Neck stiffness can be so uncomfortable. You try to twist your head in all directions, pull and stretch the back and sides of your neck, press and massage behind your neck, but nothing seems to help.
Being a tennis player, often in ready position and holding the racket in front of you puts the shoulders into forward position, with head slightly protruding and this put a lot of pressure on the muscles around your shoulders and your neck.
Even when you are off the tennis court, sitting at the desk at work, driving, checking your phone, reading on the computer or tablet, watching TV and many other household activities, your shoulders are rounded and your head is forward. There is a big chance that you have experienced—or are experiencing daily—an uncomfortable neck stiffness.
This exercise is not very known, hardly ever used, and extremely efficient to relief and often completely eliminate the neck stiffness.
Scalenes — The Culprit to your Neck Stiffness
Scalenes are often forgotten or neglected muscles to take care of. They often cause neck stiffness and pain, pain in your upper back, hand, or forearm, tingling in your arm, and even an irritating ache in your biceps… It is almost hard to believe. And maybe you have never heard of scalenes? See this 30-second video to see your scalene muscles in action:
Simple Scalene Stretch to Eliminate Neck Stiffness
- Stand or sit with your upper body straight.
- Put your right hand high on your neck, under the chin, and press your left hand on a top of it.
- Push both hands firmly and pull down toward the collar bone to stretch the muscles (upper left picture).
- Turn your head to the right and look upward (lower left picture).
- Move your chin upward as much as you can, give yourself an underbite (right picture).
- Hold for 10—20 seconds and feel the heat and energy releasing from the tight muscles.
- Release and switch sides.
Enjoy the results of this super simple stretch. You will be surprised how much tension and neck stiffness will be gone. You can turn your head more freely. The pain is gone too. And life is good again.
New to this site? Gift yourself my little book with all the basic exercises, stretches and performance advice that will improve your athletic performance and well-being in general. It’s called “Tennis Fitness for the Love of it” (don’t we love fitness above anything else??? 🙂 ). Enjoy. Let me know how much better you are becoming, day by day…
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