Shoulder & Upper Back Stretches

Video Transcript

"In this next clip we are going to take a look at two different exercises that stretch the shoulders, the upper back, and the chest. Now we are going to show you how to stretch the shoulders, the back, and the arms. For this particular exercise you are going to want to stand with your knees slightly bent. Now I do not meant actually really physically bend them, just a little bend just so that it takes the pressure off the low back. Now from the standing position you are going to want to interlace your fingers and thumb. From here you are going to want to extend your arms forward until they reach your shoulder level. From here you want to turn your palms so that they reach out. Now from here you want to reach with your arms until you can feel the stretch. From this you are going to hold for a good ten to twenty seconds. And always remember to breathe while you are doing this. Maintain your breathing. And then relax and then repeat. That was one part of the exercise that stretches the arms and shoulders. Now we are going to show you the other part of the exercise that stretches the chest. Now we are going to take a look at how to stretch the chest. From the standing position with the knees slightly bent. You are going to want to interlace your hands behind your back. From here you are going to want to turn your palms out and then extend your arms backwards making sure not to arch your back. You are going to want to hold this for ten to twenty seconds while maintaining your breathing, relax, and then repeat. Just a point I wanted to show everybody because it is a common mistake with this is that everyone seems to arch their back when they do it, you do not want to be doing it. You want to maintain your curve just from this position. The last stretch we just saw did the chest. The ones before that did the arms and the shoulders. Now we are going to move on to our next stretch."