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Neck Stretches For Seniors And The Elderly

Neck stretches for seniors and the elderly are a great way for seniors and the elderly to warm  joint fluids and  deep muscle fibers.

How many times do you need to look over your shoulder while driving, shopping or working in the garden? Probably quite a few times.

Two  neck stretches you can easily do are presented below.

Rotation of the neck is performed by looking to the right and then the left.

Side bending is a little more difficult and involves bringing your ear toward your left shoulder and then your right shoulder.

This often causes your neck to make some crackling sounds. If this is painful, stop the exercise and only bend your neck in the range that is pain free.

If you feel any dizziness when bending your neck, stop the exercise. Only perform neck movements that do not cause any pain or dizziness. Good luck.

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Neck rotation and sidebend

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Purpose of this exercise

• Improve the range of motion in our neck.
• Help stretch the upper back and scapular muscles.

How to do it:

Step 1

• Sit comfortably in your chair.

Step 2 

• Look to the right as far as comfortable and hold for 5 seconds.
• Then look to the left as far as comfortable and hold for 5 seconds.

Step 3 

• Bring your right ear to your right shoulder and hold for 5 seconds.
• Then bring your left ear to your left shoulder and hold for 5 seconds.

Breathing:

• Continue to breathe normally, in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Tips:

• Stretching should be enjoyable, stop if you have pain or dizziness.
• Try to hold your shoulders still when turning your head.
• Make sure you bring your ear to your shoulder and not your shoulder to your ear.

Take it up a notch:

• Hold on to the chair seat when performing the sidebend to increase the stretch.

Try these other upper body stretches

Watch These Exercise Videos

1. Shoulder And Upper Back Stretch

• Shoulder stretches to increases your shoulder and scapular range of motion.
• Stretches your chest and shoulder.
• Will make it easier to reach to that high shelf in your kitchen.

2. Shoulder Rolls

• Improve the range of motion in your shoulder and upper back region with these stretching routines.
• Will assist in keeping your rib muscles flexible.
• Help in activities like reaching up to a high shelf or across the table at dinner.

3. Neck Side Stretch

• Improve the range of motion in your neck and upper back with these good stretching exercises.
• Helps with those everyday movements you need to do like looking under the bed for that other shoe!

4.Neck Rotation

• Improve the range of motion in our neck with these neck stretches.
• Help stretch the upper back and scapular muscles.

5. Shoulder Circles

• Improve the range of motion of your shoulders and upper back with these types of stretching.
• Helps increase flexibility in your chest and lungs.

6. Shoulder Stretch

• Helps stretch our shoulder, scapula and supporting muscles and joints.
• Improves our reaching ability especially across the body for these benefits of stretching.

7. Chest Stretch

• Stretches the chest and shoulders with these chest exercises.
• Improves posture and lung functioning.

8. Overhead Reach

• Increase the range of motion in your shoulder and upper back with these arm stretches.
• Help improve your ability to reach, as in getting a pan out of the cabinet or ice cream out of the freezer.

9. Reach Back

• Improve your ability to reach behind as in reaching back to hold on to an armrest before sitting down.
  
• Increase the range of motion of your shoulders and stretches your chest muscles with these arm exercises.

10. Triceps Stretch

• Stretches the shoulder and tricep with these stretches before exercise.
• Improves the mobility of your upper arm and shoulder.

11. Hand Stretch

• Increase the flexibility and range of motion of your hand and fingers with these hand exercises.
• Warms up your hand to prepare for the activity of the day.

12. Arm Raises

• Improves the range of motion of your shoulders with these muscle stretching exercises.
• Strengthens your arm for activities that require overhead reach like up to a shelf or pulling the light cord in the basement.

Do you like these exercises? Did you know you can download the exercises along with a 4 week exercise program?.