Do you have stiff, crunchy shoulders from being hunched over a computer? I do. And I don’t even have a desk job… Oh god that would destroy me. I’m wayyy too sensitive.
But sitting isn’t the real villain... A lot of my cranky-shouldered desk-warrior clients tell me it seems impossible to pull themselves away from their work and stretch because they fear not being productive and even feel guilty for taking a break to take care of their bodies. Do you sacrifice body for your work, too?
While I can’t directly help you with the self-care guilt-trip, I’d like to share an exercise with you that can help de-crunchify your shoulders, and you can even do it sitting in your chair. In fact, I did it several times throughout the hour I spent editing the video and writing this blog post, and it helped me to not feel like a complete crumpled mess by the end.
Check out this 6 minute movement exploration on Arm Spirals:
Arm Spirals is an exercise is from the Anatomy in Motion repertoire. What makes it so unique and effective is that it emulates how our arms should rotate during arm swing while we walk.
It also is not JUST a shoulder exercise, but a whole body pattern that brings to life how the upper back and neck need to move in coordination with each other for your arms to swing and rotate with ease in gait. It’s allllllllllll connected, and I explain HOW specifically it all connects in the video.
The first minute of the video describes how we’d like to see the arms rotate as we swing them, and the next 5 minutes is a guided movement exploration excerpt from a Liberated Body Workshop I taught in 2021 at Shift Bodywork in Toronto.
But that fear of lost productivity will probably get in your way of actually making time to do exercises like this and putting self-care as a top priority.
FACT: You can actually only focus on a task for ~50 minutes before your brain say’s “peace out”.
A high-performance coach client I’m working with (on his feet) told me he encourages his own coaching clients to take a 10 minute break every 50 minutes. So that fear of not being productive if you take a break? It’s actually bullshit 😉 Take a 10 minute movement break. Your productivity and your body will thank you.
What if this exercise hurts to do?
If you have pain during this exercise it is important information. Don’t ignore it.
A healthy human body should be able to move their arms like this without discomfort. Do not push through pain to do the exercise. It might indicate that you could use some specific guidance to restore pain free movement and shoulder range of motion, and I’d recommend seeing a practitioner you trust to get some individualized help.
My main gig is working with human bodies 1:1 to get to the root of their movement limitations that keep them stuck with pain and poor performance. Get in touch if you’d like to chat about receiving custom tailored guidance on how to un-stick your body with a deliberate movement practice.
I hope you enjoy the freedom and ease in your shoulders, neck, and upper back after exploring this movement with me. Let me know how it goes 🙂
