Foam roller exercises will be a form of body-mind-soul exercises, as I have mentioned throughout my foam rolling pages. Foam rolling the trapezius muscle isn’t any exception. The trapezius muscles at the top of your shoulders, are one of the most too used and tension-filled muscles.
The totally different sections of the trapezius muscles have different functions. During a nutshell, the upper fibers raise the scapulae, extend the neck, rotate and laterally flex the neck. The center fibers elevate, adduct and up rotate the shoulder blades. The lower fibers also add the movement of depressing or destruction the shoulder blade.
Instructions:
• For the first foam roller exercise, start with the foam roller at just below your neck, just above the level of your shoulder blades.
• Put your left hand behind your head with left elbow bent. Keep your right arm straight in front of you.
• Lift your hips off the ground and balance with your feet flat on the floor.
• Slowly log roll towards the right side, to target the right trapezius (upper back) muscle.
• Slowly roll up and down your trapezius, using your legs to push up as you roll. You will push mostly from the left leg.
• Use your right arm to help you balance if you need.
• For the second foam roller exercise, start in the same position as the first exercise.
• This is a slight variation from the first exercise, to target a slightly different area.
• This time, put your right hand behind your head, with right elbow bent. Keep left arm straight.
• While still leaning to the right, and targeting the right trapezius, straighten out the right leg.
• Keep the left leg bent and push off from it to roll up and down the trapezius.
• Don’t forget to do the same for the left side trapezius.
• For the third foam roller exercise, place both hands behind your head.
• As before, with bent knees, and feet on the floor, leaning towards the right, to focus on the right trapezius muscle, slowly roll up and down the muscle.
• For the fourth foam roller exercise start with the foam roller at the base of your neck, with legs bent and feet on the floor.
• Raise your arms above your head
• Again, using your feet to push off, roll up and down the upper back, stopping on any areas of upper back pain or soreness
• As with all foam roller exercises, experiment a little higher or a little lower, a little to the left or a little more to the right to get to your hot spot!
