Bad posture can often lead to shoulder pain.
Hunching over a phone or slouching over the work desk are the two most common reasons that can lead to poor posture and thus shoulder and back pain.
To realign your shoulders and loosen things up, here are 6 simple stretches you can do.
1. Overhead tricep stretch
Doing this stretch lengthens the tricep muscles to help ease shoulder pain. To do the stretch, reach the left arm behind your back, grab the left wrist or elbow with the right hand and pull. Bend the head towards the right, hold for 30 seconds, gently look up and down. Repeat on the other side.
2. Band pulls
To do the stretch you will need a resistance band. Grab the resistance band, pull the band apart at chest height. Hold the band taught, reach arms overhead. Return to the chest height, stand tall. Reach the band overhead and tilt to the side. Repeat.
3. Thread the needle
The stretch helps unwind shoulder tension. To do it, start in the tabletop position. Now raise one arm overhead, exhale and release the lifted arm and thread the needle under another arm. Rest shoulder on the mat with hips lifted, breathe and repeat.
4. Wall twirls
To do the stretch, face the wall, lift your arms up high and place your hand on the wall. Slowly move your body under the raised arm, twirl 360 degrees to starting position. Reverse and repeat.
5. Sun stretch
You can do this stretch every hour to open your shoulders. To do the stretch, stand with shoulder blades back down, raise arms to your sides, palms facing up. Lift the chin and look up. Release arms and palm down. Look down, repeat for 10 reps.
6. Doorway stretch
This stretch helps to stretch your chest and shoulders. To do this, stand in a doorway, reach up high, grab onto the frame. Step forward with one leg and lean into the stretch. Now place both hands at shoulder height against the door, press into the frame and lean forward.
