KEEP THE SHOULDERS AWAY FROM THE EARS!

I'm sure you've all heard this, either when spinning or doing yoga, or other exercises, but the more I do the pilates and yoga and spinning, the more that phrase is getting pounded into my head. I know this; I've known it for years. I hear about how tight my shoulders are every time I go to the massage therapist or chiropractor. And yet? I don't seem to get it.

Lately, though, that's been my mantra in all my indoor classes. Finally today in spinning, I think I finally achieved it almost the entire class. Sneaking a glance at others in the class in the mirrors, I saw everyone else hunched to a certain degree, and yet, looking at myself, the shoulders were down and relaxed.

Nearly every yoga pose I can think of involves keepipng your shoulders away from your ears. That way you stay relaxed and able to breathe. And isn't that the whole point of yoga? And one of the main points of any other exercise? To be relaxed. To keep relaxed.

Along with keeping the shoulders down, I'm being a lot more vigilant with shoulder stretching, something I rarely did until a couple of weeks ago. Here's a few I've been doing:

The classic shoulder stretch--keep those shoulders down!

Opening your chest--something you can even do at your desk.

A yoga pose--the pretzel? This really takes some flexibility,

but if you keep working at it, it gets easier.

I challenge you to try some of these stretches and stick with them for at least a couple of weeks, especially if you have shoulder and neck issues. So much responsibility as an athlete! To not only train specifically but to keep yourself in good working order besides!