Bayram Cigerli Blog

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Fixing Your Achy Wrists



Do you experience pain in your wrists while doing exercises like bench presses or planks? If so, then read on!

As I've mentioned 1,000 times (and you're probably sick of me saying it already), we always have to look distally (farther away) from the area in question. Think of your entire arms as a train. If the shoulder isn't working properly, you bet that you're gonna have elbow and wrist problems too. Take a look at the photo on the right from Thomas Myers' Anatomy Trains. You can see here that the pecs of the chest will influence the structures all of the way down to the fingers.

The number one complaint I hear from clients when doing the front squat is that their wrists hurt them. While the wrist pain is the symptom, the cause typically arises with poor shoulder mobility. If your front rack position is sub-par, your wrists now have to bear the brunt of that load. The lower your elbows are, the more wrist extension you need to compensate. In this instance, you need to work on opening up the pecs and lats to ease the stress on your wrists.

Because of this horrendous shoulder mobility, his wrists suffer.

I see similar problems arise in pressing movements. In the bench press or the overhead press, clients occasionally lack the necessary strength in their forearm flexors, so they fall into a hyperextended wrist position throughout the lift. A more "neutral" wrist position can save them a lot of discomfort. In these cases, the problem might not be mobility, but grip strength. I would have these people do exercises like hangs from the pull-up bar, plate pinches, or farmer walks to combat this. Sometimes, cueing alone can also go a long way to correct this issue.

This image from Liftbigeatbig explains different wrist positions. We never
want significant extension in pressing movements.
Ultimately, if you feel pain in your wrists you have to check out how your shoulders are moving to properly assess the issue. Shoulder instability can manifest itself in a variety of different ways. Continuing to address your wrist alone will have little to no effect. I see a lot of people working to stretch their forearms to alleviate wrist pain, but rarely do they address other possible contributing factors like shoulder stability or grip strength. Global corrections will stimulate an entire chain reaction of positive effects.

The 4 Exercises that Your Shoulders Hate



It is common for a lifter to seek boulder shoulder status. While having protruding, rounded shoulders certainly looks nice, the shoulders are very vulnerable to injury. The demands of a sedentary, desk-ridden society already makes our shoulders unhappy, and if you translate this dysfunction into the gym, you're gonna have a bad time.

I have dealt with my own shoulder issues in the past, and I know just how aggravating it can be to have to modify workouts or avoid certain movements. Ultimately, I had to learn the hard way what exercises provoked my shoulder pain. Many common-place shoulder exercises can be effective for deltoid and pectoralis hypertrophy, but they also promote instability and compensation. For both myself and my clients, there are four main exercises that I avoid for the sake of sparing their shoulders:
  1. Pec flies. Regardless of whether you're using cables, dumbbells, or even the pec-deck machine, you're most likely better off without them. With this movement, many lifters tend to go well beyond the necessary range of motion to isolate the pectoralis muscles in transverse shoulder flexion. You also run the risk of sufficiently irritating your biceps tendons. Instead, they end up stretching the hell out of their anterior deltoids and forcing their shoulders into a yucky internally rotated position that makes me cringe. For chest development, I prefer to have clients do reverse grip bench press, neutral grip dumbbell bench press (with a slow eccentric focus), and Spoon presses. If you're hell-bent on keeping pec flies in your workout routine, try to minimize the range of motion so that your arms only go slightly above parallel, and make sure you maintain a slight bend in your elbows.
  2. Behind-the-neck lat pull-downs. I've addressed my feelings about behind-the-neck exercises previously, so to save you from a redundant rant, I'll give you the abridged version: these movements (especially in lat pull-downs) encourage you into flexed cervical spine and often reinforce poor shoulder movement. Very few people possess adequate shoulder and thoracic mobility to perform these. If you really want wings, stay away from these. Instead, try rowing variations, pull-ups (you add weight or go chest-to-bar if you want a greater challenge), straight arm pull-downs, and maybe the occasional Red Bull. (I couldn't resist...)
    Yikes!
  3. Box dips. In a recent Instagram video, I mentioned that I stray away from programming dips on a bench or a box. Effectively, this variation places unnecessary stress on the anterior capsule and tendons of the shoulder. To perform these, a client must flare the elbows out excessively, while the shoulder again shifts into a precarious position. You will see this as well on bar dips, but to a lesser degree, because the athlete's shoulder and elbows are closer to his center of mass. The ideal way to do dips, in my opinion, though, is on the rings. The rings force the athlete to properly adduct his shoulder, and his arms are closest to his center of mass (thus resulting in a more mechanically advantageous position. If you're currently unable to do ring dips, stick to push-ups on the rings, and then slowly progress to a full ring dip.
  4. Upright rows. I'm sure you've heard trainers shun this exercise before. While I think it can be helpful for developing the shoulders for the right client, there are always other options. I've found that they cause more harm than good for most people, as usually the anterior deltoids are the strongest part of the shoulder. Instead, many people would benefit from training the posterior or rear deltoids with back flies to balance out the omnipresent imbalance from front to back.
In general, gym goers can benefit from fewer pushing exercises and more pulling exercises. I usually propose a 2:1 ratio for upper body pulling:pushing days. By this, I mean that you should only spend about one day per week doing bench press, push press, etc. (or at least with those movements as your primary focus), and two days with a pulling/rowing focus. The anterior deltoids and pectoralis tend to run the show (especially in men), and, thus, can cause a lot of pathologies and mobility restrictions. Your rhomboids, rear deltoids, lats, and lower trapezius can always benefit from some more love and attention.

There are plenty of safe and effective exercises that will still give you strong shoulders, such as those that I've listed in this article. You can be smart about your upper body training and avoid nagging injuries that will keep you sidelined for weeks at-a-time. Make these changes to your routine, and your shoulders will be happier in the long run!

Debunking the Myth of the Vastus Medialis




The quadriceps complex is comprised of four main muscles: the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, the vastus lateralis, and the vastus medialis (which seems to have become the most buzzworthy muscle of the four). The vastus medialis obliquus (commonly referred to as the VMO) is the middle “tear drop” shaped muscle of the quadriceps complex. Both personal trainers and physical therapists often blame generic knee pain on this guy being weak, but the literature just does not seem to substantiate that concept. If a doctor or physiotherapist has ever told you that you need to strengthen your vastus medialis, then he or she is spouting off outdated and false information.

I have seen many an article claiming that one can “isolate” the vastus medialis, or emphasize its activation, by raising the heels in a squat, by narrowing one’s squat stance, or by doing some wild exercises. These exercises are frequently prescribed to individuals with patellar tendinopathy, patellar tracking, or post-op ACL tear patients. While these concepts sound excellent in theory, the data has shown that those ideas are effectively no more than broscience. The vastus medialis and lateralis muscles contract together, and no amount of heel raise, hip external rotation, or close-stance squats will change that.

Do decline squats increase VMO activation?

The first exercise myth about the VMO is that raising the heels will increase its activation in the squat. While using Olympic lifting shoes or standing on a board will undoubtedly increase total quadriceps recruitment, as your torso will be more upright, the vastus medialis receives no preferential treatment. Rather, the vastus lateralis and medialis simultaneously work harder to squat when the heels are elevated. Similarly, the high bar squat is more quad-dominant than a powerlifting low-bar squat, and a front squat is the most quad-dominant of the three.

Does squat depth influence VMO activation?

When analyzing the angles at which the vastus medialis and lateralis are most active, Lee et. al. found that 90° or less of knee flexion was optimal. Essentially, deeper squats allow for greater vastus medialis and vastus lateralis contraction. Again, both muscles are being targeted in this instance, so the VMO is working harder, but so too is the vastus lateralis.

The other take home here is that if you want quads of the Gods, you can’t skimp on your depth. If you have to ask someone if you’re going low enough, you’re probably not! If mobility is an issue for you, then you should seek the advice of a qualified professional and dedicate time at the end of your sessions to improving your bottom position.

What about narrow-stance squats?

None of the research to date indicates that squatting with a narrow stance impacts the vastus medialis to a higher degree. In fact, it doesn’t appear that it changes the activation in any of the quadriceps muscles at all. I’m not quite sure where this myth arose, but it seems to be contradicted by the literature.

Squatting with your feet close together won't increase VMO activation,
but it may result in faulty mechanics and potential for hip impingement.
One study with Paoli et. al. looked at the EMG in 8 different thigh muscles, measuring activity in three different squatting widths and three different intensities (no load, 30% of 1 RM, and 70% of 1 RM). They tested both quadriceps and hamstrings muscles, and there was effectively no statistical difference in any of the muscles except for the gluteus maximus. No matter how close the lifters stances, their quadriceps muscles (vastus medialis included) were no more or less active at any intensity.

Surely foot position matters?

This is one that I have heard for years, and even believed myself for a while: trainers boast that externally rotating the feet will preferentially recruit the VMO, whereas a parallel foot position would lead to more evenly divided muscular recruitment. Unfortunately, no studies to date have confirmed this concept.

Murray et. al. tested twenty physically active adults in 4 different foot positions during a partial squat on the Power Tower machine. They found no real differences in EMG amplitude in differing levels of external/internal rotation. Similarly, Ninos and colleagues tested two varying foot positions (externally rotated and neutral) in the Olympic squat, and there was no noteworthy difference in vastus medialis activation.

The take home? If you have strong quads, you have a strong VMO.

Trainers have managed to come up with many creative circus-trick exercises for targeting the vastus medialis muscle, but while they might look exciting to try in videos, the basic foundational leg movements are all you need; squats, lunges, step-ups, and split squats will help you build strong quadriceps muscles, and, in turn, strong vastus medialis muscles. You can perform your leg extensions with your feet externally rotated all day, and you still won’t be able to isolate your medial quadriceps. Instead, just stick to those previously mentioned core movements and reap the benefits of your tree trunk legs!

Works Cited:
  1. Caterisano, A., Moss, R. E., Pellinger, T. K., Woodruff, K., Lewis, V. C., Booth, W., & Khadra, T. (2002). The effect of back squat depth on the EMG activity of 4 superficial hip and thigh muscles. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 16(3), 428-432.
  2. Dionisio, V. C., Azevedo, B. M. S., & Siqueira, D. A. (2013). Horizontal and Declined Squats in Healthy Individuals: A Study of Kinematic and Muscle Patterns. ISRN Rehabilitation, 2013. Chicago
  3. Murray, N. G., Cipriani, D., O’Rand, D., & Reed-Jones, R. (2014). Effects of Foot Position during Squatting on the Quadriceps Femoris: An Electromyographic Study. International Journal of Exercise Science, 6(2).
  4. Paoli, A., Marcolin, G., & Petrone, N. (2009). The effect of stance width on the electromyographical activity of eight superficial thigh muscles during back squat with different bar loads. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(1), 246-250.


How to Train Your Weaker Side



Approximately 90% of the world is right handed. Those people are writing, brushing their hair/teeth, throwing, reaching, and grabbing almost exclusively with their right hands for their entire lives. With this unilateral dominance in dexterity comes deficits between the halves of the body. Obviously, the use of one hand thousands of times per year results in a stronger right side.

Da Vinci's Vitruvian man is symmetry goals...
As ambidexterity or cross-dominance is quite rare (only ~1% of the world population), we will inevitably end up with a strong side and a slightly weaker side. This is even more apparent in sports that require repetitive movement with unilateral sports (baseball, tennis, rowing, etc.). Over thousands of practice hours, the athlete is going to develop exceptional strength on their dominant side, while their opposite side gets minimal attention. Exaggerated asymmetry can, at times, result in some postural issues down the line.

This brings me to answer a question that I receive often: how does one target the lagging side of the body? Do you start to only train the weaker side? Do you do more reps on the weaker side?

First, I want to explain the potential downfalls to significant imbalances from side-to-side.

Bell et. al. tested the influence of muscular symmetry on power and force development. They used a force plate to measure any incongruities in force generated between sides of 167 Division 1 athletes. While all of the athletes obviously had asymmetry to a degree, those with "greater than 10% power asymmetry resulted in decreased jump height of nine centimeters (approximately 3.5 inches) and was associated with large effect size when compared to the other groups." Furthermore, they hypothesized that "the normative data in this study ... reveals that a small number of Division I athletes are considered 'high risk of injury' using an arbitrary cut off level of 15% asymmetry." Not only do athletes with more asymmetry lose out on potential gains in power development, but they also have an elevated risk of injury.

There are other interesting benefits to training your weaker side. One study done on soccer players sought to improve motor control of the non-dominant leg. "Three soccer performance tests were carried out, using either leg ... Two standardised foot-tapping tests were performed, using the preferred and the non-preferred leg consecutively, indoors in a separate testing room with only the test administrator present." They found that
"[enhanced] training, which uses the non-dominant leg, improves soccer-specific skills in the test where the subjects use this leg, a finding that stands in contrast to the results of a control group ... That the training group also showed statistically significant improvements over the control group when using the dominant (right) leg was in line with the second hypothesis. The results show an improvement in performance when using the dominant leg after a period of emphasising training of the non-dominant leg."
In effect, the experimental group noticed an improvement in performance markers on both the dominant and the non-dominant sides. Even though the program was intended to train only the non-preferred leg, researchers saw a reasonable transfer of increased efficiency in the preferred leg, as well.

Okay, so now that I've belabored the idea that it's important to work towards a more symmetrical build, it's high time I explain how to achieve that.

When you use barbells, your body will immediately rely on the stronger side to move the weight. Dumbbells should become your new best friends. With dumbbells, there is no cheating. You will notice right away how much your stronger side compensates for the weaker side.

Generally, I recommend starting with your weaker side first, and taking note of just how much of a difference you feel. You don't need to try to do heavier weights or even more repetitions on your weaker side, but the goal is simply increased awareness and equal training. Dumbbell presses, bench press, rows, single leg deadlifts, single leg hip thrusters, Bulgarian split squats, lunges, lateral lunges, step-ups, leg curls, biceps curls, frontal/lateral raises, farmer carries, waiter carries, Turkish get-ups, and so on, are just a few movements that will bring some attention to your lagging half. Try to implement 1-2 of these exercises into every training session.

Additionally, you can perform some isometric contractions with your weaker side prior to exercise. I like to get my left glute firing by going into a single leg bridge, with a 3-5 second pause for about 10 repetitions. You can try some side planks for your obliques/shoulders as well. This will "wake up" your motor control center and remind the brain to use those muscles.

As an anecdote, I've started trying to use my left hand to do other activities, like brush my teeth and hair, just to give it some more use. It's strange, initially, how foreign your opposite side can feel!

Of course, it's perfectly normal to have one slightly stronger side. It is impossible to be completely balanced, as even our anatomy isn't perfectly symmetrical (the spleen sits in the upper left side of your abdomen, while your liver sits on the right side). Athletes with sport-specific strength disparities will have even more of a delta from one side to the other. There are also injuries or other structural factors that could cause asymmetry (scoliosis, uneven limb length, etc.). It is important, however, to minimize those imbalances that are correctable and try to focus on your weaker half in training.


Works Cited:

  1. Bell, David R., Jennifer Sanfilippo L., Neil Binkley, and Bryan Heiderscheit C. "Lean Mass Asymmetry Influences Force and Power Asymmetry During Jumping in Collegiate Athletes." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 28.4 (2014): 884-91. Web.
  2. Haaland, E., and J. Hoff. "Non-dominant Leg Training Improves the Bilateral Motor Performance of Soccer Players." Scand J Med Sci Sports Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 13.3 (2003): 179-84. Web.

5 Exercises to Strengthen Your Neck


In the prequel to this post, I explained why so many of us carry a lot of tension in the neck. Stress, poor posture, and breathing can all contribute to elevated shoulders and a heavy head. I taught you a few quick movements that will strengthen the muscles of the chest, back and shoulders, and today I want to teach you some more exercises that will emphasize the neck musculature.

Lately, I've initiated my posts with a little bit of an anatomy lesson, so I'd like to continue that trend and talk a little bit more about the prime movers of the neck and their functions. First, we have the sternocleidomastoid muscles. I know, that name has a hell of a lot of syllables. The sternocleidomastoids (say that 10 times as fast as you can) are two big, strips of muscles that are on either side of your throat. They rotate the cervical spine (the neck), flex your neck forward, and also flex it laterally. Next, you have the scalenes. The scalenes are several tinier strands that wrap around the front of the neck. They work in conjunction with the sternocleidomastoids and laterally flex the neck and help you breathe. There are several other muscles in the neck, of course, but these are going to be the few that I discuss for the purposes of this post.



Now, the majority of people spend most of their time in cervical flexion, meaning that they are looking down at a computer, a book, or a smart phone. The upper trapezius are lengthened and over-active, while the sternocleidomastoids (SCM) are shortened and tight. When upright, many people maintain this position, because the body is lazy and doesn't like to recruit any more muscles than it needs for a given task. We walk around all day looking like the hunchbacks of Notre Dame.

The primary role of the head and neck, though, is to maintain joint centration and navigate our centers of mass. If our heads are cranked forward, now the entire system is out of line. Your center of mass has shifted from its ideal position, your "center," directly over your pelvis. Ideally, we want the earlobes in line with the shoulders.

If your center of gravity is too far forward or backwards, all of your movements will be altered from your clean and jerk to your 40 yard time. Alignment = optimal mechanics and balance.

Many coaches of sports like wrestling and football prioritize training the neck to avoid concussions and other potentially traumatic traumas to the head. While many of these teams make use of high-tech machines to isolate the neck, I believe neck training is best done (especially initially) without any added weight. Your head should be more than enough!

Here are 5 of my favorite exercises:

1. Neck flexion
2. Neck Extension















3. Lateral Flexion  
















4. Neck Rotation (prone) 
5. Neck Rotation (supine)



Each of these movements can be done for 1-3 sets of 10 repetitions. I recommend starting out with only one or two sets, because you may find that you will be fairly sore after these exercises. The great thing about these movements is that they don't require equipment, and they won't take you long. I recommend my clients do them upon waking up or before bed.

The idea is to realign your center of mass so that you can perform most efficiently. Your balance will improve, you will better your hip and shoulder stability, and all of your muscles will function as they should. Find your center and master your body.


Works Cited:

  1. Collins, Christy L., Erica N. Fletcher, Sarah K. Fields, Lisa Kluchurosky, Mary Kay Rohrkemper, R. Dawn Comstock, and Robert C. Cantu. "Neck Strength: A Protective Factor Reducing Risk for Concussion in High School Sports." J Primary Prevent The Journal of Primary Prevention 35.5 (2014): 309-19. Web.
  2. Falla, D., G. Jull, T. Russell, B. Vicenzino, and P. Hodges. "Effect of Neck Exercise on Sitting Posture in Patients With Chronic Neck Pain." Physical Therapy 87.4 (2007): 408-17. Web.
  3. Keating, Jennifer. "Predicting Short Term Response and Non-Response to Neck Strengthening Exercise for Chronic Neck Pain." Journal of Whiplash & Related Disorders 4.1 (2005): 43-55. Web.

Train Your Brain, Not Your Muscles



The most common questions a client or friend asks me are "what muscles does (fill in the exercise name here) train?" or, "what exercises can I do to lose fat in my (fill in muscle group name here)?" My answer will always be, "no muscle works in isolation."

The answer is all of them.


You are one single entity. Everything in your body, all of its muscles, organs and soft tissues work in unison.

Unfortunately, our modern understanding of anatomy has influenced people to divide the body up into smaller and smaller parts. You have the digestive system, the musculoskeletal system, the vestibular system, and so on and so forth. There are over 200 bones in your body and well over 600 muscles. The unfortunate part is that, for the purpose of classification or in order to break up something so vast and complex into more memorable, tangible parts, text books and health professionals have made increasingly specific distinctions for each part of the body. We have a never-ending list of different "specialists" for certain areas of the anatomy: cardiologists, podiatrists, orthopedists, endocrinologists, and many, many more. Sometimes it's confusing to know where the territory of one specialist ends and that of another begins.

In this intricate web that is the human body, everything is intertwined and interconnected. Your brain does not isolate certain parts at a time, but rather, they all work in concert to produce normal bodily functions and extraordinary feats. Your brain remembers movement patterns, not muscles. Your brain does not think "okay, I'm going to contract the biceps femoris now." Rather, it functions by using a sequence of impulses to fire several muscles at the same time, while relaxing the antagonist muscles. This happens thousands of times per day.

Now, the reason why this is so important is because one part of a muscle may fire, while the other part may not. I know this sounds confusing, but let me explain. Yes, this muscle has been classified as one comprehensive "unit," for the purpose of anatomy textbooks, but that does not mean that it always functions that way. Many muscles can perform several different actions. In order to really understand how the body uses movement, we have to think about the actions these muscles perform.

I hear plenty of people say something to the effect of “she has a big booty, so she must not have weak glutes!” That is not necessarily true. Just because you have large gluteus maximii, you do not necessarily have equally strong gluteus medii and minimi. One or two of those muscles may still be dysfunctional.

The gluteus maximus is, primarily, hip extensor. Deep squats, lunges, deadlifts, and back extensions will all activate the gluteus maximus. The gluteus medius is activated during hip abduction (when your legs move laterally away from the body). At the same time, the gluteus medius prevents hip adduction. If one has proper activation in the gluteus medius, all of the aforementioned movements should activate this muscle. If not, the muscles like the hip adductors will take the reigns. Usually the result of this is knee, hip or ankle pain. These people will be quad-dominant.

Stability exercises can change the way the muscles in the hip function. Another way is to try to improve your somatic intelligence (also known as mind and body connection). Essentially, this means that you need to actively think about recruiting the muscles you want to fire. Using a lacrosse ball or a foam roller on those areas is an easy way to remind your neuromuscular system to function properly. Check out my article on why you need to have a big butt for some ideas for exercises.

The trapezius muscle is another great example of this. Many people have humongous upper traps, while the middle and lower traps are underdeveloped. Although the muscle has been lumped together under one name, it has many different functions. Therefore, each action of the muscle is accompanied by a group of synergistic muscles.

Do you have chronically tight upper traps? Well, I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that you’re probably a neck breather (rather than a diaphragmatic breather). Your latissimus dorsi (the antagonist of the upper trapezii) and serratus anterior probably don’t function properly. Your lower and middle trapezii are likely not firing as they should. Again, the lower and middle trapezius are all the same muscle, but they perform different functions. Your body views them as separate entities. The upper trapezius (elevates) shrugs the scapula while the middle trapezius upwardly rotates and adducts the scapula. The lower trapezius also adducts and depresses the scapula. Notice one important distinction here: the upper/middle fibers of the muscle elevate the shoulders while the lower fibers depress the shoulders. These actions are functional opposites, and therefore, it is important for us not to lump the entire trapezius as one entity.

Don’t just assume because one part of your muscle appears to be large that it is functional in every action. Basically, you want to train the muscles as you’d like to activate them. Even during an "isolation" exercise like a "biceps" curl, you are using other muscles like the brachialis to move the weight.

Muscles are just broad general terms that don’t really explain how our brains process movement. The ultimate way to prevent injury and get stronger is to learn how to use your body and your brain together. Just because a muscle is strong through one range of motion, does not necessarily mean that it will function optimally during its other actions. If you find that a muscle is weaker or smaller than you'd like, think about other the other synergistic muscles and their tasks, then pick and exercise that will target them accordingly.  Finally, vary the exercises you use to train one muscle group, so that you can train different movement patterns.


Works Cited:
  1. Baechle, Thomas R., and Roger W. Earle. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
  2. "FMS." Functional Movement Systems. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2015.
  3. Holler, Tony. "3 Reasons Why Activation Is a Game-Changer - Freelap USA." Freelap USA. N.p., 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 June 2015.
  4. Myers, Thomas W. Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2001. Print.
  5. "Reactive Muscles and the Kinetic Chain." Neurokinetic Therapy. David Weinstock, 21 May 2011. Web. 11 June 2015.
  6. "Squat Exercise - Anatomy Analysis." Muscle & Motion. YouTube, 01 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 June 2015.

3 Reasons Why Your Neck is Always Tight



If you had to pick one place where you regularly carry the most tension in your body, what would you choose? I'm willing to bet you chose your upper trapezius muscles.

The upper trapezius muscles seem to be (in my experience) some of the most overused and abused muscles in the human body. Many people I see are, either consciously or unconsciously, in a constant shrugged posture: their shoulders are by their earlobes and necks are pulled forward. Why is this?

There are a few factors that contribute to tight upper traps:

  1. Posture. Sedentary individuals seldom remember to sit upright. Often times, you see people with significant flexion in the thoracic spine, protraction of the cervical spine (neck) who are hunched over their computers. Forward head posture will place extra stress on your vertebrae. According to chiropractor Dr. Jason Queiros, "Every inch you hold your head forward, you add 10 pounds of pressure on your spine. Let’s say you’re leaning into your monitor by just two inches, that’s 20 extra pounds that your back and spinal column have to endure." The muscles in your back and neck need to compensate for this imbalance.
  2. Breathing. Stress individuals have the propensity to overuse accessory muscles for breathing like the scalenes, sternocleidomastoid, and the upper trapezius, rather than the diaphragm. The tonic muscles in the front of the body shorten, while the phasic muscles in the back lengthen. Neck breathing facilitates a constant "shrugged" position of the shoulders, which are going to put your upper trapezius muscles into overtime.
  3. Shoulder stability. The overworked upper trapezii may prevent the other shoulder stabilizers and rotator cuff muscles from functioning as they should. The lower and middle trapezius, the serratus anterior, the rhomboids may all be dysfunctional or under-active as a result.
Now, the way most people look to alleviate tight traps is through stretching or massage. While these modalities can be extremely effective, they are usually short-lived in their relief.

To nip the problem in the bud, you need to address all three of these elements above simultaneously. Surprisingly, changing your breathing first may favorably impact the other two areas. When the breath is out of whack, the body cannot function optimally!

Now, conjunction with adding some breathing drills into your daily routine, some supplementary shoulder stability work could do you some good. Here are a few of my favorite exercises:
  1. Scap push-ups
  2. Y's and t's
  3. Cable external rotation
  4. Bear crawls
  5. Wall slides
  6. Reverse shrugs
  7. Serratus pull-overs
  8. Band tears
What's most important, throughout all of these movements, is to make sure you're not shrugging your shoulders, otherwise your efforts will be ineffective. I often find myself tapping my clients on their shoulders to remind them.

If you want to find provide your traps with some relief, corrective exercises and breathing drills are going to be the most effective methods to lessen tension. Once you're aware of it, you'll probably be surprised to find out just how often your body instinctively reverts to a shrugged position. The key is consistency. Let some of your other surrounding muscles do their job and give your traps a break...

The Muscles You're Forgetting to Train