Do you sit at a desk all day? Do you sit down and text or scroll through the internet on you smartphone? Do you workout hard and never stretch or warm-up properly?  If you are guilty of any of these (or all three?) you could be suffering from tight hips, rounded shoulders, and/or tight neck muscles which could be resulting in headaches and neck pain.  Yes? Then this stretch is for you!

I had to share this stretch because not only is it one of my favorite stretches, but it helps me loosen up before my workouts.  If you are constantly lifting heavy weights or running long distances, the body will begin to stiffen up.  Remember, recovery and warm-up is just as important as the workout’s themselves to prevent injury and ensure you are really able to work to your full potential during workouts without pain or discomfort.  This stretch is also great to do if you have been sitting at a desk for a long period of time or even in a car for a long time, as this position puts your hips in a shortened position and could potentially result in back pain or discomfort.

A “slouched forward” type posture is very common in most people, do to being hunched over our smart phones, a computer, tablet, or basically because it’s a lot more work to sit up straight then it is to hunch forward.  Over time being in this position for long periods of time can begin to result in neck pain, back pain, and headaches etc.  The muscles of the chest and front of the neck become shortened and tight and the muscles of the upper back become lengthened and weak.  There are many exercises we can do to help fix this, but doing this stretch at least once per day is a great place to start!

Watch the video below and try performing 10 reps of each per side at a time.  You should feel stretching through the front of your hips and legs as well as the chest, but if you feel pain please stop immediately.

Read More About Posture and How to Fix It in these 2 Articles:

POSTURE NOT SO “PERFECT”?

3 EXERCISES TO IMPROVE UPPER BODY POSTURE