COACH SOFIA FITNESS

Free Neck And Shoulder Pain Rehab Plan

Introduction

The cervical spine-shoulder area is of extreme importance because it has a massive impact
on the structures below (shoulders, lumbar spine, knees, ankle) and above (head and eyes
stabilization).

When I worked in an office, I struggled a lot with neck and shoulder pain. It was mainly
because of my posture and desk ergonomics. I had to look down to use my laptop, round
my back, and flex my chest.

There are many muscles linked to the shoulder joint and cervical spine region. The rotator
cuff and scapular stabilizers stabilize and support the shoulder joint. And there are 30
muscles located in the cervical spine area and shoulder complex.
Research has shown that exercise in the form of neck strengthening, stretching, and
corrective exercises can decrease the risk of neck pain and improve symptoms of neck
pain.

The following sample plan will show you how to release tightness that contributes to neck
and shoulder pain, as well as corrective exercises that’ll help correct your posture and
strengthen the back postural muscles.

Do not perform all these exercises at once. Overloading your muscles is ineffective and can
trigger muscle spasms if the tissue is very sensitive to triggers. Use the suggested exercise
plan to get started.

Instructions:
● Perform 1-2 exercises to begin with. Add another exercise only if you feel you can
without sacrificing form. Perform the exercises up to 4 times a week.
● Feel free to adjust the amount of reps and sets for each exercise. You don't
need to strictly follow the plan. Everyone is different and you need to listen to your
body. A helpful tip is to perform one set of one exercise, take a break, and see how
you're feeling. Then do another set, etc. If you start to feel the tension in your upper
traps or neck, stop and take a break. That's a sign that you're now compensating
by shrugging your shoulders.

Corrective Exercise Sample Plan:

Step 1: Release Tightness:

We’ll begin by releasing the areas that tend to tighten up and create pain.

We’ll focus on the trapezius area all the way down to the ql muscle.

Immediately stop the release if you feel any nerve pain radiating anywhere,
numbness or tingling.

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Upper and Mid-Trapezius Release

● Place the massage/lacrosse/tennis ball on the upper-mid trapezius area lateral to

the spine.
● Don’t put pressure on the spine. Always stay on the muscle area.
● Bring your arm forward and to the side to stretch out the mid-back area.
● Roll the back up and down slowly until you find a tight tender point and press on it
while breathing.
● Hold on the tight area for 10-20 seconds. Switch sides.

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Ql release

● Place the ball on the area above the hip bone that’s lateral to the spine. Lean against
the wall.
● Roll on the ball slightly up and down, putting controlled pressure to release
tightness in that area. Hold for 10-20 seconds. Switch sides.

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Pectorals Release

● Place the ball on your chest area and lean against the wall.
● Bring your arm to the back to open up your chest.
● Roll the ball horizontally and when you find a tight area, hold for 10-20 seconds.
Switch sides.
● You may notice that the area closest to the armpit feels tighter. Make sure to spend
some time releasing it as we tend to roll the shoulder forward creating more
tightness there. (Typing, texting, using computers, driving, etc.)

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Step 2: Gentle Stretching

Stretching alone can aggravate neck and upper trapezius pain. Before you engage
in stretching, make sure you’ve released tightness first following the self myofascial
exercises above.

Gently stretch your muscles and don’t stretch more if you feel pain.

Trapezius Stretch

● Lead your head to the side gently. Place your hand on your head to place more
pressure but without pushing too hard. You’ll feel the stretch by simply putting your
arm on your head.
● If you want to extend the stretch to your levator scapulae, gently look down and
slightly rotate your head down at an angle.

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Chest release

This is a great chest and lats stretch you can do either with a stability ball or against
the wall.

● Keep your shoulders down.

● If you’re using the ball, relax and let your chest fall forward.
● If you’re using the wall, step a little forward to stretch out the chest area. You may
notice your shoulder shrugging, keep your shoulder down as much as possible.
● Hold the stretch for 20 seconds on each side.

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Step 3: Strengthening Routine

Exercises Reps Sets

Ball Combo - W shape 8-12 (controlled) 1

Ball Combo - Cobra 8-12 (controlled) 1

Ball Cobra - T shape 8-12 (controlled) 1

Band pull aparts 12-15 1

Dumbbell rows 7-8 (controlled) 2

Exercises Breakdown

Click here to watch the combo exercise tutorial

Ball Combo - W shape Bodyweight version

I recommend you do this exercise without any weights first to ensure you’re doing it with
proper form.

You can certainly do this exercise combo on the floor if you don’t have a ball. I like to
incorporate the stability ball to engage the core.

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 ● Reach with your arms forward, raise your arms up to form a W-shape, and then
down to starting position.
● Only add very light DBs if you can complete the exercise without sacrificing form
(shrugging the shoulders, moving the head forward).
● Focus on good quality movements, not the number of repetitions.

Ball Combo - Cobra

Take 1-2 min break and move onto the cobra exercise.

● Bring your arms to the back.

● Contract the back muscles.
● Extend and lift your arms up using the back muscles.
● You can do this exercise on the floor if you don’t have a stability ball.

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Ball Combo - T shape

Take 1-2 min break and move onto the T shape exercise.

● Raise your arms laterally. Use very light dumbbells if you can.
● Contract the back muscles. Keep your shoulders down.
● Complete a few controlled repetitions of the lateral raises while maintaining back
stability.
● You can do this exercise on the floor if you don’t have a stability ball. When you
bring your arms back down, don’t release the contractions.

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Band pull apart

This exercise requires a resistance band.

● Hold the band in front of you and pull slightly to create resistance. You don’t want
the band to be too tight or too loose. ⅓ of the way on each side usually works best
for this exercise.
● Keep your back stable. Contract the back muscles. Keep your shoulders down.
● Pull the band out while orienting your hands out into an external rotation. (Simply
try to turn your hand out while you pull to feel the external shoulder rotation)

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Dumbbell rows

● This is a great strengthening exercise for the back muscles. Use a medium weight
dumbbell.
● Make sure you keep your back straight and push your hips to the back to avoid
rounding your back.
● When you row, pause for a full second at the top to fully contract the muscles.
● Slowly release.
● Switch sides.

Frequently Asked Questions About neck and shoulder pain.

I often receive questions about chronic neck and shoulder tightness. I’d like to include a few
tips and resources that have helped me stay pain-free for the past few years.

Q1: When I try to stretch my neck, I feel more pain afterward. What do I do?

This is a very common issue where the muscle spasms even more when stretched. That’s
why I recommend you stick to self-myofascial release to release tightness and then follow
with gentle stretching.

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Q2: Why does this pain keep coming back after so many massages and exercises?

Recurring pain happens when the underlying cause of the pain hasn’t been addressed.
While corrective exercise can help, if you don’t figure out what keeps triggering the pain,
you’ll always keep triggering it.

One of the most common causes of this pain are bad postural habits and weaknesses
(always make sure to rule out any serious causes by visiting your doctor).

When you address the underlying causes along with a corrective exercise plan, you’ll be
successful at avoiding this pain from coming back.

You can get started inside my program Trapezius Control where you’ll be able to
pinpoint the cause of the pain, and how to fix it.

Q3: I struggle with sleeping with this neck pain. It gets worse at night. Any tips?

Sleep is very important. If you’re experiencing intense spasms at night and you’re unable to
relax your muscles, I highly recommend the following tips:

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 1. Get a good quality pillow that doesn’t elevate your head forward. You want your
head, shoulders and hips to be on the same level. If your pillow is very high and very
firm you’ll be pushing your head forward putting more pressure on the cervical
spine.
2. Take magnesium supplements. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant and it’ll help
you sleep throughout the night and waking up feeling rested. I’ve been taking
magnesium for years now and it has made a huge difference in my recovery and
sleep quality.
3. Install a blue light blocking app on your phone and set it to automatically go on 3
hours before bedtime. This will allow your nervous system to slow down and
activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is the branch of the nervous
system responsible for regeneration and recovery. Blue light disrupts this natural
process and diminishes your sleep quality.
4. Schedule a warm shower before bed. Heat is also beneficial for muscle relaxation.

For more information on best sleeping postures to avoid neck and back pain, here’s a video
tutorial where I share a few key tips.

Final Note:

Please know that you can beat this pain. Pain is your body’s language to tell you that
something isn’t right that needs your attention.

Be patient.

Don’t be hard on yourself or feel like you’re not doing enough, because I’m sure you are.

We all have gone through the same struggles. I speak to people everyday through my
programs and email community who are all going through so much pain physically and
emotionally.

And I also know people who were able to beat chronic muscle pain and are back to living a
pain-free life. I get emails all the time from members or clients who are back to feeling
much better.

This strengthens my belief in your ability to heal.

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Stay Strong,

Sofia

Recommended programs:

Trapezius Control

Back Pain Control Program

Sofia Habity

B. Sci. | Certified Strength Coach, NASM - Corrective Exercise Specialist

Sofia has been helping women and men break free from chronic piriformis syndrome, and
back pain without drugs, surgery, or spending years suffering through temporary fixes.

She is the founder of coachsofiafitness.com empowering and helping over 250,000 viewers
each month break the cycle of chronic muscle pain.

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