You may experience the nagging, pain in your neck and traps and think it is tightness. Sitting at a desk for a long time is often a big trigger. Or perhaps you’ve been told that’s where you carry your stress. That can certainly be true! But I challenge you to think about the possibility that it’s a symptom of another issue, a problem that can be made to feel better, but can’t completely be solved with stretching, massage, or needling.
Oftentimes, tight muscles are weak muscles. When muscles are weak, they are easily overloaded by regular activity, and this leads to feelings of fatigue and tightness. The traps are no exception. The trigger points that develop are very real and do make us feel the need to stretch. This will provide temporary relief, but not lasting results.
The real solution is to strengthen the traps enough to withstand the activity we require them to perform daily. Whether that’s long hours of sitting at a desk or intense crossfit workouts, they need to be conditioned to handle it.
These exercises aren’t meant to bulk you up, they are meant to improve the strength and endurance of your trapezius muscles. Head to my instagram , @rachea.dpt, to see an example of one trapezius exercise. I recommend trying it a few times a week.
And as always, feel free to holler at me with questions!
Rachel Atufunwa, PT, DPT