top of page
UPPER CROSS SYNDROME
For people with a protracted head and shoulder posture
Chest Stretch
Stand in a doorway; place your forearm on the doorframe and stand the rest of the arms width apart, with the elbow at a 90+ degree angle (the angle can be changed to stretch different parts of your chest).
With your inside leg (same leg as the stretch), take a small step forward and lung forward with your hips and make sure to keep the other shoulder open.
To get a deeper stretch, rotate your pelvis away from the stretched side before starting the action.
Upper Trap/Neck Extensor Stretch
To start with, make sure you keep the stretched sides shoulder down. Bring your ear towards your shoulder then your nose towards your armpit. Use your hand to push on the head to stretch the muscle. Angle your head in different directions to stretch different parts of the muscle.
Mid Back Strengthening
Start by laying on your front then bring your arms horizontal to your body and bend the elbow to 90 degrees. Make sure you rotate your forearms so that your thumbs are pointing up.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together slightly and hold that position for 10-40 seconds.
Neck Flexor Strengthening
Start by lying on your back and bring your knees up, then push your chin into your neck (like a double chin).
Keeping the chin pushed into the neck, SLOWLY lift up the head 1-2cms and make sure you DON'T bring your neck off the floor. Hold it there for a couple of seconds and then slowly bring it back down.
bottom of page