03/01/2024
Happy Friday! Time for another muscle of the week!
Trapezius
A lot of times when you hear ‘traps’ you think of the muscles on the tops of your shoulders. But the trapezius muscle is a lot bigger than that!
The trapezius has 3 parts, the upper trap, middle trap, and lower trap, and each part has a different function! Your upper traps contribute to shrugging your shoulders, your middle traps pull your shoulder blades back together, and the lower traps pull your shoulder downwards. But more importantly, all three sections are involved in maintaining your posture!
Sitting too long at a desk, or driving a car, or working from home on your couch can bring your head and shoulders forward in a slouched position. Doing this repeatedly can length the traps so they don’t function at their best, contributing to neck, shoulder and back pain!
If you are wondering how your trap strength measures up, try this test (pictured below for reference)! Lay on your belly with a towel or pillow under your forehead to support your neck. Bring one or both arms up overhead resting on the floor, thumbs pointed at the ceiling. Try to raise one or both arms off the floor about 4 inches, then lower back down. See if you can do 10 reps per arm.
Next you will bring your arms out to the sides as pictured, do 10 reps per arm.
Lastly, bring arms not quite down to your sides, pinkies to the ceiling, and do 10 reps per arm.
If you have been experiencing headaches or neck, shoulder or back pain and during this test found this position uncomfortable on your neck, difficult to raise your arm from the floor, or you realized one side was a lot stronger than the other side, you may benefit from a physiotherapy assessment! Give me a shout at 709 738- 2225 or book online at dynamicnl.com :)
