Early postpartum (and probably beyond early postpartum) neck and upper back discomfort can be fairly common. Why? Let’s consider some common postural tendencies of early postpartum!
As we are recovering early postpartum, we typically take a more protective posture where we round around the front while holding and feeding baby.
We may begin to favor a more forward neck posture, where the head sits forward (or we are staring at our phones while baby naps on our chest) and our thoracic spine tends to be “stuck” in positions for prolonged periods.
What can we do to find some relief? We can address the “stuck” postural tendency and then strengthen the muscles of the upper back so we can maintain a more upright position more comfortably!
5 Exercises to Relieve Upper Back and Neck Discomfort Postpartum
Typically, the discomfort we feel postpartum in your neck and upper back is due to lack of movement or being stuck in a position for too long! These exercises are going to introduce movement and strengthening to support comfort postpartum!
- Chest Mobility
- Side Body Openers
- Upper Back Strengthening Exercises:
- YTLW
- Reverse Flys
- 90/90
Let’s break down each of these exercises so you can find some relief postpartum!
1) Chest Mobility: Release the Front Side of the Body
First up is chest mobility! Since we are in a more rounded upper body position, the chest tends to get tighter or shortened. Sometimes to find some relief from upper back or neck pain, we just need to release the tension in the chest!
Find a door frame or corner to place your forearms on, and then push the chest forward without arching in the back. Watch the video below for more of a breakdown!
2) Side Body Release
Next up, some thoracic mobility! The thoracic spine moves in three planes of motion:
- Sagittal (Front to Back, think extension and flexion)
- Transverse (Rotational, twisting)
- Frontal (side bending)
When we think thoracic mobility, we typically think rotational but focusing on lateral and extension/flexion can be helpful too!
I have been a big fan of lateral spine mobility since we tend to compress in our side body when stuck in positions for long periods of time.
Watch the video below for some hip and lateral thoracic mobility!
3) Upper Back Strengthening: YTLW
After the mobility work, we want to focus on strengthening the over lengthened muscles! We want to focus on the upper back, but we don’t necessarily want to be using heavy weights at this point postpartum!
The YTLW is a bodyweight exercise, but you can also use light weights (trust me, you won’t be able to do this with heavy weights even if you weren’t early postpartum).
Start with the arms moving in Y, pausing at the top of the movement then slowly releasing back down.
Then bring the arms straight out to the side in a T. Same concept, pause at the top of the movement.
Then we can do an L, where you goal post the arms.
And finish with W, where you hold the goal post position and move the arms up and down the body.
This mini-course guides you through the first month postpartum as you begin your recovery after birth! This program includes weekly guidance on how to reconnect with your core and pelvic to support your healing.
- Breathing and Core Connection Exercises
- Mobility Exercises to Relieve Common Discomforts
- Gentle Core Exercises
- Watch on Mobile Device
Learn more exercises on how to approach recovery in the first month postpartum in our early postpartum recovery course.
4) Upper Back Strengthening: Seated Reverse Fly
Continuing with our upper body strengthening, we can use light bands to help us strengthen the upper back musculature! Seated reverse fly mimics the T position in the YTLW but is set up in a more upright position. Same with the YTLW, pause at the end of the movement then slowly release.
Curious about what to do after the first month postpartum to support your recovery and return to fitness? Check out our postnatal fitness programs!
We offer our programs in the Teambuildr app in a more traditional delivery as a list of exercises with short demo videos.
And we also offer our postnatal program in an on-demand format where you can watch a video as you work out at the same time.
5) Upper Back Strengthening: Seated 90/90
Keep using the band to do some seated 90/90! This movement is similar to the L movement in the YTLW. Arms will start out in front of you, then row back. Keep the elbows where they are at, and goal post the arms by externally rotating at the shoulder to point the hands towards ceiling.
Bonus Tip: Find Supportive Positions with Baby!
Bonus: how we are sitting or holding baby can also support or hinder our comfort! When feeding baby, find a supportive position such as having pillows to support your arms and upper body as you feed or hold baby.
Focus on bringing baby to breast, if breastfeeding, instead of bringing your breast to baby which may prompt more of a rounded position.
Sometimes a side lying position to nurse can also be much more supportive!
Find Relief Postpartum from Neck & Back Pain!
Finding relief from discomfort postpartum can include finding movement! We may need to do some mobility work to release tension and shortened muscles, and then strengthen to shorten over lengthened muscles.