Yoga Shoulder Shrugs

Yoga shoulder shrugs make your shoulders and upper back stronger while stretching and relieving tension from the shoulders, back and neck. Strong shoulders and upper-back muscles can benefit your athletic performance, improve your balance and stability, and help you achieve correct form in yoga poses. You won't need any equipment to perform yoga shoulder shrugs. Because you use your own body as resistance in yoga, the exercise leaves your muscles lean and firm rather than bulky. Doing yoga shoulder shrugs as part of your weekly exercise regimen will give you toned shoulders and a strong, supportive back.

  1. Instructions

    • Stand up straight with your spine's vertebrae stacked one on top of another. Slowly lift your shoulders up as high as you can toward your ears, feeling the stretch in your shoulders. Then push your shoulders back as far as you can and squeeze your shoulder blades together, opening the chest. Continue rolling your shoulders back and lower them, squeezing your lats together. Next, spread your shoulders as far apart from each other as you can, working the upper back muscles. Use those muscles to draw your shoulders close together again and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Do this for three repetitions. You should feel your lats being worked through contraction and release, and your shoulders being worked by supporting your arms. Take long, slow, deep breaths while you do the exercise.

    Variations

    • If you have a weak neck, you may want to try a variation of yoga shoulder shrugs, since it can put strain on your neck muscles to help support your shoulders. To reduce tension in your upper back without creating tension in the neck, slowly lift your shoulders as high as you can, then press them down and repeat. You could also include pushing your shoulders back while squeezing the shoulder blades together to open the chest, if your neck can handle it. Try doing yoga shoulder shrugs one side at a time to increase your range of movement on each side and get a deeper stretch. To make yoga shoulder shrugs more challenging, do them from a yoga pose that requires strength and balance, such as Warrior I, Warrior II, Eagle pose or Horse Stance pose.

    Benefits

    • Yoga shoulder shrugs stretch and strengthen your lattisimus dorsi, or your lats, when you spread your shoulders apart from each other, which is not a typical movement for strengthening lats (it's usually an up-and-down movement where the lats lift weight up or pull it down). However, this movement is very beneficial for gaining strength and fitness, because it develops upper-back muscles you can use to support your entire back. Yoga shoulder shrugs also stretch and strengthen your shoulder muscles and your neck, and relieve muscle tension in the upper back. They also tone the muscles below the shoulder blades, called your serratus anterior. If you practice yoga regularly, shoulder shrugs will help strengthen your shoulders to prepare you for arm balances and prevent injuries from other poses.

    Safety Tips

    • Give your muscles 48 hours to recover between exercise sessions. During your recovery time, eat a balanced diet and get plenty of sleep. Eat plenty of protein while your muscles rebuild. If your back feels tired or sore after doing yoga shoulder shrugs, relax in Child's pose and take deep breaths. Consult with your doctor before starting a new workout program.