3 Exercises To Eliminate Neck & Vocal Tension

Today I am demonstrating three exercises to help eliminate neck and vocal tension. Tight muscles are weak muscles, so when we want to get rid of undue muscle tension, we must strengthen the tight muscles.

Before I tell you why strengthening your neck helps your voice, I want to first address some misconceptions I see on the internet.

I’ve been seeing videos where vocal coaches say that when they do certain movement, they can feel their muscle work and they believe that this is bad tension and hence those movement are bad for your neck and your voice. This is incorrect.

As a physio when I hear someone say that it tells me that this person first, doesn’t understand movement and how the body works.

Second, they don’t have the first clue about movement training.

And third, if doing a couple of shoulder rolls and arms circles already make them feel that their muscles are burning, this tells me that this person has very poor functional strength and are in desperate need to get a lot stronger just for everyday living.

When you don’t have the strength to do even some basic movement, of course you are going to struggle when you do things that are more demanding.

Unfortunately for these vocal coaches they are rejecting the very thing that can get them out of the chronic muscle tension rut.

So what will you choose? Will you be like them or will you train smart?

Your voice and your neck are closely related, your larynx sits right in front of your neck, so anything that happens to your neck can affect your voice. I have never had a patient with voice issues who didn’t also have undue neck tension so taking good care of your neck, making sure it is mobile and strong goes a long way to reducing vocal tension.

A friendly reminder that exercises you see on the internet may not be suitable for you. Always listen to your body, if something doesn’t feel right, stop. When in doubt, check with your own physiotherapist.

I have a bonus gift for you so make sure you stick around after the demo.

The first exercise is Prone Neck Extension so we will go on our belly. You can use a thin towel under your forehead for comfort. I’m happy without it but I am taking off my glasses for this. We start with everything relaxed. Step one, put hands on legs and reach hands towards feet. Step two, retract head so ears are in line with shoulders. Step three, extend neck to look forward as much as you can. Step four, tuck chin in and go back to a straight line between ears and shoulders. Step five, slowly lower down and relax. Rest for a few seconds and repeat five more times. As you feel stronger, add one repetition at a time and build up to 12 reps over as many weeks as you need.

The second exercise is Neck Rotation in 4-point Kneel. In 4-point kneel, we want to make sure knees are underneath hips and hands are underneath shoulders, grip the floor with your fingers, this helps protect your wrists. You can also do this on your fists. Keep a straight line from your ears to shoulders to hips, then look to the left as far as you can, slowly return to the centre, then look to the right as far as you can, back to the centre. Do five more times to each side taking care not to let your head drop down or hitch up. As you feel stronger, add one repetition at a time and build up to 12 reps over as many weeks as you need.

The third exercise is Neck Side Flexion in Side Lie. To get on my side without my bottom shoulder getting squished, I like to start on my back, have my bottom arm by my side, let my forearm rest naturally out with my palm up then roll over. From here I keep my neck long and lift up so my head comes back to the centre of my body, then I see if I can side flex up a little more, then come back down to centre and gently lower all the way down. I do five more then repeat this on the other side. As you feel stronger, add one repetition at a time and build up to 12 reps over as many weeks as you need.

It is absolutely normal for you to feel your muscle work in these exercises. You will likely also have some delicious muscle soreness the next day which goes away in a day or so. These are all a part of getting strong and is nothing to be feared.

Here’s a train smart tip for you. You can do these exercises as its own routine twice a week and you can also sprinkle them in between exercises that you already do on your belly, on all fours or on your sides. You are already there so why not?

About that gift I promise you. In my experience a lot of singers have undue neck tension because their breath support is inadequate. Now your breath support comes from your core, so naturally the solution is to build a strong core so you don’t compensate with your neck when you sing.

To help you do that I have created a FREE mini course called “Introduction to Breath Support” where I walk you through how to correctly connect with your core and pelvic floor, and how to integrate these muscles with your voice. You can grab the free training using the link in the description.

I’m Selina, a physio and a singer. I help singers build strong bodies to enhance their vocal efficiency and performance so please subscribe if that is your vibe.

And this playlist has more videos I have made for singers so make sure you check it out after you snag your freebie.

Thank you very much for watching. Until next time, Be Free In Your Movement.™ Step five slowee slowly lower [blooper laughter]