Quick Fit with Cassy

Waking up with a stiff neck can affect your whole day. Hello, I'm Cassy. In today's Quick Fit class, you'll find exercises and stretches to relieve the neck and upper back. Whether you've been working on overhead projects or simply slept wrong, these moves will really help. So let's take care of that.

gentle music

Have a nice, comfortable chair, a sturdy chair, and sit forward. And please remember to work very slow and never work into any knife pains. This is only about pain relief. Let's start with some nice, deep breaths,

inhales

in and out,

exhales

nice big belly breaths, okay, really think about your diaphragm opening up and letting in air for a little extra longer than you normally inhale.

inhales

And extra long

exhales

exhales. Count to about six or seven.

exhales

Very good, all right. Let's just start by circling right from the shoulder. Just small to begin with, sitting up tall. We're not leaning against the chair back. At least for the time of this class, you're going to have a nice, strong back. Okay, nice and straight, lift that elbow. As it's warming up and you feel like you can get easier, greater, larger motion, just go ahead and do it.

inhales and exhales

Very good, let's switch arms. Shoulder only, nice and big, pulling it back. Add that elbow. Pulling in your stomach to support your core. And the whole arm. Very good, it's feeling a little better already. Hands on your shoulders, just circle right from the elbows.

inhales

Breathe it in and exhale.

exhales

All right, one more time. Widen those feet so we can just stir this great big pot right in front of you. All right, and we're reaching, and now we're going to push. Okay, so push around, starting to stretch the back of the shoulder, the back of your upper ribs, other side, stir. Good, and the other way, press it around, and press. All right, sitting up. And let's bring this arm across, grabbing the back, right above your elbow. Let the shoulder come up.

inhales

Exhale.

exhales

That one feels good. Let's shake that out, and this time, I want you to press the shoulder down. Reach across again. And go ahead and turn your face and look. So if you're mirroring me, this will be your right arm. And you're looking, oh, did I say that wrong? No, it'll be your right arm. And you're looking over that shoulder, very good. All right, other side. All right, mirroring me, left arm. Pull it across, let the shoulder come up.

inhales and exhales

Exhale. All right, release, shake it off. This time, press that shoulder down. Reach across, and turn and look. Good, a big inhale,

inhales

and blow.

exhales

Good, all right, shoulders back, make a nice W. We'll work into these halos. We'll just start right in front, especially if you're very tight. Sometimes you can't get your arm up behind the head. So I like to start here and then just start adding the torso, getting a little deeper, moving the arm further up, over the head, and behind. Just enjoy it. Notice, as you lift this elbow, it will stretch down your arm and down your back. Okay, good, let's do the other side. All right, at first just right in front, good. This is a great exercise for people with frozen shoulders.

inhales

Add that, add breathing to that, add your torso to that. And you're gonna just loosen up this whole area. All right. And we're not even really thinking about the neck yet, and yet these muscles are all connected, and they're going to affect and help loosen up that neck. All right, let's put this arm right down at your side. So it's your right arm. Make a fist and bend that wrist, okay? Keep this elbow straight. I can see you've probably got your elbow bent. It's hard to think of your elbow and your wrist at the same time. Now let's rotate towards yourself and turn your chin toward the same side. Very good, rotate that out.

inhales and exhales

Breathe as you switch sides with your neck. Inhale,

inhales

go real easy. I know the neck, if your neck is stiff today, that you're gonna need to go easy. It'll still be effective. All right, and we'll do the other side. All right, straight arm. Make a fist, and bend at the wrist. Rotate the whole arm and shoulder towards you. And then look. Rotating it away. Turning the neck, inhale.

inhales and exhales

Exhale. And the other way. Very good, all right. We're on our way to relieving this stiff neck pain. Let's push your heel of your hand against your head, your forehead, and your neck is going to resist. Only at about 50% of your strength, okay? Inhale.

inhales

Exhale. Do it again on the other side. So press the forehead into the heel of the hand. We're sitting up tall, about 50% strength, about eight seconds. Okay, loosen up that neck a little bit. Let's go at it from the side, ready? Press the head into the hand. Hold it here, about 50%. Okay, and the other side.

inhales

Exhale.

exhales

That feels good, all right. Loosen that up a little bit. Lift your chin and lower. Again, let's do that two more times. Lift,

inhales

and lower.

exhales

And then level off the chin and push the whole head back, right from the chin. So you're not lifting the chin and tipping, okay, we're just pulling the whole head and neck back. Hold it here. You're not, hold it with your neck muscles, not, you know, by pushing. All right, let's turn your face to your left. Lift your right shoulder up and down, inhale,

inhales

up and down. You can just let your head and neck relax to the side, if it's ready, and then the other way.

inhales and exhales

I hope you notice that I'm doing lots of breathing to help the muscles that are tight loosen up. Lifting that opposite shoulder, and press it down. One more time, reach

inhales and exhales

and let the head relax. All right, let's reach across. Grab that wrist and we'll pull. Let's do the other side. Now notice, as I pull across, my torso resists. and then we'll do it up overhead. All right, pull. Relax. Pull and relax.

exhales

Okay, we're going to do one more neck stretch.

inhales

We're going to look a little bit diagonal and then drop that chin,

exhales

reaching up the back of the head. Try to lift the head into the fingers. Five, four, three, two, release. Very good, lift, and over. Reaching it up. Lift, five, four, three, two, and release. Very good, nice big breath in.

inhales

And exhale.

exhales

As you go throughout your day, move extra gently. I know for some of you, you feel looser already, but really sore muscles will probably loosen up more over the next few hours. Either way, come back tomorrow to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, where you can repeat specific classes as often as you like to relieve pain and keep you strong. See you next time.