Pregnancy Middle Row Exercise

Commonly Used For: Pregnancy-Related Pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to do a Middle Row Exercise, which is a good exercise to do during pregnancy to help keep those shoulders back. As our bellies get bigger, it tends to want to pull us forward, especially after the baby even, when you're holding that baby so much, and everything's getting pulled forward. This is a good exercise to open your chest up and get your shoulders back where they should be. So, the first way you can do it is just by squeezing your shoulder blades together. So, getting your arms bent at a 90-degree angle here on both sides, knees bent a little bit, and then you're just going to squeeze your shoulder blades together, like that. If that's easy for you, what you can do is use a TheraBand or any sort of exercise band that has a little bit of stretch and resistance to it [here's one at Amazon.com]. You can tie it around a railing or a banister, or tie a knot in it and close it in a door, and then, you're just going to do the same thing, just do those shoulder blade squeezes. If you don't have anything to tie it onto, like I don't right now, you can do it by sitting down. You can hook it onto your foot, wrap it around your hands, sitting up nice and tall, and then pull back. Same thing, letting those elbows slide along your sides, squeezing your shoulder blades together, trying to get your shoulder out of that forward slump position and into a nice, back position. So, that's your Middle Row Exercise.

Neck Exercise - Levator Stretch

Commonly Used For: Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain and headaches.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to do a levator stretch, which is the muscle that attaches from your shoulder blade up into your neck, and can contribute to both back and shoulder pain as well as neck pain and headaches. What you're going to want to do is stabilize your shoulder blade down by either grabbing on to the bottom of a chair or sitting on your hand. I prefer to grab on to something if I can. You're going to tuck your chin back kind of giving yourself a double chin, turn your head towards your opposite shoulder, and look down towards your armpit. You should feel a stretch right along this back side of your neck. If you don't feel the stretch intensely enough, you can take your opposite hand, come over the back side of your head, and gently pull down. You want to hold that stretch 30 seconds to a minute. And that's your levator stretch.

Neck Exercise - Upper Trapezius Stretch

Commonly Used For: Shoulder pain, neck pain and headaches.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to do a stretch for your upper trapezius muscle, which is along here. it connects from your shoulder blade up into your neck here and is a common cause of shoulder pain, neck pain and headaches. So what you're going to do is if you're sitting, you can grab onto the bottom of the chair or if you can't reach that far, you can also sit on your hand. I prefer to hold on if I can though. You're going to tuck your chin back, kind of giving yourself a double chin there and then slowly tilt your ear towards your opposite shoulder, maintaining that chin tuck. You should feel a stretch right along the side of your neck here. This should be a gentle stretch. You don't want to pull it. This is a very sensitive area. Again, keeping that chin tucked. If you let it tilt outwards, you're not going to feel the stretch in the right position. So keep that chin nice and tucked. Hold it for 30 seconds to a minute and that's your upper trapezius stretch.

Chest Stretch - Foam Roll Pec Stretch

Commonly Used For: Shoulder pain and neck pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to stretch out the front of your chest — your pecs — using a foam roller. This you can get online [here's one at Amazon.com] or at most sporting goods stores. So what you're going to do is you're going to lay the foam roller down. You want to sit on the very end of it and walk yourself back, making sure that your head is still supported on the foam roller. You're going to take your arms and bring them out to the side like this, until you feel a stretch across the front of your chest. You should not feel any numbness or tingling in your hands. If you do, the stretch might be too intense for you and you can prop your arms up on a pillow or a cushion - anything that'll make it so that your arms don't drop down quite so far. And again, you should feel the stretch right across your chest. If this stretch is not intense enough for you, you can bring one arm in and focus on just stretching one side. Roll slightly away from the side that you're stretching and you'll feel a more intense stretch across the one side that you're stretching and then you can repeat on the other side.