“Drop Neck” is a condition where the neck muscles are too weak to hold the head upright. It is also known as Dropped Head Syndrome (DHS). This causes the head to tilt forward and downward. “Drop Neck” is caused by weakness in the neck extensor muscles. This can result from sedentary lifestyle habits, overuse or underuse injuries, and nerve impingement caused by prolonged poor posture during everyday physical activities. Suboptimal spinal alignment during exercise can also strain the neck even more. Lifting heavy weights overhead or stretching the neck too hard can worsen “Drop Neck”.
One simple yet effective bodyweight movement to help with a drooping neck is scapular protraction and retraction with the arms and shoulders elevated. This is a safe movement you can do at home. We instruct our personal training clients to perform this scapular protraction and retraction exercise before every workout to strengthen the muscles that support the neck and help it remain upright in optimal alignment. Strengthening the muscles that attach the shoulder blades to the neck and base of the skull helps prevent injuries to the cervical spine, the tops of the shoulders, and the scapular stabilization muscles around the thoracic spine and shoulder blades. Here are a few helpful cues, along with a video reference below on how to perform our version, included in our dynamic stretching routine, of scapular protraction and retraction:
To perform the scapular protraction and retraction dynamic stretch:
- Lift your arms and bend them at about a 90-degree angle.
- Make sure your arms are in line with your armpits.
- While maintaining your elbows at a 90-degree angle and keeping your fingertips facing forward, glide your shoulder blades forward along your rib cage until you feel a stretch in the upper back and a muscular sensation in your pectoral region.
- Reverse the motion and glide your shoulder blades backward against your ribs.
- You should feel a muscular sensation in the muscles surrounding your shoulder blades.
- Repeat this movement for five to 10 repetitions.
Below is a helpful reference video on how we teach our clients to perform scapular protraction and retraction
–Written by Coach Paul Atienza