If you’re here seeking relief from tech neck, or the forward head posture associated with the use of personal devices, we’ve got good and bad news. The good news is you’ve come to the right place; the bad news is you’re probably contributing to it right now.
Tech neck results from routinely tilting your head in front of your body’s center of gravity. It’s often the price we pay for using smartphones, tablets, and laptops that have us chronically gazing downward which, over time, can cause pain and restrict movement.
Instinct would demand giving your neck a nice, soothing stretch for relief. And, according to Patrick Suarez, OCS, SCS, a physical therapist based in Albany, New York, instinct would be wrong. That’s because stretching in this case only further exacerbates the issue.
When you stoop cranially to text a friend or order an Uber, “what’s actually happening is you’re overstretching the muscles in the back of your neck that connect to your shoulder blades and upper back,” Suarez says. “So, what we need to do is actually tighten them back up.”
That means, rather than stretching, you need strengthening. Suarez has identified four “neck stretches” in particular that will help promote strength and proper alignment.
Tech Neck: It’s not just for smartphones
Forward head posture isn’t limited to personal device use. If you drive regularly, you may experience the same hunching, drooping, and immobility as a result of automotive ergonomics.
“One of my biggest cues for people is, when you’re in the car, get your butt all the way back in the seat, shoulders back, back of your head on the headrest and then move your mirrors to that position,” he says. “Instead of adjusting your mirrors back, adjust your position back.”
He doesn’t expect you to be able to sit that way indefinitely, but mindfulness and vigilance combined with exercises to counteract the daily forces arrayed against our better posture can help train healthier alignment.
“It’s unrealistic for me to ask you, who might have poor posture, to stand up tall, get your head back for the entire day, right? You’ll get tired in about 30 seconds,” Suarez says. “That’s fine. We just need to work on it. Small increments. We work on it, we work on it, we get better.”
4 neck stretches and exercises for smartphone superusers
The more you succumb to the default smartphone posture, the more you stretch out the muscles of your neck, making them longer. As they get longer, they get weaker. And if you’re not working on them regularly to hold your head in the correct position, you’ll start to feel pain around the base of your neck and shoulders.
The solution is a series of upper back exercises that focus on making sure your ears are directly over your shoulders, strengthening the muscles between your shoulder blades and your levator scapulae, which connects your shoulder blades to your neck. Also getting attention are your trapezius muscles, which connect your neck and shoulder blades as well.
1. Wall angels
This exercise can be more challenging than it looks, helping forge better posture and mobility through the thorax and shoulders to combat neck pain.
- Stand tall with your back against a wall. Your low back, shoulders and the back of your head should make contact.
- Keeping your core engaged and your back flat against the wall, cactus your arms out to your sides so that your elbows are level with your shoulders and bent 90 degrees, with your forearm against the wall.
- Maintaining the form established above, slowly slide your hands above your head as far as they will comfortably go.
- Slowly slide your hands back to the starting position.
2. Thoracic spine wall rotation
Another mobility exercise for the upper back, this one incorporates the kind of rotational movement most of us lack in our day-to-day.
- Assume a half-kneeling position beside a wall, with your right thigh making contact, your right knee bent 90 degrees in front of you and your left shin on the floor behind you.
- Place your fingertips behind your ears and, keeping your right hip against the wall, rotate your torso to your left until both elbows touch the wall (or as close as you can comfortably get).
- Pause, and then reverse the movement, rotating your torso to the right until both elbows touch the wall.
- Unwind slowly to return to the starting position. Switch sides, performing an equal number of movements on both.
3. Row variations
Pulling exercises help improve shoulder blade position, which in turn improves shoulder position. By strengthening the muscles in the upper back you help pull yourself into better alignment.
Single-arm row
- Anchor an exercise band to a stable point around chest height.
- Stand facing the anchor point with your feet staggered, your right foot in front and your knees slightly bent. Then grasp the band in your left hand with your left arm extended, stepping back until you feel tension on the band.
- Keeping your chest up and core engaged, pull the band straight back, squeezing your back and posterior shoulder muscles (not your traps!) at the end of the movement.
- Hold for 1 to 2 seconds and slowly return to the starting position. Perform an equal number of reps on both sides, changing the orientation of your feet.
High to low row
- Anchor an exercise band to a stable point above your head.
- Face the anchor point from a half-kneeling position 2 to 3 feet away. Your right knee should be bent 90 degrees in front of you, with your left shin on the floor behind you.
- Grasp the band in your left hand with your left arm extended above your shoulders. There should be mild tension on the band.
- Keeping your chest up and core engaged, pull the band down toward your ribs, squeezing your back muscles while keeping your shoulder down.
- Hold for 1 to 2 seconds and slowly return to the starting position. Perform an equal number of reps on both sides, changing the orientation of your legs.
4. Prone I’s, T’s and Y’s
These exercises target the muscles between, above and below the shoulder blade to help improve upper back extension, promoting better overall head posture.
- Lie facedown with your stomach on a stability ball and your legs extended behind you, toes on the floor. Let your arms hang straight down. Option: grab a light weight in each hand.
- Engage your core and squeeze your glutes to create a straight line from your head to your heels, and then raise your arms diagonally from your shoulders—forming a “Y” with your body—squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top of the movement.
- Slowly lower your arms to the floor, then lift them again, this time raising them out to the sides, again squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top of the movement.
- With control, lower your arms to the floor, then extend them behind you, once more squeezing together your shoulder blades rather than your lats or other back muscles.
- Slowly lower your arms to the floor to return to the starting position.
You can perform these movements separately or combined as a set.
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