Upper Spine Stretches

Stretching improves your range of motion, increases your muscle power, reduces your post-exercise soreness and alleviates fatigue. Always stretch before and after exercise. Stretches for the upper spine involve many muscles in the upper part of your torso, including the trapezius, the rhomboids, the spinalis thoracis, rotators and longissimis cervicis. Stretches of these and other upper body muscles help to maintain a healthy upper spine.

  1. Reaching Upper Back Stretch

    • Begin this exercise with outstretched arms.

      Standing with your arms out in front of you, parallel to the floor and crossed one over the other, push your hands forward as far as possible. Allow your head to drop forward. This stretch primarily involves the trapezius and the rhomboids. To get the most out of this movement, concentrate on reaching forward with your hands and trying to separate the shoulder blades. This stretch reduces neck muscle strain, helps with whiplash (neck strain), Wryneck (acute torticollis), upper back muscle strain and upper back ligament sprain.

    Sitting Side Reach Stretch

    • Keep toes pointing up on outstretched foot.

      While sitting with one leg extended out to the side and your toes pointing up, bring the opposite foot up to your knee and let your head fall forward. Reach toward the outside of your toes with both hands. You do not have to reach your toes, just reach as far as you comfortably can. The semi-spinalis thoracis, longissimis thoracis, iliocostalis thoracis, iliocostalis lumborum , inter-transversaii, rotators and the multifidus are the primary muscles stretched by this movement. This stretch reduces neck muscle strain, aids in recovery from whiplash, helps with cervical nerve stretch syndrome, Wryneck, back muscle strain and back ligament sprain.

    Kneeling Back Arch Stretch

    • Find your balance on your hands and knees for maximum stability.

      Get down on the ground on all fours--hands and knees. Look up and allow your back to slump downward. For the next move, let your head drop forward gently and arch your back upward. Be sure you are slow and deliberate with these movements to achieve maximum effectiveness. To avoid injury ensure that your weight is resting evenly on both hands and knees. The back slumping movement stretches your gluteus maximus, transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis. The upward arching movement involves the semispinalis cervicis and thoracis, longissimis cervicis and thoracis and the iliocostalis cervicis. This stretch helps the following conditions: neck muscle strain, whiplash, cervical nerve strain syndrome and other back muscle strains and sprains.

    Neck Stretch

    • Rest your right arm comfortably behind your back at waist level. Place left hand on top of your head and use it to gently guide the head forward to the point where you feel a comfortable stretch. Then lean your head toward the left shoulder and rotate your head to the left until you feel a slight stretch on the right side or the neck. This stretch will decrease tension in your neck and shoulders with the added long-term benefit of increased neck mobility. Repeat with left arm behind you and your right hand guiding your head movements.