7 Neck Exercises To Prevent And Correct Tech Neck

If we were to take a guess, we’d say you’re reading this on your smartphone, or maybe your tablet. Now, don’t stop reading or anything. Just understand that the way you tilt your head to tap, scroll, and stare at a screen is almost certainly harming your neck, back, and posture. Doctors have dubbed the physiological effects of our modern lifestyle “tech neck” — and it’s not good. Not to mention that it can cause tech neck lines — premature horizontal lines across your neck from bending it to look at your phone.

As we lean ever harder on our devices for everything from work and school to entertainment, the prevalence of pain and discomfort in our bodies is on the rise too — hence the need for daily tech neck exercises to counterbalance the effects of using technology for hours at a stretch.

Signs of tech neck include neck pain, of course, but also headaches and pain radiating behind the eyes, at the temples, and at the base of the skull. “I have people coming to my office with sore upper backs and headaches all the time from looking down at their devices. And people with rounded shoulders,” says chiropractor Chris Tomshack, CEO and president of chiropractic company HealthSource. “When you round your shoulders, you hinder your body’s ability to take deep breaths. Your oxygen and energy levels can drop.”

The culprit behind tech neck is not your phone — it’s your head. “Our heads flex forward when we’re on our devices,” says Tomshack. “The weight of the human head is 10 to 11 pounds, but flexed forward, that’s leveraged to 50 to 60 pounds of pressure. Our necks are not big enough to handle that much pressure continuously for any significant amount of time. After a while, the muscles that surround your neck get strained.”

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment, so it’s important both to do tech neck exercises and to adjust how you use your electronics to minimize strain — including taking a break from staring at office email all day. “Give your muscles, ligaments, and tendons a break as often as you can remember to do it,” Tomshack says.

Here are a few more ways to save yourself from developing tech neck in the first place.

Lifestyle Changes to Help Prevent Tech Neck

• Hold your phone at just below eye-level.
• When using technology, sit up straight with your head in a neutral position (ears over your shoulders) with good posture and your feet planted flat on the ground.
• Stand up every 20 minutes and roll your shoulders back. Better yet, walk around.
• Consider raising your computer to eye level.

Too late for prevention? Here are the seven best neck exercises to correct tech neck, prescribed to undo and counteract the strain of hunching forward over your shiny toys.

Tech Neck Exercise #1: The Chin Tuck

How to do it: Standing, tuck your chin in toward the rear of your body. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat 5 times. Do this twice a day.

Why? “This reverses the curvature of your upper back and straightens your neck,” Tomshack says. “You’re stretching everything on the front of your neck and contracting everything on your back. Tech neck does the opposite, overstretching your back. Over time it changes your posture unhealthily.”

Avoid: Looking down. “Your eyes must remain focused on the wall ahead of you at eye level,” Tomshack says.

Tech Neck Exercise #2: Neck Extension

How to do it: Sitting up straight with shoulders back, extend your head backward, and look up at the sky or ceiling. Push down on your forehead with some pressure. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat 5 times. Do twice a day.

Why? It will improve your neck’s range of motion.

Avoid: Tensing your neck and shoulders; forcing your head back. “Completely relax your neck muscles,” Tomshack says.

Tech Neck Exercise #3: Side Neck Stretch

How to do it: Standing up tall, relax your neck muscles as you tilt your head to the left, moving your left ear toward your left shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat 5 times. Switch sides and repeat.

Why? “This stretches the muscles and soft tissue structures on both sides of your neck,” Tomshack says. “The better your range of motion, the healthier you are.”

Avoid: Contracting your neck muscles. “Let gravity pull your head over,” Tomshack says.

Tech Neck Exercise #4: YWTLs

How to do it:

“Y”: Standing, extend your arms straight up, extending your fingertips to the ceiling, and rotating your wrists so your thumbs are pointed at the wall behind you. Hold for 30 seconds.

“W”: Drop both upper arms to the left and right so they are parallel to the floor, elbows at 90 degrees, with your fingers still pointing up and your thumbs pointing behind you. (You’ll form a human goal post.) Contract your upper-back muscles. Hold for 30 seconds.

“T”: Drop your lower arms so your fingertips are pointing to the walls on either side of you, rotating your wrists so your thumbs are still pointing behind you. Hold for 30 seconds.

“L”: Drop your upper arms to your sides, bend your elbows 90 degrees, and contract the muscles between your shoulder blades to reach your thumbs back towards the wall behind you, keeping your palms facing up. Hold for 30 seconds.

Why? “These stretch the front of your shoulders, your pecs, your biceps, and your forearms,” Tomshack says. “The ‘T’ should feel wonderful.”

Avoid: Not pointing your thumbs behind you; not fully extending or contracting. “The rotation to get your thumbs pointing back is what stretches the front shoulders,” Tomshack says. “It’s easy to forget, but not doing it reduces the effectiveness to almost nothing. And really try to extend each arm and your fingertips — it makes a big difference.”

Tech Neck Exercise #5: Doorjamb Posture Assessment/Stretch

How to do it: Standing in a doorway, position yourself two feet from the frame but with your pelvis and upper spine touching the doorjamb. The back of your head should also touch the jamb — if it doesn’t, position a folded-up towel between your head and the jamb. Reach your arms forward at shoulder height, palms down. Bend your elbows. Hold for 60 seconds. Repeat 3 to 4 times a day.

Why? “This works your middle-back muscles between the shoulder blades as well as your erector spinae,” says Matthew Comer, a trainer and Pilates instructor for Club Pilates in San Diego. “It gives you a reference point to know where you posture is based on how far away you are, whether or not you can get your head on the jamb without your ribs popping. It also lengthens your chest muscles. Poor posture is associated with tight pecs.”

Avoid: Not keeping your head in contact with the doorjamb.

Tech Neck Exercise #6: Upright Chest Lift

How to do it: Standing or sitting, place one hand on top of the other and then place both hands on the bump on the back of your head, palming your skull. Gently press your head back into your hands. With your eyes forward, bend back your upper torso slightly. Hold for 30 seconds.

Why? “This lengthens the pecs and abdominal wall in the front,” Comer says. “The muscles in the back can be more proactive in holding your posture.”

Avoid: Flipping your head back like you’re a Pez dispenser; tilting pelvis instead of moving upper-middle back. “Let your breastbone lift up and back while keeping your pelvis still and neutral,” Comer says.

Tech Neck Exercise #7: Face-Down Chest Lift

How to do it: Lie on your stomach with your feet hip-distance apart. Stack your hands in front of you, keeping your elbows bent. Place your forehead on your stacked hands. Engage your abdominal muscles to lift your shoulder blades, hands, and head one inch off the floor. Hold for 30 seconds.

Why? “This is a strengthening exercise for your core muscles,” Comer says. “Think of your entire spine resting on an imaginary wall as you lift up.”

Avoid: Lifting your feet; over-lifting your torso. “Your feet should stay down the entire time,” Comer says. “You’re using your lower back if you over-lift. This is just a hover, not a full-on lift up.”