When you’re sharing the road with drivers it’s imperative that you’re able to look behind you to see if a vehicle is approaching. But tight neck muscles from chronic bad posture can restrict that range of motion.
If a tight neck is limiting your ability to turn your head and look over your shoulder on both sides while your riding without moving your shoulders, it can add a lot of discomfort, stress and even unnecessary safety risks to your ride.
Thankfully, there are ways we can address neck tightness, and one of the most effective methods is releasing specific trigger points. But before we get to that, let’s dig in to how we develop a tight neck in the first place.
Muscles in our neck tightening up enough to restrict our range of motion doesn’t happen overnight, and this mobility limitation is usually a by-product of chronic bad posture over time. In the case of the muscles primarily responsible for turning your head side to side, the likely postural culprit probably won’t come as much of a surprise. It’s the forward head posture colloquially called “tech neck” and, it should be noted, this posture is the root cause of a lot of neck pain issues in general.
The specific muscle that performs the primary action of turning your head left to right and looking over your shoulder is the Levator Scapula. Its other primary function is elevating the shoulder blade (scapula) as well as rotating the outermost part of the scapula downward.
Another tell-tale sign of tight Levator Scapula in addition to trouble turning your head are the all-too-common forward rounded shoulders. And as many of us know from first-hand experience, forward rounded shoulders is frequently a posture pain point among cyclists. So between tech neck, desk jobs, and the posture we have on the bike, it’s really no wonder that this muscle needs more of our attention.
The Levator scapula is located, in non-technical terms, on the top of your shoulder at the base of your neck on both the left and the right side and extends up into the side of the neck. Tightness in this muscle can feel like a tender muscle knot on one or both sides at the bottom of the neck.
These tender spots are trigger points in the Levator Scapulae, and releasing them is the key to alleviating a tight, sore neck, increasing side to side range of motion of the head, and sometimes even help with hand numbness or tingling. Here’s what you need to do.
An important thing to note is that it’s not uncommon for this tenderness to be more pronounced on your dominant side. It’s also not uncommon for us to have better mobility towards one side, with the other side feeling tighter and more restricted.
Below is the two-step protocol I give to clients who are experiencing restricted range of motion in their neck to release trigger points Lecator Sacpulae, and the reaction I get the first time someone tries this is usually a variation of, “Oh my god, I had no idea how tight I was!”
Aim to do this once of twice a week, depending on how tight your neck feels, to maintain a healthy range of motion. It is also okay to do it more frequently, during a particularly stressful week, for example.
Step 1: Stretch Your Neck
How to Do It
• Stand or sit tall with good posture and relaxed shoulders.
• Gently stretch the right ear to the right shoulder, slightly angling the chin up to the left.
• Use you left hand to add gentle pressure to deepen the stretch.
• Hold for five seconds, then repeat on the other side.
Trainer advice: Maintaining good neck posture during this stretch is essential. It can be easy to lose track of not holding the head out in front of you if that is the posture your body has adapted to. To double-check this, stand with your back to a wall so that the back of your heals, butt, shoulders, and head are all in contact with the wall. This is good posture, and that’s what we’re going for here.
Step 2: Release the Trigger Points
How to Do It
• Find the tender spot (or spots) located at the base of your neck just above the top of your shoulder blade.
• Stretch your neck long and slightly tuck your chin.
• Apply direct pressure on the tender spots with either your fingers or a specialized tool, like the GoFit Muscle Hook that is pictured.
• Hold the direct pressure while taking deep breaths for 1-2 minutes, or longer if needed, until the trigger points release and become less tender.
• Repeat on the other side.
• Perform this trigger point release several times per week as needed.
Trainer advice: Follow this trigger point release with using a heating pad on the area for 10 minutes for additional relief. Another way to add on additional benefit is following the heat with a light setting on a percussion gun. My personal favorite is the Hypervolt Go 2.
Natascha Grief is Bicycling’s Health & Fitness Editor. She started in the cycling industry as a bike mechanic a couple of decades ago, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanic license. She went on to apprentice for framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, California before spending several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. She then switched gears and industries to earn multiple personal training certifications while honing her skills as a trainer and coach, specializing in functional training, corrective exercise, and body positive personal training. She began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer in 2020, and joined the editorial staff of Bicycling in 2022.
