3 Stretches to Get Rid of Shoulder Pain

Whether it’s sleeping on your shoulders, spending hours at your computer, or looking down at your phone in less than perfect posture, shoulders tend to get tight and out of alignment if you do any of these too often. Your shoulder(s) being out of alignment can cause not only shoulder pain, but neck and upper back pain as well. I suspect we all know how uncomfortable that can be. . . .

After some good self-massage try these 3 shoulder stretches to get you out of pain and start the healing.

Each of these stretches should be done in a doorway. In a split stance position. Your lead foot should be slightly through the doorway, while your back foot should be slightly behind the doorway.

Hold each stretch for 7-10 slow breaths.

For this stretch, your hands should be reaching out and up towards the top of the door way. Your posture should look similar to the letter “Y”. Your hands will be resting on the door frame.

For this stretch you’ll want to bring your arms down so that your elbows form a 90 degree angle. Both your forearms and hands should be supported on the frame of the doorway.

For this stretch you’ll want to move your hands down the door frame so that they are at about a 45 degree angle.

Most of us could afford to do each of these stretches daily. Some of us could afford to do them a few times a day. Start with once a day and see how they work for you. Please be sure to do a bit of self-massage (rolling) before hand. That way you’ll be able to maximize the benefits.

Self Myo--- What? It's time to get rid of the pain . . . . completely!

I have to admit that I see people using the foam rollers and other self massage techniques more than ever before, but it still surprises me how many people still don't know the benefits.

 Whether it's new clients or the regular gym members that consult me on how to get out of pain, I have to tell you self-massage has got to be one of the most underrated "get out of pain and speed healing" techniques I know.

It doesn't matter if you spend your day sitting at a desk, are a weekend warrior with some nagging aches and pains, or a competitive athlete looking to decrease soreness and improve performance, self-myofascial release (self-massage) works.

  As the old saying goes, “sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees”?  This morning I was reminded of just “how deep in the trees” I am.

I was approached by a woman that I see regularly at the gym who asked me how to get rid of her knee pain she's had for the past 4 weeks.  She stated that she enjoyed Spinning, long bike rides on the weekends, but spend most of her day at her desk at work. In addition, after sitting for long periods of time, standing up is quite painful, though the pain decreases after moving around for a bit. I asked had she had any falls or other impact to her knee and she stated, "No".

She also said that she had begun stretching, but that only made a minor difference in the pain. It’s gotten to the point now where she is unable to enjoy her usual cycling and it's beginning to make her depressed.

 I asked, “Do you do any self-myofascial release or self-massage”?  She said, “What’s that”?  I then proceeded to demonstrate some techniques using my Energy F/X Tube.

While I was demonstrating the techniques it hit me...

 I take for granted that many people don’t know about the benefits of self-myofascial release.  In a nutshell, self-myofascial release is a type of self-massage using a hard roller, tube or ball.  It helps break up scar tissue and increases blood flow to the affected area.  Not to mention it can increase your range of motion and improve performance.

Many weekend warriors and sedentary people end up feeling stiff and hurting, and mistakenly believe there is something wrong with their joints that might require surgery.  In fact, most of the time all they need to do is regular self-myofascial release.

Before you give up hope and think the only alternative to being in pain is surgery, check out the videos below where I demonstrate how to use self-myofascial release techniques to get out of pain.  It's simple to do, and literally doesn't take more than a few minutes a day.