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Many of us are stressed and this causes tight and painful neck and shoulder muscles. In addition the muscles are tight because of poor posture and insufficient movement-we sit at desks for too long.

Many of us are stressed and this causes tight and painful neck and shoulder muscles. In addition the muscles are tight because of poor posture and insufficient movement-we sit at desks for too long.

Your shoulder joint has the largest range of movement of all your body's joints. Think of what your arms can do-swing in a full circle, move up to the side of your body,backwards and forwards etc. All of the motions involved in sports like throwing, swimming, punching, swinging a racket and so on use the shoulder muscles. This tremendous range of motion does, however, mean that the shoulder is prone to instability and injury. So you need to stretch to ensure that the muscles maintain their natural flexibilty and range of motion.

Briefly, the shoulder muscles allow you to move your arm up and to the side of your body (deltoid muscle) as well as to rotate the arm and bring it down to the side of your body (4 muscles called the rotator cuff muscles). The deltoid is the strongest muscle and is attached to the shoulder blade (scapula) and to your upper arm (humerus) halfway down the length of the bone. The 4 rotator cuff muscles are so called because they form a cuff around the shoulder joint and they rotate the arm.

Other muscles attached to the scapula include the trapezius, the big triangular muscle at the top the back, and the rhomboid muscles.

Shoulder stretch. Reach your right hand to the back of your neck, trying to touch the space between your shoulder blades. Your elbow should point to the ceiling. Now hold your right elbow with your left hand and pull gently. You should feel a stretch into your right shoulder muscles.

4 Stretching Guidelines 1. You should never feel sharp or sudden pain. If you do, stop - you are pushing yourself too far-beyond your current safe range of movement. 2.Breathe deeply. If you breathe deeply, your muscles will relax and you will be able to stretch more deeply.If you hold your breath, you make yourself tense and will find it more difficult to stretch. 3. Stretch daily. If you only stretch once a week you will find it hard to improve your flexibility. Consistent stretching for a few minutes each day will, over time, build your range of movement and flexibility. 4.Increase your time in each stretch by a few seconds each week. Use a watch or timer. Start with 10-15 seconds and extend this by 5 seconds each week until you can hold a stretch for at least 30 seconds.