Pilates for Tight Shoulders: How to Ease Tension and Improve mobility

If you regularly practice Pilates at st ives pilates studio, your shoulders are likely strong and toned—but if you don’t practice Pilates, your shoulders may be tight and full of tension. Tension in the shoulders can cause pain in the upper back and neck, which makes it hard to move around and sleep comfortably. Fortunately, practising Pilates can help you relieve tension in your shoulders so that you can move easily, whether at work or in your personal life. Here’s how to do it!

• The common problem

A lot of people who go to ives pilates studio have tight shoulders. It’s a very common issue, especially if you work at a desk all day. The good news is that there are some simple things you can do to ease the tension and improve your shoulder mobility. 

• What you should do

If you’re struggling with tight shoulders, Pilates can help! The strengthening and lengthening exercises can improve your range of motion and ease tension. Plus, the mindful movement can help you become more aware of your posture and alignment. 

• Three pilates exercises to help

1. Start by lying on your back with a small Pilates ball behind your head, neck in line with your spine. Slowly roll the ball up the back of your head, using your neck muscles to control the movement. Reverse the motion and roll the ball down the back of your head to the starting position. 
2. For the second exercise, sit on a mat with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Rest your forearms on your thighs, palms facing up. Keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears, slowly lift the dumbbells straight up toward the ceiling until your arms are parallel with the floor. Lower back down to the starting position. 
3. The third exercise is done standing up.

• How often should you do it?

At our pilates studio, we often get asked how often someone should do Pilates to see results. While it ultimately depends on the individual, we generally recommend 3-4 times a week. This ensures that you’re able to practice regularly enough to see improvement but also allows your body adequate time to recover in between sessions. Doing Pilates at ives pilates studio more than 4 times a week may lead to overtraining and injury.

• Tips on maintaining your new shoulder flexibility

1. First, it’s important to warm up your muscles before beginning any sort of exercise. A simple way to do this is by doing some arm circles. 
2. Once your muscles are warm, it’s time to start working on those tight shoulders. For this, we’ll do a series of Pilates exercises that focus on lengthening and stretching the muscles. 
3. We’ll start with some basic shoulder rolls. Simply sit up tall and roll your shoulders back and forth a few times. 
4. Next, we’ll move into a Pilates move called the seal. This is an excellent stretch for the shoulders and upper back. To do this, simply sit on your heels with your arms extended out in front of you.