Hunched shoulders issues and solutions

[scullystwin42]

There were several people who asked for the videos that I used to help me learn to disengage my upper trap muscles in order to reduce the hunched shoulders issue. Here it is!

Traps1

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let me know if it works for you or if you have any questions!

 

[scullystwin42]

I did a mix of these exercises for 2-5 minutes every day for about 6-8 weeks and there was noticeable improvement. I also realized how much i had been using my shoulders in just general workouts and that changed as well - i started using the right muscles for push ups, planks, and other exercises.

I also did the following: practice raising your arms out to the side and up as far as you can go with activating your upper trap muscles. once you get to that point, engage your lats/mid traps to raise them a little higher without pulling your shoulders up. You'll eventually get stronger in those areas and will make small gains in how vertical your arms can get.

If you need a video of this specific exercise, i am happy to film it and post it. it has helped tremendously, and i continue to do it once or twice a week to keep up the progress i've made.

 

[David_In_CA]

Thank you for sharing this!

 

[snapdancer]

Part of the problem is that we've gotten into the habit of using our upper lat muscles instead of the lower lats. And we don't even realize we're doing that because that's our "normal", our body awareness is off. To counter this problem, I have an exercise I can do almost anywhere. I lift one arm at a time into dance frame and use the other hand to feel when I'm using upper lat muscles and refocus my lifting to the lower lat.

 

[lucia_l]

snapdancer,
That's similar to an exercise in the video scullystwin linked to. The kinesiologist has you do a very similar thing in a somewhat bent over position, and has some tweaks to allow people with different degrees of weakness adapt the exertise to their current ability. Your method is more "dance like" in the sense that it imitates a dance movement.

 

[snapdancer]

If the muscles need to be developed first, then the kinesiologist's method would be needed. Once the muscle is sufficiently developed, then my method could be applied at more moments of opportunity, such as the waiting room at a doctor's office or waiting in the cash register line at WalMart. But you first might need to practice your "What are you looking at?" glare

 

[scullystwin42]

I did need to develop my mid and lower trap muscles. I could not believe how little I used them and how weak they were! i used the different exercises from all of the videos to help retrain my muscles. i have done a similar thing to what snapdancer mentioned, but it wasn't enough for me. but I imagine different people will have different needs.

 

[scullystwin42]

Can't strengthen your lats enough if don't learn to relax your pecs first.

SO TRUE! one of the videos on there had some good chest/pec stretches. i so needed that as well! i was doing all the things wrong lol

 

[lucia_l]

I obviously need to put together a regular work out with a variety of exercises. I hope it helps! My pro (aka "new young guy") suggested my problem could be weakness, but he's also suggested I could need better flexibility in my pecs and so on. It's not either/or, is it?

 

[scullystwin42]

One of the videos on my list was about how to reduce rounded shoulders, and they have chest/pec stretches to release those muscles, and then strengthening moves for lats/lower/mid traps. Larinda is super on point there.

 

[jjLA]

Please allow me to ask about another muscle group that affects shoulders. My weakness is in the trapezius muscles which run from the base of the skull to the shoulders. I've been working on stretches to get them more flexible (ear to shoulder; chin to chest; some egoscue positions; etc.), but perhaps others may have additional insights.

The tightness do a number of bad things:
(1) The muscles show as a very tense shoulder line and neck line.
(2) Trying to release them can lead the crown of the head going backs or the the shoulder ball joints going up.

Have others found stretches and/or can provide insight especially ways to minimize #1 and #2? My lats, rhomboids, pecs, front neck muscles, other traps etc. seem to be flexible enough or at least do not appear to be the limiting factor but I could be wrong there.

 

[scullystwin42]

disclaimer: i am not a physical therapist or kinesiologist.

So, i've struggled for years with lack of flexibility in my shoulders - from way back when I was a teenager in gymnastics. I tried many many stretches and yoga to fix it. However, it took realizing literally last year that my upper traps were not weak, but instead they did ALL the work. My lower and mid-traps were weak as heck and just lazed around. so instead of working on flexibility, i strengthened my lower/mid-traps and lats and retrained them to actually work. And it helped minimize the tight shoulder look and removed the hunched shoulders.

My shoulder flexibility hasn't changed at all, however - they are super not flexible, but it doesn't have a bearing on the appearance now. I still can't do super flexy bendy stuff with my shoulders, but that's easier to work around.

i'd asked physical therapists about it in the past when i'd been in for unrelated issues, but nothing they'd provided seem to work. If you do think you're still struggling, maybe find a kinesiologist or physical therapist who is more educated on the matter. I got lucky with these videos and saw marked improvement, and that's why i shared it.