Postural Corrective Exercise: Scapular Retraction

Do you have neck pain?

Neck pain is a very common complaint of people of varying ages. There are a lot of factors that can lead to neck pain but one of the most common is not having proper strength and control of the scapular musculature. Many people have overdeveloped upper trapezius muscles causing tension in their necks, resulting in pain or discomfort. With an increased strength in the other muscles surrounding the scapula, there will be a reduction in stress put on the upper traps allowing them to relax and thus reducing neck pain. Scapular retraction exercises can also be great to improve one's posture by reducing excessive forward slump and correct or prevent forward shoulder issues and increase stability to the shoulder joint.

So how is this done? The idea behind scapular retraction exercises is to generate a motion in

which your shoulder blades pinch back and drop down (known as retraction and depression of

the scapula). When performing the exercises in the video below be sure to focus on generating

the movement from your shoulder blades and not your arms. Each exercise should be done for

3 sets of 15 repetitions and can be every day.