10-Minute UPPER BODY Stretch | Release Tight Neck, Shoulders, Chest + Back

Hi, I'm Lindsay Baumgren of Nourish Move Love, and today I'm taking you through a quick upper body mobility and stretching routine. We're focusing specifically on the neck, the shoulders, the chest, and the back. So creating length and mobility, just opening up those sometimes tight upper body muscles. Okay, we're just gonna flow through a series of moves. You can go ahead and follow along with me and add these to your next stretching routine. Okay, so we're gonna start in a kneeling position. I'm actually gonna kick my left leg out to the side here in a half kneeling position. And then I'm gonna take my left arm and I'm just gonna reach up to the sky gaze, follow fingertips. And then I'm gonna thread the needle. So I'm dropping shoulder to the mat and ear to the mat if I can. Threading that needle. So we're working on a little spinal rotation. We're opening up the chest and shoulders as we reach overhead. Nice. And then we're taking it down, stretching, creating length. Think about pulling your shoulder away from your neck as you're here on the mat and creating length through the neck and the shoulder. Nice little stretch through the shoulder. We get a lot of shoulder work in these workouts. One more time here because you're doing planks and push ups, all those things. Put some stress on the shoulders. One more time here. And then we're going to take it up and over to the other side. Nice. Bring it back to center. Same thing. Other side. So this time I'm going to kick my left leg out and I'm going to take my left arm and I'm going to reach up. I'm sorry. Right arm, right arm. Left or right leg? Right arm. Reach up to the sky. Gaze both fingertips. I'm going to thread that right arm underneath right here and just drop that shoulder in. That ear to the mat. Nice. And same thing. I'm just going to open it up again. Opening up through the chest and shoulders, and then take it down ear and shoulder to the mat. Think about pushing those hips back. You get a nice little hip stretch, too. It's a little added bonus for you. Big inhale, exhale. Sink a little bit deeper. One more time. Okay, you're going to open it up, bring it back and thread the needle. Last time. Ear to mat. Nice. Bring it back to center. Okay, we're gonna go into a kneeling position. So I'm kickstanded, toes are underneath me. I'm sitting back on my heels, and I'm just gonna grab the top of my head gently and pull it down. This is what we call posterior neck stretch. So I'm just pulling my neck, gently tucking my chin towards my chest as I give a nice little gentle neck stretch right here. I'm just gonna hold here. You can hold all these stretches for 30 to 60 seconds. Whatever feels comfortable for you. Big inhale, big exhale, and then try talking with your chin next to your chest. It's kind of hard. Hold here for 3, 2, and 1. Now we're going to reverse that. So we just pulled down into a nice crunch position. So we're going to reverse it. You're going to sit back on your butt. You're going to have fingertips facing your butt, and you're going to push your hips up, legs bent at 90 degrees, and just open it up. So pulling the opposite or reversing that motion. So we were pulling down, and now we're just opening up. Think about spreading your chest apart right here. Spread your chest apart as far as you can. Just let that neck gently hang heavy. Lift those hips up. Spread the chest apart. Opening up through the chest. Opening up through the shoulders. Just letting that neck hang back. Especially if you're hunched over a baby all day or a computer all day. One of my favorite stretches to come back to for that, you're just going to hold here for 3, 2, and 1. Nice. Gently sit it back again. We're going to go back to that kneeling position. Okay, Toes are tucked under right here. Now we're going to hit one of my favorite stretches for the low back. So I'm going to take my right hand reach for my left knee, and then my left hand is going to go up overhead. So this looks pretty simple, right? But when you do it, you're going to feel a nice opening through this left back and side body. One of my favorite new stretches I've been adding to my routine. Okay, take left hand to right knee. Same thing. Right arm overhead. Nice. Just opening up through the chest and shoulders, but really focusing on the low back here. That's what we're hitting. Feels really good. Same thing. We're just going to do one more time each side. Ok. Right hand, left knee. Open up through that left hand. Gaze, follow fingertips. You might notice one side feels better than the other. It feels really tight on this side for me. And switch that one more time. Left hand to right knee. Open up through that right hand, hitting that low back. Awesome job. Hold for three, two, and one. Okay, you guys moving on. We're gonna stay right here. You can sit back on your heels if you want to. We're just gonna get those shoulders now. Okay, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna reach my arms out in front of me and I'm gonna protract. I'm gonna pull. Pull the shoulders up towards my ears and then roll down and back, creating length to the neck. So reach out up, shoulders up to the ears. And now just roll down and back. Sometimes we don't realize that we do this motion without even thinking. So just creating that length, right? Just pull it up and then create that length in the neck. You're going to give me two more just like it. Pull it up and roll down and back. Think about pulling your armpits down towards your hips. One more roll up, pull down and back. That should feel really good. Now we're gonna sit back into child's pose. Okay, so I'm gonna take my right hand so you can give me a normal child's pose just like this. But we're gonna add a fun variation to it. So I'm gonna take my right hand over to the left corner. I'm gonna take my left hand on top of the right hand, and then sit back into child's pose. So think about creating length, getting that right hand as far away from your body as you can. It's gonna open up the lats here, the back. It's gonna give you a nice side body stretch. Again, getting into that low back. Again, if you have low back pain or back pain, this is a really great stretch to back to trying to walk those fingertips as far away from your body as you possibly can. Again, sitting back, getting the bonus of added hip opening right here, too. Let's just hold here for three, two, and one. Bring it up. We're doing the same thing. Other side. So take my left hand, reach that right corner. Right hand goes on top. Sit back into that child's pose, and then think about walking that left finger, those fingertips, as far away from your body as you can. Opening up through the lats and the side body, and just sitting back into the hips, taking a big inhale. And on every exhale, think about lengthening, creating more length and getting a little bit deeper into that stretch. Awesome job. Hold here for 3, 2, and 1. Walk it back up. Okay, you guys, just a couple more stretches. This is one of my favorite. If you've been following along with me, you know that I'm just going to sit back on my heels. I'm going to take one hand to the top of My head and just give it a nice little gentle neck stretch. So I'm just creating length right here from ear to shoulder, shoulder. Think about lengthening this neck. You can just stay right here if it feels good. You're going to take that opposing right hand and reach behind your back. So palm faces out. Right palm faces out, creating length through the neck. Palm faces out. Nice little half wrap. Just a really good way to open up that neck and shoulders. A stretch I've been coming back to often lately in that upper body. And now from here, you're just going to roll side to side. Just roll that head, neck side to side. Gonna do the same thing. Other side. Right here. Nice little gentle tug. Opening up, creating length from ear to shoulder. And I'm gonna wrap this hand around again right here. Palm is gonna face out away from the body, creating length, opening up the neck and shoulders. Awesome. You're gonna hold here for three, two, and one. Two more stretches, you guys. Two more. Awesome job. You're gonna come to a nice, comfortable seated position. You're going to take your right arm out, and you're going to take the left arm thread underneath it. Get the palms to touch if you can. I got like, fingertips to palms. And then I'm going to take the elbows away from my body. So pull away, opening up those shoulder blades. And then lift the fingertips up towards the ceiling. Opening up the neck, the shoulders, the trap, and that back. Opening everything up right here. This is what we call eagle arms. A good way to just open everything up on the back side of the body. Nice. Hold for three, two, and one. Go ahead, go ahead. Just flap your wings. Nice. And we're doing that same thing. Other arm. So you're going to take your left arm out. This time, the right arm is going to wrap underneath. Get those palms to touch. Pull those elbows away from your body, and then lift those fingertips up towards the ceiling. Should feel really good. Think about pulling those shoulder blades as far apart as you possibly can. Hold for 3, 2, and 1. Nice work. Flap those wings. Final stretch, you guys. Right here you're gonna find a butterfly position. So soles of the feet to touch and take opposite hand, opposite foot. Criss crossing the arms. You're gonna tuck your chin towards your chest as you lean back, creating a C shape with your body. Again opening up those shoulder blades, pulling them apart, creating length through the neck. And now you're gonna reverse it so you're still holding onto those two foots. Think about pulling your armpits down towards your hips. Pull those shoulders away and lift your chin up towards the ceiling, just creating length. Think about spreading that chest apart again. Spread the chest apart. Open it up. Just hold right here. This is your final stretch. Take a big inhale, big exhale. Spread that chest a little farther. Pull those shoulders down for 3, 2, and 1. Awesome job you guys. That is your quick upper body mobility routine that you can flow through if you have a tight neck, chest, shoulders, or a tight low back. Really good routine to just add into your daily movement. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, go ahead, hit. Subscribe to our channel and come back. We have more stretching, more barre, more yoga, more strength, and hit. You can find it all@nourishmovelove.com have a great day.