Below are two key stretches for helping combat the upper body tightness that comes from extended periods spent on a computer. These help lengthen and ease tension in the commonly tight muscles known as the “pecs” and “upper traps”. The formal name for the “pecs” are the muscles pectoralis major and minor (which generally run from your breast bone out to the upper arm, or chest area) and the “upper traps,” or upper trapezius muscles, (which run from the neck to the shoulder and are commonly grabbed and rubbed as a signal for decreasing tension).
Pec Stretch
To perform the pectoralis muscle stretch all you need is a doorway and your arms. You approach the open doorway with the front of your body, arms extended out, elbows bent (see image below). You then lean gently into the doorway, creating a stretch just medial to the armpits, in the pecs. The stretch should be held for a minimum of 20 seconds. I usually recommend doing this stretch at three different arm heights, as shown below. Performing the stretch at these three arms heights will more adequately stretch the various attachments of the pec muscles.
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Upper Trap Stretch
The Upper Trapezius stretch is performed while seated in a desk chair (or any other chair with a seat that can be gripped.) The hand of the side to be stretched (let’s say the right side for arguments sake) grips the seat of chair, anchoring that shoulder down. The head would then be tilted away from that arm (in this case towards the left). The free (left) hand can then be used to gently pull the head a bit further to the left in order to increase the stretch. Again, stretches are held for a minimum of 20 seconds. A variation of this stretch can be performed while standing in the shower, so that the hot water can help to further loosen the tight muscle. In this case, the arm that was gripping the chair can just be held firmly, straight down at your side. As described above, with the head tilted away, the other hand can then gently pull the head to increase the stretch.