Do you ever feel like your shoulders are in your ears or like you have an annoying knot in your shoulder?

This can be caused by a muscle that is stretched out tight, similar to pulling a rubber band tight. The muscle is called the levator scapula. The picture below shows how the muscle attaches to the neck (cervical spine) near the ear and to the top of our shoulder blade

When the shoulder blade moves down and away from the ear, the muscle will get stretched. While this might sound like a good thing and should feel good, our muscles are not meant to continually be stretched.

What can you do about it?

While massaging it may feel better temporarily, it is not addressing the cause of the overstretched muscle.

Avoid posture cues like pull your shoulders down and back or squeeze your shoulder blades together. This action will stretch that muscle.

Instead, “think” of your collar bones being long, wide, or open across your chest. Another great cue is to imagine balloons or bubbles between your arms and your body so as not to squeeze your arms to your side during exercise. This, too, will pull your shoulder blades down.
These are excellent cues for posture and for setting up your upper body exercises. These cues should feel effortless, at least physically.

It is important to note that initially, you may feel you cannot lift as much weight in this new and more optimal strategy. However, over time and with practice, you will continue to build strength, your shoulder and neck will feel better, and your shoulder joints will thank you long term.

If you found this newsletter insightful and think others may benefit, please feel free to share.

If you have questions about your shoulders and that nagging knot, reach out, and let’s assess and find what works best for you.