try if you wake up with shoulder pain. These can help you overcome shoulder pain from sleeping.
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS
If you want to learn how to eliminate your shoulder discomfort permanently, then click here to check out the Shoulder Pain Solved program!
