Why do neck muscles get tight?

 

Is your neck stiff? Do you have a headache? Is your back sore? If you anwered any of those questions “yes”, you should read this blog post. Those mentioned symptoms are very common for desk top workers and they are caused by staying too long in the same position – usually that position is sitting.

A good sitting posture includes straight back and head right above the shoulder-line. When sitting too long, the chin usually moves forward, which means that the head also moves too forward (protraction). That causes neck pain and stiffness, which can lead to headache. When the head is protracted, the posterior neck muscles are a little bit stretched and the anterior neck muscles are shortened all the time. Why does it matter? If that sitting position lasts for long, the anterior neck muscles shorten even more and the posterior neck muscles ended up in a chronic stretch, which do not support the function and control of the head.

You may have heard the instruction “bring your shoulders down” or “don’t tense your shoulders”. The instruction is partly wrong, since while working, our shoulder tend to sink too far down, which causes chronic stretch to the neck muscles. Just add some more neck stretching exercises and voilá, your neck is even more tight and stiff than it used to be!

 

How could we prevent and take care of these problems?

 

You must have heard about pausing your working and the importance of changing your position, but have you really tried it? You should pause the time you sit even every 20-30 minutes, by just standing up and shaking the legs for a second. Remember, that the best sitting-position is the NEXT ONE, so you should change you position at least in every hour. It’s okay to sit legs-crossed on a office chair or even work for a bit on the floor! Every time you change your position, it add the blood flow on your neck, back and legs!

 

To help you, I listed two super-easy exercises for you to help your neck and head feel better. Check them out!

 

  1. Look at the ceiling! Extend you cervical spine and turn your eyes to the sky, stay in this position for 10 second. –> Your posterior neck muscles get to relax.
  2. Lift up your shoulders as high as you can and bring them back down. Repeat for 10 times. –> This is a counter motion for bringing your shoulders too far down.