Head tucked stretch…    (to stretch all the muscles in the back of the neck) Grasp your hands behind your head and pull your head toward your chest. Hold for two seconds as you exhale. Bring head back to neutral position. Repeat 10 times. (1 stretch, 10 reps.)
  Side-neck stretch.    (to stretch the scalene muscles on both sides of the neck) While holding on to the seat of your chair with your left hand, take a deep breath and grasp the top of your head with your right hand, pulling your head to the right toward the shoulder. Hold two seconds as you exhale. Return to neutral position, with head straight. Do 10 reps. Repeat this same stretch on left side. While holding the side of a chair with right hand, take a deep breath, grasp your head with your left hand and pull your head sideways toward the left shoulder. Hold two seconds, exhaling. Do 10 reps. (= 2 stretches, doing 10 reps on each side)

  Back of neck at 45 degree stretch:    (to stretch the back of neck … trapezius and levator muscles) To stretch the back of the neck on the left side… Take a deep breath. Grasp the back of your head with your right hand, and pull your head forward at a 45 degree angle to the right. You will be holding on to the back of the chair, with your left hand, so you won't pull yourself over as you stretch. This stretches the traps and levator muscles in the back of your neck on the left. Hold that forward neck stretch for 2 seconds as you exhale. Bring your head back to neutral. Repeat the stretch 10 times. Remember … only hold the stretch for 2 seconds as you exhale. Now repeat this stretch for the back on the neck on the right side. Take a deep breath. Using the left hand pulling the left side of head forward to stretch the back of the neck at 45 degrees. Repeat 10 times. (= 2 stretches, doing 10 reps on each side)

  Front of the neck at 45 degree stretch:    (to stretch the front of the neck - sternocleidomastoid and scalenes muscles) To stretch the front of the neck on the left side, begin by using your right hand to grasp the front of the head (as if you're trying to scalp yourself). Pull your head backward at a 45 degree angle to the right … as you use your left-hand to hold onto the front of the chair so you won't pull yourself over as you stretch. Hold that backward neck stretch for two seconds as you exhale. Bring your head back to neutral. Repeat the stretch 10 times. Remember … only hold the stretch for 2 seconds as you exhale. Now repeat this stretch, using the left hand pulling the left side of head backward at 45 degrees to stretch the front part the neck on the right. Repeat 10 times. (= 2 stretches, doing 10 reps on each side)

  Face to Heaven stretch    (stretches all the muscles in front of the neck. With your fingertips under your chin, bring your face upward to the sky. Hold two seconds as you exhale. Return to neutral. Repeat 10 times. (1 stretch, 10 reps)

BACK STRETCHES (3 stretches: two seated, one standing) These stretches take about 1.5 minutes.

  Back - Entire Trunk stretch:    (This stretches all the back muscles) Sitting in a chair, bend forward in the chair and bring your arms under the chair with your head tucked as if you're looking for something lost under the chair. (I always say as if you are looking for your pencil under the chair). Hold two seconds as you exhale. Come back to neutral. Repeat 10 times.

  Back - Lateral Stretch:    (This stretch will help stretch the obliques and latissimus dorsi…the lats) Sitting in a chair, grasp your hands behind your head, and bend your body to the side toward the knee… to stretch the obliques. You will feel a pull on your side at the low back and possible your lats where they attach on the arm at the shoulder. Hold that stretch for two seconds, exhaling. Come back to neutral, then repeat 10 times. Repeat for the other side. Do 10 reps on each side.

  Standing Side Stretch:    (This stretch is very important to stretch not only the obliques but also the qudaratus lumborum (q.l.) muscles. It is the q.l that often gives people so much trouble, causing back pain. This is the muscle that when you bend over to open the dishwasher or pick up something off the floor … when it grabs and tightens, down you go.). Standing with your feet apart, to stretch the right side at the waist, bring you right arm over your head and bend to the left. Hold two seconds as you exhale. Come back to neutral. Repeat 10 times. Now stretch the left side. Standing with your feet apart, bring you left arm over your head and bend to the right. Hold two seconds as you exhale. Come back to neutral. Repeat 10 times.

Remember if you feel pain … your are stretches too hard… back off that stretch until you feel only the stretch… never pain!

CHEST & ARMS: (These stretches take 1.5 minutes)

  Chest Stretch    This stretch is very important to help prevent neck pain. As the pectoral muscles become tight, they will continue drawing the neck downward toward the chest, causing the muscles in the back of the neck to tighten, which leads to pain in the back of the neck. The easiest way to stretch the pecs is to position the body at the corner of a room, bring your flexed arms at a 90 degree angle to your body and press both arms on the walls as you move your body toward the corner to stretch the pecs. 2 second hold, exhaling. Repeat 10 times.

  Biceps Stretch.    Stretching the front of arms Grasp a door jam with the right arm or just swing your right arm backwards, holding 2 seconds as you exhale to stretch the biceps. Return to neutral. Repeat 10 times. Now repeat stretch for the left arm.

  Triceps Stretch.    With a rope or a towel, use the rope to pull the raised bend arm backward behind your head downward toward back…to stretch the back of the arm, the triceps muscles. Your opposite arm will be pulling the rope downward to facilitate the stretch. Hold 2 seconds as you exhale. Return to neutral Repeat 10 times for each arm.

  Abdominal Stretch    (important …when the abdominal muscles get tight, they will draw the torso forward and that puts pressure on the back) With the hands supporting the low back, arch the back leaning backward to stretch the abs. As always, hold 2 seconds exhaling. Return to straight standing position. Repeat 10 times.

You can do these stretches many times during the day. Twice a day is great. Also, stretch when you find you've been on the computer too long… or just to relax the neck & back muscles. Doing these stretches with a slow rhythm is not only therapeutic, it's rather meditative as well. Stretching will … over time … elongate and rejuvenate your muscles. But…just as with any type of activity to improve the body, to see and feel results, you have to be consistent. You owe it to yourself to be pain-free. Stretching is one of the best ways to keep yourself youthful, flexible and pain-free.

The more you stretch, the better you feel. So … be like a cat… and do gentle stretching periodically throughout the day. You can't stretch too much, you can only stretch too hard!!!