sore neck

[Anonymous24]

My neck and back are sore from sitting in class all day. I don't want to develop a hunch, also. Are there any streches that would help relieve the pain? Would using a bench press and doing lots of reps with light weights help? Thanks.

[InnerAthlete]

Seriously?
You are asking if building the pectoralis through weight training will help alieviate your neck and back soreness from sitting? No this sort of weight training will not do as you suggest.

You were sitting in what sort of class ALL DAY? School?
Sitting, in chairs, which is what I assume you are referring to (please correct me otherwise) is absolutely awful for the muscles of the lower back. It's one of the reasons we in Western culture have so many back issues.

I can't imagine, without seeing you, why your neck is sore as well. But the low back, sure there are "stretches". There are entire yoga practices devoted to dealing with the low back.

Do you have a yoga practice currently?

[groovewithjamie]

strengthening the lower back muscles will really help to eventually ease the pain of sitting around all day. Im tall so back problems come naturally to me. Among other things I like to do back extensions with a 10 lb. weight held to my chest. It might look weird but it totally strengthens the paraspinals to support your lumbar vertebrae.

[Zenzhu]

Your soreness is most likely coming from your posture.. arching over desks, computers, etc. Focusing on bench presses will most likely worsen any predisposition toward a slumped posture if not counterbalanced with working on the back. Increased strength without flexibility in the pectorals can bring your shoulders forward and worsen any kind of arched posture.

First you might consider working on your posture while working. If you have a chair you can set lower when you are working on paper or reading, you might do so so you're not hunching down and leaning over as much to read. For computer work, make a conscious effort to sit up or back in your chair and set the chair at a comfortable height for your arms to get at the keyboard. If your monitor is hard to read without leaning forward, set the resolution lower. I never understood why people will get a hi-res monitor and then set it to something like 1280x1024 and then squint to read the text. If it's set higher than 800x600, you might try lowering it to that setting. If you use something like MS Word a lot, you can also increase the magnification of the page view so it's more comfortable to see at a distance.

For yoga poses, you might try Warrior III modified to "airplane pose"... which is basically Warrior III with your arms back or somewhat to the sides rather than out in front of you. Triangle pose and Warrior II can also help strengthen the muscles of the deltoids, trapezius, back, and such. Camel and Bow poses can help open up the front in light of your hunching drawing you into yourself. Mountain pose can help get a feel for good alignment overall.

[jjhung]

Here's an article from yoga journal about yoga helping sore neck.
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/529.cfm

Also in their website, you can find different poses for particular part of your body. I find that quite useful.
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/index.cfm

If you subscribe to their journal online, they give you 2 free pdf downloadable articles "yoga for neck and shoulder" and "BetterPosture101" which I find to be quite informative. You can always subscribe for the 2 free issue and then cancel.

I don't think you should just do poses that target specific areas. It will be good to stretch in those poses frequently but you should still complete the entire yoga routine for maximum benefit.

[Yogi RD]

I have found creative ways not to sit at all. Doing writing, reading, and computer work standing up can make a HUGE difference in stress on the low back.

It also has the added benefit of increasing abdominal muscle strength.