This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/qvga7bCQxLg Brad: You know, being independent as you age, doing daily chores, staying mobile is very important. Particularly as we age and get past sixty, it seems to kick in a little more. Mike: Simple tasks like putting on your shoes, pulling up your pants, or even trying to get your shoulders to take your shirt off can become difficult as we age. Brad: That's right, we're going to show you some daily exercises, very brief that are going to help you get through this and maintain your mobility and independence for years to come. Mike: So Brad and I obviously are not to this point in our lives yet. However, we have worked with thousands of people working on these daily skills. Brad: Well, I'm kind of getting there. I'm telling you, I feel some of the aches and pains that you get over 60 years old. So we're going to show you five common problems people experience in five simple stretches that you can use to eliminate these problems and keep you moving. So one thing that can happen commonly as you grow older, you catch your toe on a crack in the sidewalk or it just doesn't, you don't lift your toe and it catches, causing a potential fall. We need to work with this and address it. It's a easy stretch. Alright, so what we're looking at is something we call foot drop. And that's when your foot swings through, you need to dorsiflex or pull the toes up so they don't catch. And what we need to do is stretch the calf muscle for this. Let's show them how to do it, Mike. Mike: So the first calf stretch we're going to do, just need a wall space. So I'm going to lean against the wall. I'm going to be stretching my left calf here. Make sure your foot is flat on the ground. Do not let your heel pop up. And you should start feeling a stretch in your calf muscles in the back region there. Now if you want to get more of a stretch, I simply lean forward towards the wall and I definitely feel more of a stretch. If you are way up here close, simply bring your leg back and you'll probably feel much more of a stretch. Hold this for roughly 15 to 30 seconds. Make sure to repeat on both sides because you don't want to have one tight calf muscle and the other one loose. Brad: Yeah, you'll walk in circles. Mike: I guess, so just do this stretch here. Do you walk in circles? Brad: Well, I normally only do at home. One thing I do want to look at is bring this foot back again, Mike. Now one common mistake is people will allow their toe to point out and that's going to make the stretch not as effective. Brad: So try and keep it pointed straight ahead, heel down, and get a good effective stretch. What do you say, Mike? Mike: I'm feeling it. Brad: Yep, it's a good stretch. Mike: I have tight calves. Brad: Now with this one, the frequency, do as Mike mentioned, 15 to 30 second stretch on each leg one or two times. But do it three or four times throughout the day. It would only take a minute or so on each stretch. It'll really progress that stretch and range of motion, eliminating that foot drop problem. Brad: Oh, I have to get my foot up to put my shoes on. Brad: So this is a problem a lot of seniors have is a tight hip muscle so that the hip does not allow this motion so you can easily put your shoes and your socks on in a form like this. So we're going to show you a simple stretch to maintain this and we can do it lying down in bed before you get out of bed or in a chair. Mike, show them how to do it before they get out of bed in the morning. Mike: So if you are lying down, typically you want to start laying on your back, bend your knees up a bit. Everyone's going to be different where they can start from. Some people will immediately be able to get their foot up onto their opposite knee. Other people may have to start way down and they might get stuck like this. This is okay, find your starting position. What you want to eventually do is work up to bringing this knee closer. This will stretch it more and then actually pushing down with your hand will get even more of a stretch. This is called a figure four stretch. You can't see it from your point of view, but it looks like a four. You're going to hold this for 15 to 30 seconds. Make sure to repeat on the other side. Brad: Now it's really important that you avoid any sharp pain while you're doing this. If your hip or knee or whatever experiences pain, do not do it, we don't want to get too aggressive. Also, if you've had a hip replacement, you do not want to do this unless you talk to your surgeon first about it and get it cleared. Now in a seated position, simply, either way works good, this is what I do on a daily basis. Every time I get my foot up here to put my socks or shoe on, I automatically push down on my knee. It feels good. I know it's maintaining the range of motion so I can keep this for many years to come. If you're having a hard time, simply come forward in the chair. Slide your foot out and straighten your knee a bit, bring the other foot up, try to get it above the knee cap and hold it there. You can hold here and let the knee go down. Hold here with one hand, push down here. Brad: Again, no pain should be experienced. Just a nice stretch feeling and work that, hold it for 15 to 30 seconds. I personally go pressure on, pressure off, five to 10 repetitions and then do the other leg. It's a great way to really work that so that maintains motion and I guess I can stop talking now. Brad: I think a lot of people experience a tight shoulder or painful shoulder, reaching up into the cupboard to get something as simple as a coffee mug. Brad: So we're going to show you a nice exercise to keep your shoulder mobility and strength so you can continue to do this. Let's do it, Mike. Mike: So before we get into this exercise, I do not condone the use of that packer cup, by the way. Anyway, we're going to do what is called wall walks. So I'm going to start by facing the wall and you're just going to walk your fingers up the wall as high as you comfortably can. If I can only get part way, that's okay. Just try to do 10 wall walks going up, focus on going up. You don't have to worry too much about coming back down. Over time, maybe notice if you can go higher. Mike: You could certainly put some tape on your wall for a measurement or landmark to try to get to over time. Now if you're noticing, this way is really easy, but say facing sideways, I'm just going to switch arm for camera's sake is more challenging. Maybe work on standing sideways because this is going to work slightly different shoulder muscles. Brad: That's right. So again, do not go into any sharp pain with it. Work it over time. A good maintenance program. So it does work strengthening and stretching. So it's a good overall exercise. Mike: Now we're going to get into another stretch that you can try to do as well. Brad: Okay, now if doing the wall walking is not working well for you, this is a great option. You can do it in a seated position. Just get a stick about four or five foot long, a broom handle, a mop. I've got the Booyah Stik , on the floor with it or on the chair works as well. Now you're going to take that stiff shoulder that's not able to reach up and take the other hand and help it get up as far as comfortable, grab a hold of the stick and then if you lean forward, that actually adds a stretch. It puts a fair amount of leverage on there. So be careful, don't get too aggressive. A nice, not painful stretch, just a comfortable stretch in there and just lean forward, stretch and relax. After two or three times, if it feels like it's loose, simply go up another inch or so and stretch. I really cannot emphasize enough that you do not take too much at one time. 'cause we don't want to tear any muscles. We just want to stretch them. Mike, you have anything to add? Mike If you would like to work on going out to the side more, simply place it out to the side, your handle, grab on, I do palm facing away and then you can kind of lean into it as well. And this gets a nice shoulder distraction stretch here. So this is just an alternative option. Also helps kind of with that side movement a little bit more. Brad: That's right, good luck with that. I think one of these will work well for you. Ever have an issue getting your coat on? Brad: This is a real common problem many people experience as you age. Shoulders tighten up. We've got a really nice exercise to keep that motion in gear so you're independent with this. Alright, so this is a general concept of the range we need to exercise and that's this right here, taking the back of your palm and getting it to this area. Brad: You can see my palm is away from the body. And then we want to get this motion as far as we can without pain. That's going to get this whole motion to get the coat on much easier. It works for putting belts on and getting dressed and other areas as well. So how do we do that? There's two things you can use, a belt or you can use a stick like we'd used before. So Mike, should we talk about the belt option? Mike: Yep, so what you're going to do to start is just feed the belt through so you have a little loop. I'm going to put it on my painful side. So we're going to say my left side is my painful side and I'm going to reach behind my back. What I'm going to do is use my good arm, my right arm here to actually help it up. So say I can only lift the here, but it doesn't hurt. I can stretch a little bit more by simply pulling with my right arm. And you can just hold this for 15 to 30 seconds and do it two to three times. Brad: Now I want to emphasize a couple of things. First of all, you know it may not be painful, it's just tight, which is actually preferable because then we just want to stretch the muscle. If it's painful, just be careful you don't go into any sharp pain. Use a belt that's smooth. If you have a nice shiny belt that actually cuts the resistance over your shoulder, and makes it much easier to do. You can see Mike is getting a little further each time. In reality, you probably are not going to gain inches on the first day, you just stretch and then every day, work to stretch one or two times and work it up and down, five to 10 repetitions and then give it a break. If it gets sore the next day, it means you went too aggressively the first time, then wait a day or two and come back to it and then go after it again. Now the other way that I mentioned, if you're going to use a stick, a broomstick, anything like that, you need again something about four feet long. Okay, you could use a mop. This is a little weird. I'm going to actually use the Booyah Stik. It's a little easier, you can see it easier. But everything is the same. We want to get the stick behind our back. Now the way I always teach my patients is I say, put the stick in front of you. Now I want to stretch my left shoulder. So you take your right arm, the one that doesn't need stretching, grab it with your thumb down and simply lift it up and then go around the backside so it ends up here and simply you can, it's kind of like a back scratch or a long back scratcher. You're going to do this motion. Now that's the motion you're going to do. But you take the tight shoulder, grab here so the palm is away from your back. Now this can be a little difficult. You have to grab the stick. There we go, and I'm going to bring up here, grab the stick. This is where the belt, you don't have to do all this. Once you get to here, you simply slide up and down, working that stretch. Brad: Oh, it's tight there, that's enough. You can hold it. Now after you've done this for a while and it starts to feel comfortable and you want to get a little more aggressive, then you simply, I'm going to pull this arm down and watch my shoulder and my arm point of the way. Brad: This way this is more advanced. If you've got a tight shoulder, you will not be able to do this on the first day. It may take a couple, three weeks. We're just going to start again with this, not real aggressive, just so it stretches it gently. Okay, and then you let go. Bring the stick here and around. So, two options. Mike, what do you like to do? Mike: Both of these. Brad: Yeah. Again, work with these. Take your time with it. And you may need someone to help you to get the stick in position or even the belt the first couple times. Brad: Mike, can you give me a piece of tape for this project? Mike: No, my fingers aren't working. Brad: It's pain and stiff. I having the same thing trying to cut this cardboard. And man, these joints are stiff. This is the kind of thing that's very common as we age. You get over 60, lot of people experience it. We're going to show you how to keep those fingers moving and pain-free. Mike: So a simple stretch you can do at home is called a mirror stretch, meaning you are going to mirror one hand to the other. So simply put your fingertips together and then try and touch the whole hand together and lift the elbows up almost like you're doing a prayer here. And then come back out. So out and together, this is going to stretch those digits into extension, especially for those that kind of have arthritic bent hands, this can help with that. Brad: That's right. Now the other option you can do, some people and you only have certain fingers that are tight, other ones are doing fairly well. So you go to the tight finger, mine, my third digit or the middle finger is always the tightest one on both hands for whatever reason. So what I like to do is take just that finger and I'll push it back. I'll take my thumb here and put it right at the joint and I'll stretch it about three or four, five times. I can hold it and you can do the good fingers as well, just to make sure that they're going to stay loose and nimble. You may get your knuckles to crack a little bit, feels good. Brad: Make sure you do both hands. Ooh, this one needs it right now, we're working that. There we go, good. Sometimes you can do all the fingers at once if it's just a general stretch, that works very well. Now we also have something that's a real treat, a hand massager, and it's something you can just put your hand in it, work and it's very comfortable. I'm going to turn it on. It's got an LED light that goes on. Now when I first saw this, I really thought it was not going to be anything we wanted to recommend, but after using it, it really is a nice device. If you have the hands that are curled, it actually works on straightening them out. There's rollers in there that massage the fingers, massage the palm, you can adjust the heat. And here it is, it works very well. You can adjust how deep you put your hand in. You may come out this way to get a different part of the hand massage and stretched as well. It's really a nice device. We've also got another video that's going to help people out with other options. Mike: Yeah, so check out our video " Three Must-Do Daily Strength Exercises for Seniors. " So these are all stretches, those are strengthening exercises. Brad: That's right, it's the full package. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/PGPk6Ulm9Ck Brad: If you want to learn how to strengthen your legs, this is for you. It's great for older people and for beginners. And what else we got to say, Mike? Mike: Plus we're going to show you the two common pitfalls people fall into to not actually strengthen their legs and how to avoid them. Brad: That's right. We got a great example that fits most people. So here's a true story. My sister, who's older than me, she's in her sixties, she's having problems with her leg strength, she's noticing when she's walking that her knee is starting to buckle, obviously very uncomfortable and puts you at potential for falls. So, naturally she came to me, the most famous physical therapy along with Bob and Mike. She said, "Give me some exercises." I gave her a couple of videos I thought were spot on, and about a week later she calls me up and she says, "These exercises aren't working. "I've been doing them very aggressively "for the last seven days "and I actually feel a little sore and weak." Mike: So the biggest mistake she was doing was doing them every day and not letting her legs rest and recover. That is mistake number one. Take breaks in between your exercises. Brad: That's right. Too much, too soon. Now the second mistake that we found with other people is they do the exercises improperly or the mechanics aren't quite right causing some problems, and that's just a matter of us having good videos or giving good instructions. Sometimes there's some misunderstandings, so that way you can simply look at our videos again to make sure you get it right if things don't seem like they're going well. Mike: So the two rules with all these exercises is to not perform them every day. So if you're going to do it Monday through Friday, work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, take a day off in between. Brad: That's right. And in regards to form, make sure you really focus on the form. And another thing is, as far as intensity, so many people think you have to do the repetitions until your muscles are burning so bad that it is just going to get you stronger with no pain, no gain. Do not do that, especially the first week. Allow the muscles to adapt and rebuild, and you'll have much better success by the second week. Alright, we're going to show four specific exercises. Each one deals with your leg strength a little bit differently. The first one, and I really like to address this, is if you happen to have that weakness in your legs and you feel that leg buckle like, "Oh, wow." And that's quad strength you want to work on. This exercise is very specific for this problem and you're going to need a ball, either a six- or eight-inch ball like Mike or I have. It's really important that it's a squishy ball, not really soft but about like this, a nice kickball. Go down to the park, see what you got laying around. Take that ball. You can do it long-sitting, like Mike is positioned here on the table, or standing. Now if you feel comfortable with doing it standing, that's the best way to do it because it's in a weight-bearing position just like you are when you have the problem, but if this is too aggressive, that's a good way to start. We're going to do the 10 repetitions. Mike, you wanna start showing it in a long-seated position? This is probably not going to work real good on a bed. You could do it, but a carpeted floor is preferred. Mike: So what you're going to do is actually push the back of your knee into the ball pushing it down into the floor. I'm on the mat here, but notice when I'm doing this, I'm keeping my heel down on the mat. It's not popping up and kicking. Brad: Right. Mike: So this is going to work on that little extension bit, activating those quads, it can help prevent that knee buckling. Brad: Good. Excellent. Now if you want to do the method where you're standing, if I'm working my right leg, I'm going to keep most of my weight into my right foot. Put the ball right at the back of the knee, bring your foot in so we got a little bit of a bend in the knee, and, again, I'm weight-bearing through that leg and I'm pushing and squeezing. Now, this I like to just do like 10 repetitions, but I do them slow. I like to hold and push for about a count of two or three and relax. Make sure you breathe between each one, upper body stays relaxed. Focus all the energy down into that leg. Go and relax. Go and relax. Mike, you have any other comments or tricks you like to do? Mike: Sometimes you can use a rolled-up towel instead of a ball if you do not have one. Brad: Sure. Yep. That's a nice option. Alright, let's go to number two. Now, the next one we're going to do is sit-to-stand, which is actually, in my opinion, kind of an earlier beginner's version to doing squats. Use a chair and it works very well. If this is too easy, you can progress to the next one. Go ahead, Mike. Tell them how to do it. Mechanics is really important on this particular one. Mike: So, it's good to get your butt to the edge of the chair before you stand up making it a little easier. Notice I have a slight lean forward. For beginners, if you struggle without using your arms, you can certainly use your arms to push up, stand all the way up, reach back and control yourself on the way down. Do not stand up and flop back down. You're not really strengthening your legs. As your legs become stronger, try to push more with your legs than your hands, maybe just use them for support. If this becomes easy, you can certainly try one arm, and then once that becomes easy, don't use your arms at all. You can cross them over your chest. Go up and then sit back down, try to perform up to 10 repetitions over time. Brad: That's right. And there's even the more advanced version that I've worked with some people. Put your arms up like that and it works your balance. Brad: You need to be just a little more advanced, depends on where you're at, and what we even will tell them in the extra advanced version, do it without touching the chair. Go ahead. So you're going to go down, let your buttocks get within two inches of the chair, and come back up. Then you're actually doing a squat, so you've actually progressed from the beginner level all the way up to the full squat, and eventually, if you don't need the chair, take it away. Mike: You can even touch the chair for a landmark, just don't sit because I'm still engaging my legs. Brad: Do that one more time, Mike. Look how straight he keeps his back. Now Mike does a lot of lifting in the gym. He's very aware, and because he's a therapist, how important this is and he demonstrates it very well. Alright, let's go to number three are we at? Mike: Yep. So exercise number three is called the split squat or it's a variation of a lunge here. So for beginners, you certainly don't have to go all the way down to the ground and back up, you can just do partials. Also, if you're new to this, hold onto support. You can have a cane or a stick in your hand, maybe a countertop next to you, whatever is comfortable for you. What you're going to want to do is maintain a nice proper upright posture with my spine. My right leg is forward. This is the one that I'm going to be working. Left leg is back, and you're simply going to lunge down. If you have sensitive knees, maybe put a pad or a throw pillow on the floor to protect your knees and then you're going to come back up. Try to control it down and control it back up. If you're new and your legs are weak, you can certainly use a countertop or cane to help push up if you get stuck down there. Try to do five to 10 repetitions on one leg and make sure to switch to the other side. Same positioning, one foot forward, one foot back, and a nice lunge like this. You're going to get strengthening here. The back leg is going to get some hip flexor stretching. Just a good overall leg exercise. Brad: A word of warning about this one. If you've never done these before, this is one where you can easily get in trouble for doing too much too soon. It really is a rather difficult exercise if you haven't done it before and if you go too low. Don't even try to get your knee to the floor if you haven't done them before. One other thing, if you're having knee pain, make sure that you're really attentive to the knee in the front. If you find yourself where your knees goes over the toes too far, that stresses this knee a little bit more and it may create pain, but if you keep the knee above the ankle and do it, it may easily get rid of that pain, and that's what you'll want to do. Brad: Some little tricks on how to do these properly and pain-free, which is critical. Now this last exercise I really like because it integrates function, things you do every day, as far as going up and down steps, as well as leg strengthening. You'll see exactly what I mean. Mike, take it away. Mike: So these are just called step-ups. Now do it at a stair. Hold onto both rails if needed. If you only need one rail, that is fine, or no rails if you are strong enough. Now I'm going to start with my right leg. I'm going to place it on a step. I'm going to step up just to that step and then bring my left leg back down keeping my right leg up here. I'm going to try to do five to 10 repetitions on one side before I switch. Notice I'm trying to focus on pushing up with this leg and slowly lower back down. You can push from the back leg if you're too weak, but try to focus on using the leg that is placed up on the step. Nice slow controlled movements. Mike: Make sure to work the other side. If you feel like you get too tired doing too many reps on one leg at once, you could certainly go left leg up, then right leg up, then you feel like you're in a jazzercising class or something. Brad: You would know Mike. Now, there's a couple things that Mike pointed out and I want to reemphasize is the form. He talked about going up and then going down slow with good control. The going down is actually more critical, and you get better strengthening than going up, so make sure you go down slow. The other thing is if you have any knee problems or if you want to avoid having them in the future, is be very cognizant or aware that the knee that's pushing up, the leg that's pushing up, stays directly over the toes. Now watch what happens. This is a tendency for a lot of people is the knee wants to go in and then it comes back up once I get up. That stresses the knee joint quite a bit and you do not want to do that, so really be aware of that. And coming down slow you'll have great success with this and you'll get stronger noticing hill-climbing, steps, and those types of things much easier. Mike: Yes, it's a very functional movement. Good for any age. Brad: You can't go wrong with the step-ups. Alright, so again, remember the two big mistakes and avoid them. Avoid too much too soon, too many reps, too much intensity as well as good form that we talked about. And we've got another video, Mike. Mike: If you want to check out more videos on leg-strengthening exercises for seniors, check out our video " 3 Leg Strengthening Exercises Every Senior Should Do ." Brad: There you go. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

When you have a painful shoulder, you want to avoid certain activities and perform others with the correct form: 1. Avoid putting your shoulder in an awkward position and end-range positions like reaching into the back seat or throwing a ball. 2. Avoid overhead lifting and repetitive or prolonged overhead activities such as painting or pruning a tree. 3. Avoid forceful pulling. Examples include pulling a weed out of the ground, lifting a suitcase, or pulling on the starter cord for a lawn mower. 4. Maintain good posture with any activities that involve raising the shoulder and arm (especially above level). Examples: working at a desk, writing on a whiteboard or smart board, painting, or driving a car. 5. Keep your arms and hands as close to the body as possible when lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, or working with objects. The shoulder is at greater risk for injury when the arm is furthest away from the body. The muscles in the shoulder are short in length. They must generate a lot of force to lift the “long lever” of your arm. General rule of thumb. We recommend keeping your elbows on your side. Avoid this. Keep elbows at your side 6. Overall, avoid any movement, activity, or position that increases your pain. 7. If forced to do any activity that increases your pain (lifting, pulling, pushing, carrying, or working overhead) stop every few minutes and extend and stretch the shoulder behind you, using the opposite arm to help. Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/J8qFlRYF7Mw Brad: Oh wow, back pain! You know, I've had back pain like this a number of times in the last 20 years, and myself, as well as many people with back pain, the big question is, can I get rid of the pain without doing any awkward exercises or taking medications? Mike: And the answer is yes you can. So we're gonna show you some of the best options you can do at home. Brad: As therapists, we know specific exercises can be very beneficial and effective on reducing and abolishing back pain. However, the first thing we always need to do is get the pain to settle down, so you can do the exercises properly. Mike: Plus, some older adults do have difficulty doing back pain exercises due to things like arthritis or weakness. So these options, you don't have to worry about those things. Brad: That's right. From our decades of combined experience in the clinic, we are going to give you five options of the best treatment you can do at home to calm down your back pain and get on with life. All right, so the first option is one of my favorite ones because it's very simple, and it doesn't cost you anything, you simply lie on your bed, or you can do this on the floor. I've done it both ways myself and with patients. Take a few pillows, you need two or three, and get them underneath both legs. And what that does is it brings up the hip, flexes the hip, and that puts the back in a more neutral position, less stress on the back, and it actually, very comfortable. Mike, how do you feel like that? Mike: I feel good. Brad: If this works, and you want to get a device that actually works better, we have found, and in the clinic this has been, I'd say we use this leg ledge, 90% of the time people are very happy with it. I've had a number of patients buy one just because it works so well, and it's firm, it has the angle, and you want to make sure, can you lift your legs up a little bit, that it's right up into your buttock and hamstrings, that really makes a big difference. Then that's a real nice option. We're going to show you a combination with this using the pillows or the wedge in just a couple more minutes. Brad: Now hold onto your pillows because the next thing we wanna address is seated posture. Poor seated posture can aggravate and cause back pain and really make it linger on for a long period of time until you correct it. Mike, couple simple ways to do it. Mike: So poor posture can be caused by just not paying attention and gravity working so you get flexed over. Another common problem for some people is the seat pan depth is actually too far back. So they're not comfortable getting all the way back with their legs depending upon their height. So simple solution for both of these would be to use a throw pillow, put it in your low back region. This will shorten the depth of the seat pan, and also it reminds you to have something there to push against to keep up good posture. Some people, this is enough, and this will work. Not everyone, some people may need just a full pillow. Put it up the vertical way here and place it behind them. Now this is typically common in standard chairs like this or maybe a recliner or sofa because they can get soft and squishy over time. Just feel what can fill that void the best and keep your back in a good neutral position. Brad: Right, you'll know the pillow's right one because it feels like good support. The pain is gone or almost gone as a result of putting the pillow in right away. So go ahead, use those pillows in your recliner, in the chair, et cetera. All right, let's go on to number three. Mike: Three. Another good option is to use a hot or cold pack. You can do this in a chair or laying down. This one can be both. We have some other options we will talk about as well. Now when it comes to hot or cold packs , it's important to not always put it specifically this type directly on your skin. If you have a shirt or sweatshirt on, that could possibly be enough layers. If you feel like it's too warm or too cold, simply place a towel over it, and if it's my low back, could just put it in my low back between the pillow and my body and that should suffice. You can leave it on for 10 to 20 minutes. Brad: Now the next question, I'm sure a lot of people are wondering, so what's better, hot or cold? Well, that's a question of the century, and from clinical experience myself, I've used initially cold packs. So it works really well for me, but I run into people where they just don't tolerate them. It makes them tighten up. Then we get the hot pack out, and they have release of the muscle, tightness feels better, increases circulation. So try each one. See how you feel better with each one and how it responds after you take the hot pack or cold pack away, should continue to feel good for a period of time. 30 minutes to an hour. Mike: So with laying down, it's important to make sure you have layers on because you will be applying more pressure from your body weight onto the hot or cold pack. So again, just simply place a towel over it and put it under your back. I'm not going to do that for video sake purposes, just find the spot that is sensitive, and you can lay on it while keeping your feet elevated. You get a double bonus here. Now there are a couple other heating options we'd like to talk about, if people are in the market, they'll get something. Brad: Right, so if you want to use a hot pack that's electric, you may already have one, and you can certainly use that, use it the same way. The big precaution is is that you set a timer on it or hopefully has a timer on it because you do not want to fall asleep lying down like this and have that hot pack on your back for a couple hours, 20 minutes, 30 minutes maximum. Now there is a hot pack that's a little higher end and it's the Thermotex Platinum Far Infrared Heating Pad. The big advantage to this is the heat will penetrate into your skin or your tissues over two inches, 2.36 inches actually. So it gets in more blood flow, gets into the muscles, into the joints where a standard hot pack just goes skin deep. The disadvantage to Thermotex, they do cost more, but they are built well, and they do what they say. Now, if you want a hot pack that covers your whole back because you're the type of person that really responds well to heat and you want to have this, particularly if it's a winter day when you have this back pain, here, I call this the cape, but it's not really called the Cape, it's the Bob and Brad heating pad . And I really do like this because it covers it. You can sit back in your recliner, read a book, watch TV, and it does not get real hot, and you can control the time as well as the intensity of the heat. So there you go, let's go onto the next options. Mike: Another option to help with back pain is to actually massage the muscles that are painful in the area in your low back here. Now the problem is doing it yourself, after a while, your fingers get tired because back muscles are rather firm and stiff. So you really have to dig in there, and it's not really that relaxing to do it yourself. Brad: Yeah, I mean if you've got someone in the house, or you can go to a masseuse, great, but it's not an option for a lot of people. One thing I do at home when I want to work my back muscles in here is you could use a cane. I use the Booyah Stik . You just need a stick that's about four foot long and relatively sturdy, and I'll put it behind, and I'll just work up and down with this. And it works out fairly well. It's not the best, but it does offer some relief and relaxation. Brad: Now some people do have massage guns already. They're very popular. They've been out for a number of years, and they're quite effective. Now we've got a couple here that that we sell. This one actually just came out. This head actually cools down or heats up . So if you like cold, you adjust it for cold. If you want heat, adjust it for heat, and I'm amazed at how well it actually works. The only problem with doing massage on your back with a massage gun is the same thing as doing it with your hands. You need a lot of range of motion with your hands or your shoulder and elbow, and it works. And if you lie down on your bed, it's a little easier. Mike has a smaller one, and he's got a standard airhead. Can you talk about that, Mike? Mike: So this is a airhead. So it's soft and cushioned, so it feels fine on your back. When you get in the back, you're going to kind of probably run over your spine at times or even your pelvis bones. That's not going to feel too good with a hard, firm plastic massage head. So typically a soft foam ball or the airhead like this is a good option. Brad: There you go. Now what we feel is the best option for low back in particularly is there's a massage pad that fits behind your chair. So here is our low back massager . It actually works good on hamstrings and calves as well and even your upper back. But what it does, it massages, and the heads, you can see them rotating here, and they actually heat up as an option. You don't have to have it heat up. Now I'm going to show you how to use it. Now, it can be pretty aggressive, and if your back is sore, you may wanna put, they actually have a Velcro pad on here that lessens the intensity of the massage. So let's go to a chair and show us how it's done in the chair. We always joke about this as looking like a tooth because it kind of does. You can put it either end up, whatever feels better on your back. These really get it to the right muscles. Brad: This is one thing that we've all tested here at the Bob and Brad crew, and it works really well. I am just totally impressed with how well this works. Simply sit with it behind your back, and you can run it for 15 to 20 minutes. It does have an automatic shutoff, I believe it's in 20 minutes. You can do this in a recliner, which I like to do. You can recline back, and it really is a comfortable way to get a massage by yourself, firm chair, or actually lying down. You could try that. I don't like that so much, this is the way I do it. So do that and get those muscles to relax. All right, that's enough of this. Mike, what do you got to say? Mike: The last thing is to avoid bending over and picking something up with bad posture while you have back pain because this is probably going to flare things right back up. Notice how rounded my spine is. So Brad's going to talk about some better options when it comes to lifting mechanics. Brad: That's right, so the first thing you want to do is if you need to pick up, say your back massager fell onto the floor, you're going to bring your legs about two shoulder widths wide. So you got a wide base, and you're strong that way. We're going to actually bend, keep our back straight. I want you to pretend there's like a two by four taped to your back, and it's keeping you straight and steady. Bend with the knees and pick that up. There we go. You have to look down with your eyes, not your head. So always good body mechanics, good posture, and that will help reduce those flare ups. Brad: Now the other thing is called the golfers' lift. If you're going to pick up something lighter, this is known as the golfers' lift. And you've probably seen this, if you watch any golf, the back leg, use a hand to steady somewhere if you need, and then kick that leg up. That keeps your back in neutral position. Brad: It really lessens how much stress you put on the back when you pick up something light. Or you can certainly pick it up doing the squat as well. So now once your back starts to feel better, you need to calm down from one of these methods, you're lifting properly. You really need to get back to moving. So one of the recommended ways, one of the top back specialists in the world, Dr. Stewart McGill recommends along with other therapists like us, start a walking program. Now, when you do a walking program, you're not going to go out and walk one mile the first day. You may just start walking on the flat, not on a trail, maybe only a hundred yards, and then come back, and then we're going to progress as your back tolerates. As a matter of fact, we've got a video, Mike want to help him out with that video? Mike: Yes, if you want more videos on how to stop back pain and walking correctly, you can check out the video "Fastest Ways To Walk Correctly To Stop Back Pain!" Brad: This video will show you in detail how to start walking when you're recovering from a back injury. It's wonderful, well, we did do it, so of course it's good. Mike: It's perfect. Brad: Very good, good luck with your back pain and get it calmed down. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/PgWjX8YHAjQ Brad: Now in the past when Bob was younger, of course, he would do an extension stretcher, which made his back feel better. He tried that this time and it was not working, which is amazing because I had the same scenario. That used to work for me and no more. Mike: So he tried the prayer stretch instead. Also commonly known as the child pose and he saw immediate relief. So this is an example of testing and retesting to see what is helping his back pain. Brad: So the same system you can use at home, So you can determine what stretch is going to work for you. It always works well. Mike: So the prone press-up test like this, which Bob first did actually increased his back pain. Now for some people extending their spine like I'm doing here can actually increase their pain while for others, it may actually help. Brad: That's right, so let's look and see what's actually going on with the spine. Go ahead and do your press-up and look at the spine in the lumbar area, it's extending it, putting it into an arch in one direction, okay? Brad: And now what you need to do is assess the pain or if it feels good while you're doing 5 to 10 repetitions, but not only that, but how it feels after you get done within the next five minutes up to an hour. Sometimes it may be a little uncomfortable here, but then when you get up and walk around, it's, oh, it feels good as a result of doing it. So it's important to note how it feels while you're doing it and after. So that's the test, and then the retest is how things feel after the exercise. Mike: Now the stretch Bob did perform known as a prayer stretch or child pose, you simply get on all fours like this, and then you rock your butt back towards your heels. And as you can see, I'm doing this, my back is actually flexing more, which helped relieve some of Bob's pain issues he was having. Brad: Right, now if we want to look at the spine to see a more detailed example of what's going on in the spine, the other stretch was arching it. Now this stretch is actually rounding the back in the opposite direction. And with Bob's case, this felt much better while he was doing it and afterward. So that means this would be the stretch you'd want to continue versus the press-up stretch because it responded much better. Mike: So to perform a prone press-up, you may only start on your elbows like this and this may be as far as you can go to begin with and that is certainly fine. Now some people over time, you can actually push up to the full range of motion. For some people, it may only be here. For others, it may be extended all the way. Important thing to remember is keep your pelvis on the mat or floor, wherever you are doing this. Do not lift it up. It is not going to stretch your lower back. As you can see, if I just go up like this, my back stays in the same position, or if it's dropped down, now I have more of an arch. Brad: Again, you're going to do these because they feel good the more you do of them. So this is really important. A lot of times with patients, I'll actually put my hand on their lower back to give them some feedback that this needs to stay down on the floor or the bed, wherever they're doing this exercise. Mike: And oftentimes, you want to perform 10 repetitions at least of this exercise. Brad: Okay, now we're going to go over the prayer stretch or the child's pulls, whatever you want to call it. Actually, we got this exercise for this particular diagnosis, or pain from Rick Olderman , a physical therapist who has written books on this. He's developed programs for it. He's an expert in this. And go ahead, show him what Rick wants us to do. Mike: Bob and Rick wrote a book together too. Brad: Oh, that's correct. Mike: So in order to perform this, like I said before, your knees are going to be apart. I like to bring my heels together. You can put them wherever you want, whatever's comfortable for you. Then you sit back slowly while keeping my hands in the same place and my buttock will touch my heels. Stay here for a few seconds, feel a good stretch, and then come back up. You're gonna do 10 repetitions of this and this should feel good on your back. You may notice some stretching in your shoulder muscles as well and that's perfectly acceptable. Brad: That's right. So again, repetition's 5 to 10. You can hold the stretch as it feels good. Bob says he holds this for 15 to 30 seconds. You may not start with that. You may start with just a few seconds. I personally hold mine for about, well, 5 to 10 seconds and I do repetitions. Use good judgment and listen to your body. Mike: Now some people cannot get on their hands and knees we realize. So we will show a variation you can do seated. Brad: That's a good word, variation. Now if you're not comfortable doing this, getting on your hands and knees on the floor or even the bed, simply take a towel and on your kitchen table or cupboard that's smooth. Put the cut towel like this, take a chair so you can sit comfortably. A firm chair works best. Hands here, and what we're simply going to do is use the towel so that you can slide your hands very freely across the surface. And right now my back is going through that flexed mode, that stretch that makes your back feel good, hold it as needed, and then come back and there you go. Now the really other big benefit for this is you get your kitchen table, your countertop cleaned off. So it's a win-win situation. Pain-free back, clean kitchen table. Brad: Now there was another exercise that Bob does that actually helps his back as well. And he has tight hip flexors of the muscles in the front of the hip. Now what happens when you have tight hip flexors? If we look at the spine, they're deep and they connect to the spine and go down to the hip. When they're tight, when you stand up and when you walk, they actually pull the pelvis forward like this, which arches the back, which is similar to the arch in the back when you do the prone press-ups, which also irritate the back. Brad: So to stretch those muscles out, to minimize that, is what we're going to do. And go ahead, Mike. Let's show them the tricks in this particular exercise. Mike: Okay, to stretch your hip flexors, you're going to need to sit on a firm surface at the edge. Whether that is a kitchen table at your house or a firm bed, it's up to you. Once you're in this position, you want to lay down on your back bringing both knees up towards your chest. You're going to take one side and drop it down. I'm going to be stretching the right hip flexor. Once I'm down here, I'm going to bend my knee. And you'll notice once I bring the left knee towards my chest, you can see my tightness coming because my hip flexor will probably pop up a little bit. If you're not feeling much of a stretch here, you may have to scooch your bottom more towards the edge of the bed to let more of your leg go off. Mike: Now it's important to remember to keep the right leg in a straight line. Do not let it go out to the side. It's not going to stretch the hip flexor muscles. We're going to hold this for roughly 30 seconds. Reset the back with both knees to the chest and then drop the other side. Again, hold for 30 seconds, breathe through it. You may notice one side is tighter than the other. Maybe do three sets of 30 seconds on one side and the other side you only have to do two. Brad: Now I want to make sure that it's very clear that the knee that's not being stretched needs to be pulled up because if you don't do that and you allow that to come down, that's going to allow your back to arch and it's causing that pain that we don't want to cause. So that's very critical this is up and then you just relax this leg and let that stretch, that hip flexor. Mike: Now the last exercise Bob did to help with his back pain was actually strengthening his glute muscle or his butt muscle because typically when one muscle is tight it can make the other muscle not engage as much. So by engaging this more, we can get the hip to relax more. Brad: That's right, and Rick Olderman's book explains this clearly. We'll just have to show the exercise and you can read the book to get details. Mike: To strengthen the glutes, we're going to perform butt pumps in a slightly different way than you may be accustomed to. So I'm actually going to get down on my elbows on all fours like this. We will show a variation where you don't have to kneel down if you have knee pain. So what you're going to do is lift one leg up into the air. You're not going to go all the way up like a true glute pump exercise. You're going to pick a spot in between down on the ground and all the way up and you're going to do little oscillating movements. Try to perform 30 repetitions and focus on your buttock muscle engaging. Now if you're having some trouble, sometimes people can rotate their foot in like this and it isolates the glute max a little bit more. Mike: So once you can do 30 repetitions total on each side and you feel comfortable with it, to progress, you would simply place a cuff weight on the back of your thigh like Brad is showing here. And then you perform the same exercise with some more weight. Rick himself said he has a 70-year-old lady doing this with hip pain and it solved it. Brad: Wow. Excellent job. So this is a standing option for the same exercise, working the same muscle for the same reason. You put your hands on a countertop, which works well, or a table, you can go to your forearms. Because my table is short, I'm doing it on my hands. Do the same thing, we're going to put a 90-degree bend or so in the knee, okay? And then I'm going to bring it up to the mid-range. Again, not way up, not too low, right in the middle, working that oscillation type of motion, 30 of those. And again, rotate the foot in and do it to isolate that glute max even more. And I can definitely feel that muscle working more now. When that gets too easy, just put a weight around the leg to get the advanced, more strenuous version for that muscle. Brad: Alright, we're going to talk about one option that you may or may not want to do. If you respond well to heat, you can use a hot pack on your back for 15 to 20 minutes prior to the exercises. Loosen them up those muscles and get better results. This particular hot pack is one that we recommend. It works very well. It heats up the whole back. It does plug in here. You can take us off and actually wash it. It's an amazing thing. It's got the remote here with different levels of heat and a timer as well, so it turns off just in case you fall asleep with it on. Mike: And you kind of feel like a cool super villain because it's almost like a cape. Brad: It is really a nice hot pack. Alright, so once you do your test and retest, you decide which exercises are going to help you out. Work with them, as we had mentioned. And actually for both of them, when you feel well enough, you can actually start walking. Don't walk too far right away, but that will help in either scenario. Plus, we've got another video that will help you just to give you additional work. Mike: So if you want to check out more videos on back pain, check out our video " How to Fix Low Back Pain in 90 Seconds, Bob and Brad Concur! " This is about completely different techniques so you can try this as well to see if it works. Brad: And it's had excellent success as well because we did it. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of  2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/1tTR4Zva8VI Mike: When Bob, Brad, and myself have worked with people that are 55 and older and have neck or shoulder pain, there are some inherent issues we are cautious of, including an aging spine and some tight muscles. Brad: We're going to explain two techniques that are going to be fast relief as well as done very safely. Mike: The general area we're talking about is when pain coming from the neck often can radiate from the neck and down into the shoulder blade region. And we're going to show you a couple of options to try to alleviate this pain. Brad: That's right. First, we're going to show you one option Bob and I had great success with years ago, but there were always certain people that it didn't work on. Now we have the option that'll help take care of that as well. It's going to be linked at the end, so you're going to have good success one way or another. All right, before we go any farther, we want to talk about the biggest precaution that you need to with neck exercises. Now, one of the treatments that works so well is neck cervical extension. So Mike demonstrates it here. Brad: Come back up. Now, if you're 55 or older, there are certain things that happen within the cervical spine, the neck bones, as well as the muscles get tight. This exercise can be uncomfortable, and we have found to keep it safe, we're actually going to do it supported with a towel. So we always recommend, if you're going to try this exercise, use a towel to support it. We're going to give you details in just a second. Are you ready, Mike? All right, when we get to the exercise, we're going to show you specifically that precaution with the towel. But before we get on with it, I want to show you how to test your neck, and then we'll do the exercise, and then retest. And it's a good way to find out your particular success and how often to do the exercise. So you have this pain near the shoulder blade. Now, what I want you to do is flex your head forward like Mike is doing, and then extend your head back. Now, at this point, you can see Mike's grabbing for shoulder. We've seen this many times. This motion oftentimes is limited in range of motion and makes this pain worse. Brad: If that's the case, then we need to do the stretch using the towel. Now, the stretch is actually the same exercise as what hurts. So the towel is going to help out with that. Go ahead, Mike. We're going to roll the towel up and then get it behind the neck. Low on the neck, not up by the top of the head or behind the ears, but low down by the shoulders. And at this point, you're going to be in a chair, a nice firm one like a kitchen chair that does not have a backrest that goes up too high. It has to go at shoulder blade level or a little lower works better. Now what happens is you'll get to a point typically and it's going to start to hurt. But if you can go back further and the pain is less than it was when you did the testing, that's a sign that this is going to be a good exercise. Brad: If you do it three or four times and the pain continues to improve and your range of motion is actually getting better, you're right on, continue to do it. The big precaution is do not do it too fast. If it does create pain or creates pain down into the shoulder, red flag, stop, do not go any farther, you do not want to the go. Go to the video that we have linked down below, and that's going to give you an option where it does not do this type of approach. If you find that this helps, the towel support feels good, you can go further, and there's less pain in that shoulder area, that's what you want to do is every hour do this exercise in the same chair or one just like it, and you'll find within a day or two you're going to have no pain anymore. It's a great way to go. Again, remember, if it makes it worse, particularly into the shoulder, stop, and go to the other video. When you start out with this and you find you don't have any pain going back like that and you have a normal range of motion, everything is good, but now we're going to test rotation right to left. So in Mike's situation, it hurts when he turns to the left, it increases pain. He is starting to wince, you can see it in his eyes. So we have a simple stretch. Well, it's not a real simple stretch, but it is once you learn it. How to stretch that using the towel again so it's safe, you're going to do it gently, gently, gently with all of these. Go ahead, Mike. We'll use the edge of the towel. Now, notice the towel's low around his shoulders more. He's going to cross his right hand to the left tail of the towel, and his left hand to the right tail of the towel. Now, the left one stays low on the chest. The right one's going to go across the jawline, okay, in a gentle stretch. If it hurts, particularly sharp pain, it's a red flag, you stop, and in don't go any farther. Try going the other direction. Brad: There you go. So you have to switch hands. Again, the towel goes across the jawline. And you'll be amazed how the towel support around the neck really makes us feel much better. However, if it's a sharp pain when you do this, you stop, you're done with it, it is not for you. If it feels better and every time you do the stretch at a frequency and speed that Mike is going and it feels better each time up to 10 reps, then you continue to do it once every hour or two. Good. Okay, now the third scenario is, let's say you do the range of motion back extension, no pain, feels normal, flexion, no pain, feels normal, looking straight ahead, rotate to the right, all the way over, or to the left. Everything feels pretty normal, but you still have pain and it feels like a knot in that muscle right in the upper trap area. Sometimes you need to get into that muscle and massage it deeply with your fingers. And you'll find a trigger point. There is a trigger point there where the muscle tightens up in one spot. If you can break or release that trigger point, it can take care of it and you'll feel much better. The big problem with this is it's kind of hard to massage this back by yourself because your fingers get sore, they get tired. If you have someone else in the house to come over with their thumbs and work in that spot, that can work. But if you're by yourself, another option is if you happen to have a massage gun that reciprocates, we're going to show you a good option for that right now and the technique on how to do it. All right, a big precaution when you're using a massage gun that reciprocates when you work around the neck, you DO NOT want to massage anywhere near the cervical spine or the neck bones here. We can work this on the trapezius and it works well, but not up on the neck. So, okay, don't even try it. It's not fun. It doesn't feel good don't do it. I'm going to use a soft head. Mike will show one with a rounded head, which I prefer for this situation, and you can just work in the area. Brad: Again, you notice I stop before the neck. I'm not getting up into the neck, feels good. The trigger point is right there. Everyone has a trigger point there. And you're just going to work that for a few minutes. And boy, it really beats doing it by hand with, you know, when you're doing a self-massage. Mike, you want to show them with that particular gun? Mike: Yes, this is the Q2 massage gun . It is very small and lightweight. Again, you can do the same type of massaging, just simply reaching over if your knot is up top. You can possibly reach behind your back too, which I sometimes do to get in the shoulder blade region. But obviously, you have to have flexibility for this, because oftentimes I have the knots in the shoulder blades themselves. Brad: So a wonderful thing about these massage guns is outside of the neck, they work really well on most all parts of the body, the thighs, the calves, the back, the hip, the mid back, the arms, the shoulder. They really are universal. Mike: Feet. You forgot feet. Brad: The feet. Anything from the neck up you stay away from. But everything from there down is pretty darn close to being good. Mike: You can find them in the link down below. Or you could find them on Amazon as well. Brad: Oh, this is the Air 2 Mini massage gun . I don't know if I mentioned that. All right, now the other video that we talked about, if this option is not working for you is, Mike, give the details, please. Mike: Another video on neck pain, " Most People With Neck Pain Should Try This ." Now this uses Rick Olderman's technique, who is a friend of ours. So he has a different approach to treating neck pain. So if these didn't work for you, this may, so just click the video link. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

Many of us spend a lot of time sitting in cars (driving or riding). The typical posture we see in the car is as follows: Head forward posture Upper back rounded Shoulders internally rotated Shoulders forward Low back rounded When you adopt this type of posture you are limiting the range of motion of your shoulders. Compare slumped sitting (lift and move arms forward) and make note of the range of motion. Sit up as straight as possible, (lift and move the arm forward again) and compare it to the previous movement. You will note your shoulder motion decreases with poor posture. When the movement of the shoulder is impeded by poor posture, you are more likely to impinge the shoulder tendons. Repeated impingements can cause the tendon to gradually wear and break down. It eventually could result in a partial or full tear. By making adjustments in your car, one can make it easier to correct common posture mistakes and reduce or eliminate stress on your shoulders. Foam Back Supports We believe it is important in your car to use some type of back support to help avoid the “C” position and to obtain a good sitting posture. In this picture, one can see a foam roll is being used to keep the spine from slumping into the “C” position. Proper placement of a foam support 1. The foam roll should be placed approximately at the level of your belt (either a little higher or lower- depending on comfort). 2. Your bottom should be slid all the way back into the seat. 3. Lean back against the roll and attempt to keep your body in a straight alignment. Your body type will dictate the size of back support you need. A larger person with greater curves is more likely to require a thicker back support. If you are a thinner person with less pronounced curves, you may want to try a thinner support. Either way, let comfort be your guide. Some cars have an adjustable lumbar roll built into the car seat. Check to see if your car has such support. Before you purchase a foam or air-filled back support, we recommend you try the following: Take a towel and roll it into a tube shape. Place it behind your back when sitting and gauge your comfort level. Through experimentation, you can determine an appropriate thickness for your support. 4. Use your left foot to prevent your bottom from sliding forward on your seat, which causes your back to slump. Use the stationary inclined footrest (also known as “dead pedal”) located to the left side of the brake pedal (if this feature is available on your car). 5. Try moving your car seat slightly forward. When your knees are too straight, the tendency will be for your bottom to slip forward on the seat and cause you to slump. Slumped with knees straight Correct Posture 6. Lower your hands on the steering wheel. The least stressful and fatiguing position for the shoulders, arms, neck, and back when driving is with the arms hanging nearly vertically. This is accomplished by placing your hands on the steering wheel in the nine o’clock - three o’clock position or the eight o’clock - four o’clock position. Placing your hands on the steering wheel in the ten o’clock - two o’clock position will cause your upper back and shoulders to round forward. 7. Excessive back inclination will also cause your back to slump forward. 8. Avoid reaching into the back seat. This maneuver places great stress on your shoulders. Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/aa5rTo45ZWk Mike: Many people try traditional shoulder exercises to treat their shoulder pain without success. Brad: You're right, and actually through our podcast we ran into a physical therapist who is an expert at shoulder pain as well as many other parts of the body. He's written many books. His name is Rick Olderman . Mike: And in fact, we think only one in 5,000 people know about Rick Olderman's solutions for shoulder pain. So we're going to teach you these now. Brad: That's right. Mike: So if you want to find out more information about Rick, you can just go to rickolderman.com and find everything there. Brad: Now, one of the things that Rick found out is the problem or the root cause of shoulder pain oftentimes is from the shoulder blade. Let me explain. Mike, can you stand up and turn around? All right, so we're looking at his right shoulder. The pain is on top of the shoulder, and what happened is we have the shoulder blade, as the shoulder blade actually depresses or goes downward, and what that does is it positions the shoulder in a way that the shoulder joint is not working as effectively as it should. This can cause pain, as well as the muscles that connect from the neck or the cervical spine down to the shoulder blade gets stretched out. Another source of pain. So we need to elevate the shoulder blade so the mechanics are normal, decrease in stress to the neck and the shoulder, creating a good shoulder joint, and good mobility. Brad: Now the first area you want to address is in a seated posture, particularly if you're working at a computer workstation and your shoulder blade is slightly depressed. We need to elevate that arm so that the shoulder blade comes up and that releases tension on the muscles in the neck, releasing that pain. So let's see what we're going to do about that and how this works. Brad: Okay, here's how we're going to address this and elevate that shoulder blade so it's back where it belongs. We're looking at Mike from the front side here, and we're going to actually elevate this arm. And we want it in a relaxed position, so we're going to need something to hold it and support the weight of the arm, allowing this to be in the right position and pain-free. Go ahead, Mike. Mike: So as you can see, the armrest is still kind of low. It's not elevating enough if I'm having pain. So you can simply take a pillow, fold it in half, and you put it next to you between yourself and the armrest, and that is higher up and that will support this shoulder. Mike: You typically just have to do it on the painful shoulder. If you have issues on the other side, you can certainly double up and do it on both sides. And you have pillows in case you want to have a pillow fight too. Brad: Now if you find that works out well and what you'd like to do is have a permanent fix, get an office chair while you work that has armrests that adjust, that way it's going to fit anybody's height or make sure it's customized to you. So here it's a little bit low. I want it up about an inch or so. I'm going to elevate both of them and the ones that rotate in are helpful but not necessary. And there we go, I can definitely feel my shoulders relaxed now as the weight of my arms is through my forearms and where it should be. I'm ready to go to work. How do you feel, Mike? Mike: Perfect, but I have pillows. Brad: Okay, now we're going to go to phase two of the exercises. First we did the raising and elevating the shoulders while you're seated. Now we need to strengthen the muscles that pull the scapula up or the shoulder blade so that it stays up where it should be permanently. And this exercise will do it. Mike, go ahead and we'll talk our way through it. Mike: So you're going to do the painful side. For camera filming purposes, I'm going to use my left side here. You're going to place your hand against the wall with your pinky touching all the way through to your elbow. You're just going to do the painful side. Now what I'm going to do is start sliding up the wall. As I slide up, I'm going to try to engage my scapular muscles, kind of shrug motion as you push up. Once you get to the top level for you, whatever that may be, some people may be down lower, it's fine. Just go where you can that's pain free. Stay there for three to five breaths. Breathe slow and relax, and calm back down, keeping contact with the wall the entire time. We're going to do five to 10 repetitions of this and really focus on pushing that scapula back up into place Brad: Right, now I know when I do this one, I really need to focus once the elbow gets horizontal with the shoulder, that's when you want to engage the muscles in the neck and elevate that shoulder blade, and then hold it for three breaths. That's something that takes a little concentration, at least it does for me, and then come back down slow. Do it while you're relaxed. And again, pain-free range, like Mike mentioned. Mike: Now you can still do this on your non-painful side too, just to see the difference. And over time, if they become more equal, like for me, for instance, I don't have any shoulder pain now I just do both together like this to save some time, instead of doing 10 repetitions on both sides. You get a really nice good stretch here. The only thing is this is once you go up, you're going to end up getting closer to the wall as you do it, but I feel a good stretch when I do this Brad: This is a good maintenance program to keep those shoulders and the shoulder blades where they need to be so that the future you do not have this problem. All right, the third exercise. Now this exercise you're going to do lying down. It's actually going to help stretch muscles and strengthen muscles to position that shoulder blade where it needs to be. It's just another way to work at it. You could do it in your bed, but probably a nice, firm or carpeted floor would be the best. Mike, go ahead and show them how it's done. Mike: So you're going to lie down in a position with bent knees, like I have here, and a flat back the whole time. We don't want to be arching with this exercise. And you're basically going to be making a snow angel. If you don't know what a snow angel is, you're just going to bring up your arms, like you have angel wings. So you're going to come up, try to keep in contact with the floor, with your arm as much as you can. You could see as I start going up to a certain height, my elbows start popping off because my shoulders are a bit tight. You can see here. Go to a pain-free range, hold it there for a few breaths again, and then come back down. You can try to do five to 10 repetitions. If you want to hold it up here a little bit longer, say 30 to 60 seconds, that is perfectly acceptable. But this is going to teach those scapula muscles to get back in place and really stretch out good. Take your time with this. And we're going to actually show you a more advanced version if you are better at this than I am. Brad: Now I just want to emphasize, Mike has got relatively flexible shoulders. If I do this, my arms actually come off the floor right about there, up, up, up, right there, and that's okay, as long as it doesn't hurt. If it creates sharp pain, don't go up so high. Just go up a pain-free range, work your repetitions, over time, things will loosen up. Make sure we don't irritate things with sharp pain. All right, let's go to the, what was it, the advanced version? Mike: The advanced version. Brad: Yeah, I'm not to that one yet. All right, now let's show the advanced version of the floor angels. You're going to use a six-inch or four-inch foam roller. It is helpful if you have a one that is a soft density, it's more comfortable to lie on, and three foot-long. Mike, show them how it's working. Mike: So in order to get on the foam roller, you normally have to have your buttock towards one end and then lay down. Make sure you feel balanced and safe here. So you can see, I have to scoot down. Now, to begin this just without weights in your hand, doing the same movement is going to be more of a stretch because before the ground was here, now it's way down here. I'm really feeling a stretch, especially in the pec muscles. As you can see, I struggle to get more above head with this variation. If you find this easy to do, you can actually grab dumbbells. Same thing, palms up, and you kind of hover above the ground, bringing it up. The weights in your hands will actually push you more into a stretch if you're unable to get down there without them. Brad: I just want to also clarify, your head should be resting on the foam roller. If you have tight neck muscles or a stiff neck, you can certainly put a pillow in there to make it relaxing, because we don't want to have any stress on the neck because your head is not comfortable. Mike: Again, same repetitions, five to 10 reps. Hold it up top if needed. Brad: Yeah, this is nice. It also works the core a little bit and balance. So there's bonuses with this. All right, and the last stretch is actually going to work muscles in this area to help stretch and get that mobility for the upward motion of the scapula. You can simply use a door. Mike's going to demonstrate it. If this doesn't work because of your height, which we'll explain, there's another option. Mike: So stand sideways next to the door. I'm going to stretch my left side. You're going to feel a stretch in your shoulder as well as your lats, and even your low back. So you're getting a little bit of everything. I'm going to face my palm away from me, grab the top of the doorframe here. Make sure you have a good doorframe, so it doesn't fall apart here, and you're going to lean into it this way. This is where I'm going to start really feeling that stretch here, gets my shoulder joint up. I'm just going to kind of breathe here for three breaths again, and then come out. Again, you can do this five to 10 repetitions, you can just hold it for durations of time, whatever feels best for you. Make sure to try both sides. You may notice a difference from one side to the other. Just maybe do an extra set on the side that seems a little more tight. Brad: Again, pain-free, we're just stretching muscles, we're not irritating things. Make you have good judgment with that. Now, if you happen to be too short or too tall to get a hold of the door frame so it's safe and a good stretch, you can simply use either a broom handle, piece of dowelling, PVC, and then put it up on a chair or a cupboard like this. You can do this standing. You're going to reach up, grab the stick, and palm away, I'm going to hold tight to that and I'm just simply going to lean into it. And right now I'm starting to feel the stretch here. Hold and breathe and relax, come back and repeat, and make sure you do both sides. Brad: This can be done in the seated position as well. Just put the stick on the chair that you're sitting on and lean over. Actually, I kind of like this a little bit better, but it's individual thing. It both works. There we go. Brad: Just make sure that whatever you're using sticks or has a good sticky surface. Like this has rubber tips on it, the Booyah Stik, works well. If you're using a stick that is sliding around, simply take a shoe, put it down, put the stick inside that, make sure you don't put a hole in the ceiling like I almost just did, and then it'll work very well. Mike: Make sure to keep your hand in the same place while you're doing the stretch too. Do not let it slide down 'cause you won't get as much of a stretch. Brad: Yep, I had a patient, I went through everything, I thought I was clear, and he came back and he was showing me the stretch, and he would do this and he said, "It's not working." And it's because I was not clear when I said make sure the hand is stuck and that it stays still. All right, now there are four exercises or variations we demonstrated. It is important that you go through each one, pick out the variation that fits you. Again, no pain should be experienced. If you do, either skip that exercise, come back to it as your shoulder gets better. Now, Mike has another video that will help you out if this isn't working. Mike: So if you want to check out another video on some shoulder pain issues you may be having, there's some tests you can check on yourself in this one. " What is Causing Your Shoulder Pain? Tests You Can Do Yourself, Plus Self Treatment (Updated) ." Brad: Yeah. Click it and carry on with your life. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store  and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

We have become a sitting society. And with sitting we have often adopted harmful postures. That we have succumbed to poor posture is not a surprise to most, but what is a surprise is that poor sitting posture can adversely affect your shoulders. Typical sitting posture at a laptop or computer. Head forward posture. Upper back rounded. Shoulders are internally rotated. Shoulders forward. Low back rounded. When you adopt this type of posture you are limiting the range of motion of your shoulders. Compare slumped sitting (move arms forward) and make note of the restricted range of motion of the shoulders. Sit up as straight as possible, move the arm forward again, and compare it to the previous movement. When the movement of the shoulder is impeded by poor posture, you are more likely to impinge the shoulder tendons. Repeated impingements can cause the tendon to gradually wear and break down. It eventually could result in a partial or full tear. Adjusting in your workstation can make it easier for one to correct common posture mistakes and reduce or eliminate stress on their shoulders. Recommended Adjustments These recommendations should be followed when working on a desktop computer, laptop computer, and even a tablet. In the case of the laptop and the tablet, we would strongly recommend purchasing a separate keyboard to use. Without a separate keyboard, it will be virtually impossible for you to obtain good posture and reduce the stress on your shoulders. Working on the computer has become a common source of back, neck, and shoulder pain) Note the “C” posture of the girl in the photo. Many who work at the computer do so for hours on end without any breaks. The lack of breaks and the poor posture lead to shoulder overuse and pain. Recommendations for your Computer Work Station, Laptop, or Tablet: Always adjust your workstation in the following order: A. Chair B. Keyboard C. Mouse D. Screen E. Documents A. Chair Your feet should be firmly on the ground. If they do not reach the ground, you may need a footrest. Use a chair with a firm and upright backrest. If necessary, use a back cushion to provide support to your lower back. Avoid chairs with flexible backrests. The flexible backrest will usually encourage your back to settle into a “C” position. B. Keyboard Your upper arm should be vertical (straight up and down) and your forearm should be level (if you need to look at the keyboard quite often). If able to type without looking at the keyboard, the keyboard may then be slightly sloped below level. This allows your wrists to be as straight as possible. C. Mouse If you tend to use your mouse more than the keyboard, you may want to position the mouse in front of you, instead of off to the side. The placement of the mouse should be level with the keyboard. D. Screen Position the screen approximately 25-40 inches from your eyes. The further you can sit from the screen, the less fatiguing it is for your eyes. To find your ideal eye-to-screen distance, keep moving your screen further back until it is difficult to view. Then, slowly move the screen closer until it is the most comfortable distance from your eyes. Most screens are placed too low. If your screen is too low, you are going to round your upper back and increase the stress on your shoulders. Use books or a stand to raise your screen up. The top of the screen should be at least a few inches above your eyes when your back, neck, and head are in good posture. If you are using a laptop computer, it is essential for you to obtain a separate wireless keyboard. If you wear bifocals or trifocals you should purchase a pair of reading glasses designed to be used with your computer screen. Set so you can comfortably view your screen 30-40 inches away. If you do not, you will be constantly putting your head forward and tipped back to see through your bifocals. It is impossible to obtain good posture in that position and it will indirectly place more stress on your shoulders. E. Documents Use a document holder to help prevent you from looking down at your desk, rounding out your upper back, and placing increased stress on your shoulders. The document holder is generally best positioned directly below your screen, or to the side of it. Remember to move. Get up every twenty minutes and do a few stretching exercises. Walk, whenever possible. While you are at the computer you can perform shoulder shrugs, neck extensions, and shoulder extensions. Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/wRwg5JtHt-E Mike: Today's video is a little unique because we are going to rank the muscles women find most attractive in men. Brad: Yes, now, we've done some extensive research on this and we've found, we went right to the bottom of this, and anyways, we don't go into this area much, but we do have them ranked, one through six. And we're going to start out with number six and go to number one. Mike: And for each muscle group we'll show an exercise you can do to try to get it to grow and maybe you'll attract a mate. Brad: Yeah, let's see how this goes. Now, please give us your comments and feedback about what we're saying here. We want to know, we're just two guys, and Bob's the one who created this topic. So we want some feedback, we're going to have some fun with it. But you know, there is some good advice about exercise. These exercises are good for other things as well. Mike: I don't need to say anything. Brad: Alright, number six, the bottom of the barrel is calves. Now, this actually surprised me. It never even crossed my mind. It's like, either the calves or the calve-nots. Anyways, so having good calves is important. And why, Mike? Mike: Well, they're a very functional muscle in general because you need to walk with them. Plus I did ask a few females if they actually thought this was true, and they said yes, and I was quite surprised, to be honest. Brad: Right, so if you're walking around and you're one of those big muscle-bound people upstairs or above the waist, and then you have skinny little calves, it's a little bit awkward-looking, I understand. Mike: No one likes chicken legs. Brad: Chicken legs. Mike: So we're going to show you an exercise for how to strengthen them. Brad: I like them barbecued on the grill. Alright, so it is an excellent exercise to get these muscles larger, and this is a bodyweight exercise, you just need some stairs, go ahead, Mike. Go through it. Mike: So these are called calf raises. To start, you're going to stand on the edge of a step on the balls of your feet. Hold onto the rails for support, and I'm just going to push up and go down. Brad: Ooh. Mike: Now, doing these on the stairs works the full range of motion of your ankle joint, which helps strengthen the calf muscles and make them bigger. If you want more of a challenge, if this seems easy, you can definitely go to a single leg variation. Obviously, you're not going to do as many repetitions with single legs, it's a lot more challenging. If you want to make it harder, simply hold onto a weight while you're doing this. Brad: Yeah, boy, you've been doing your calf exercises, Mike. Mike: I try, it's just my big upper body gets hauled around by these little legs, so it's developed. Brad: All right, good. It's a really good exercise and it really is complete. Let's go to the next one. Mike: Number five is shoulder muscles, in particular, the big deltoid muscles. Now, women often find this attractive, or at least, we think so because having a strong upper body makes you able to fend off any harm that may happen to them. Brad: So we're talking in prehistoric days where, you know, the man was more dominant to protect the woman. That's not so true anymore, they don't need us. Mike: Well, what if someone is burglarizing you? I mean, broad shoulders aren't going to do a thing. Brad: That's right, but anyway, if this is true, we're going to show a great exercise to get those stronger. Mike: Okay, the exercise we're going to do is called a lateral raise or shoulder abduction. So what you're going to do is simply raise your arms out to your side, and then back down. We picked this exercise because most men of any age can do this even if they have some shoulder limitations. Brad: Now, it is important in regards to keeping a healthy shoulder, we're going to stop at 90 degrees or straight out. We want to avoid going up overhead. It can lead to some impingement problems or if you've had impingement in the past, it can re-irritate them and cause problems. Not a good thing to have. Mike: You can do these with a resistance band or a dumbbell of sorts. You probably want to do two dumbbells, one on each side, or even a cable machine, if you have one. Brad: That's right, and again, the big advantage with bands is you can get different color bands and when you need more resistance it's very easy. Or if I spread my legs farther out, that adds more resistance, which makes it very convenient to get more resistance. Mike: And for muscular growth, you typically need three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions, depending upon the weight. Brad: Alright, so we're going to go to the number four muscle group or muscle. And we started with the calf, to the shoulder. We're going to stay upstairs and we're going to go to the pectoralis muscles, the chest muscles. Mike: Again, big pec muscles show signs of strength plus, apparently, women like cuddling large chest muscles on men. Who knew? To work the pectoral muscles, they typically, do a pushing motion or a flying motion. If you want to work the upper pec muscles here, you do pushing. If you want to work the sternal area, the inside muscles of the pec, you're going to do a flying motion. Mike: I like to do dumbbell presses at the gym. Obviously, we don't have that set up here so I'll kind of mimic it. I'll be holding a dumbbell on each side here, and I'm just going to do a press. As I press up, I'm almost punching the ceiling. Notice, I like to twist my forearm up as I go up. You don't have to, some people will stay out here and just press up, do what feels best for your shoulder and your pec muscles. Brad: That's right. Now, I have a different system and I do these at home and I use the bands because I'm a band kind of a guy. So I've got my band against, in the wall anchor, and doing the press like Mike was doing, is like this. Okay, that's a good option. Now, I like to do the fly option here. And the one reason I like the band, I do it standing, it actually strengthens my core as well. So I'm getting the chest and my core, which is coming up in one of the other groups, where you're getting two birds with one stone. I do 10 to 15 reps, two to three sets and they're very nice. And if you want to make it more difficult, simply step further away or add some bands. Brad: Alright, let's go to number three. Alright, now we have to go to the next muscle group. We need to be careful, there may be some sensitive people with this, but it's the glute maximus muscle, yes, the buttock. We do want to work on this because people do actually look at this. Mike: No one likes a flat butt. Brad: Now, Mike, you haven't experienced this and you may not, but no pun intended, there is a syndrome called flat butt syndrome. It typically happens to all males, once you get 50s or 60 and older, the old gluteus just starts to shrink. And it's a problem and we know it. Okay, we have two different versions of the exercise for this muscle group. The old man version, of course, and Mike's younger man version. Pick whatever one works for you. Mike: There are numerous other exercises that work the glute as well, but I'm going to show lunges. There are many variations of lunges you can do. You can simply do kind of a split squat stance. Hold on to weight if you want to. If it's too challenging, you don't have to. Now, if you want to really work just one leg at a time, you can stay in the same position, upright torso here. And after a while, you're going to really start working this glute. Obviously, I'm working other muscles in my legs as well, but I often feel it in the glute. You want to do this on both sides, so make sure to switch. Mike: Now, you can also do walking lunges where you're actually walking and doing them. Or you can just do a stationary lunge. You can go forward or backward, whatever works for you. Pick which variation of a lunge you like. Brad: Or you could go with this isolated, weight-bearing lunge, which I like. I'm not saying it's better than that option, but I'm saying this is what I do. All right, I actually started doing this because I wanted to get my glute muscles firing better so that I can run better and eliminate some back pain. But it works for this as well. I use a loop band , a wider one, you need to have something solid like either a bedpost or a post on your steps. I put it on the wall anchors . This is exactly how I do it at home. I come around and I simply do hip thrusters. Now, I can put my hands on my glute maximus and I can feel those muscles contract very well. I'll do 10 of these and then I'll take the Booyah Stik for balance. And now, I'm working just one side and isolating it. And I'm really focusing, I'm palpating with my left hand so I got some biofeedback. In other words, I'm feeling that muscle contract. I'll do 10 on that side and then I'll do 10 on the other side. I really think this is also helping my running as well. Most people don't run, it's not a thing, but if you're working the glutes, it works well, I think. Mike: Looks like a cool dance move, Brad. Brad: Well, yeah, I didn't want to mention that but that is a different video. Mike: Number two is forearms, which is a surprise to me because most people, I think, just say arms, but the forearm in particular. Typically, if a man has developed forearms, it means they use their hands a lot. They have strong hands, and a strong grip can help build a shelter or fend off predators. Brad: And what more does a person need? No, actually, it is very important. And you know, that's why if you roll your sleeves up, you know, Tanner was just saying that it all fits together, that is observed. Mike: I do fend off deer but I don't think they're predators. Brad: Oh wow. Mike: Now, to strengthen the forearms typically, you have to work on your grip. So technically, anytime you're carrying something, you'll be working your forearms. But to really isolate them, you have to go in a flexion motion and an extension motion. To take any other muscle groups out of it it's best to have support, so I'm on a countertop here. If you're at a gym, you can do these on a bench with a dumbbell. So all you're going to do is open your palm up and then curl up and flex your wrist. You're going to do 10 to 15 repetitions of these. Then you wanna work into the opposite direction and work on extending the wrist. Try to keep my elbow here right, lateral of me and not have it too far out in front. Brad: Alright, let's go to the option with bands. I've got the bands with the handles, which is very common. Put that down on the floor like this, step on it with your foot. I've got another tool here that's very interesting, I'll show you in a bit. You simply do the same mechanics that Mike demonstrated, and it's important that you open up and allow the fingers to do some work because that's all part of the grip in the forearm muscles. Then simply turn over and do it the other way. Then make sure you do both hands. Brad: Now, this device here, is a forearm strengthener. It was actually engineered by an engineer who was a rock climber, and he wanted to get his arms and hands strong. And I use this one on a regular basis. I like it for wrist strength, as well as the stiffness in my fingers and my hands. It really works well like this. And I've got all these bands and I strengthen, open it up and it works really well because it's exactly what it is designed for. There are a number of bands so that you can loosen it up. So I use all four bands or all four bands when I do my flexion. And then when I do my extension, which is always weaker than your flexion, I go like this with only two bands, and these are just loose. And then I'll work this way and I'll go one step farther and I'll go thumbs up and work this direction as well. It's a wonderful device. If you want to get serious about wrist strengthening, and forearms, I would definitely invest in one of these. I love it. Mike: And the number one, which may seem a little obvious, is six-pack abs. Obviously, if you have a stronger core, and stronger abs, typically, women just tend to be more attracted to it. Brad: Right, and obviously, Mike or I do not have a six-pack because we're not going to expose our stomachs. But yeah, six-packs are what everybody wants. Now, I'm from Wisconsin, and Wisconsin is a beer-drinking state with a football problem or something like that. There are a lot of beer bellies in Wisconsin. Not attractive. And I know, because I see it all the time. Alright, we're going to show you some really good ab exercises, but right after that we're going to talk about the key to getting that six-pack, there's no doubt about that. Let's show the exercises first. Mike: So the first exercise is going to work the rectus abdominis, or the six-pack muscles. It's a typical crunch, but what we're going to do is show a variation that is safer on your back. So I'm going to keep a straight, flat back. I'm going to crunch up but basically, just lift my shoulder blades off of the mat, and then come back down. If you want to put your hands behind your head, you certainly can, but you do not need to. Also, don't crunch and curl forward, that'll be harder on your neck. Simply go up, hold for a second, and come back down. If this seems way too easy for you, you can simply lift your legs off the mat. Brad: Ooh. Mike: Try bringing one up as you're crunching, and back down. Holding this and doing 10 on each side is going to get those abs firing well. Brad: Wow, that is tough. Alright, another option. This is what I do and it's because I want to have a strong core, you know, six packs' on my mind, but not so much. If you have a ball, this really is a functional exercise and you can do it prone. Simply do the teepee up, I call it. You can do 10 of those, really works that core, that ab, what muscle group was that again? Mike: The transverse abdominis? Brad: Yeah. And then you can advance to one leg. I really, really enjoy working with the ball because you cannot go wrong with the ball. The ball is wonderful. Mike: That's way more balance and proprioception as well. But you're getting some core work in there. Brad: There you go. Now, the number one thing about getting a six-pack has nothing to do with your exercises. It has to do with what you put in your mouth. Mike: Yes, most everyone has ab muscles. They're just often covered with some adipose tissue. Brad: Right, yeah. So diet, you lose weight at the table, you build muscle in the gym. Mike: Or Brad's house. Brad: Well if anybody continued to watch all the way till the end, this was a tough one for us. We really weren't sure what to expect and how it was going to work out. So I hope you've got something out of it. And we do have another video that will help people out, right? Mike: This is " 7 Strengthening Exercises ALL Seniors Should Do! Period! " So a little different, but still good strengthening exercises. Brad: That's right. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store  and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of  2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/_4PSLK6YZg4 Mike: Because of a recent popular video talking about the horse stance, we thought you'd want to learn another 1,000-year-old karate stance that can help strengthen your legs. Brad: That's right, so we felt that you would benefit from learning the front stance. Now, the front stance has some unique benefits you'll receive other than strengthening the legs. And we're going to get into, and you can do this on a daily basis. Now, Bob talks about the split squat being one of the best leg-strengthening exercises, particularly if you're over 55. There's a lot of truth to that. Brad: But, I'm saying the front stance is actually better and superior. Let's talk about why. Now we're going to talk a little bit about the mechanics of the front stance so you understand why it offers such good benefits with balance. So we have two blue lines here that demonstrate where the foot placement is going to be. So in the front stance, we're going to step out and have a wide base to start and then step forward. Mike, can you step forward? So his feet are staying forward, and the toes are forward, which feels a little awkward, but you get some good stretching as a result. The front knee, make sure that it's over the toe, so you bow it out a little bit. You can put your hands at your waist. Brad: If your balance is not stable, simply hold onto the wall, a cupboard, or a Booyah Stik , so you have stability. Brad: Mike is young and strong and with good balance and will demonstrate how much more solid he is with this wide base and his feet and legs glued to the floor. Brad: The next really important part is the back leg, this knee is straight, look at the heel. It's down, down on the floor and that stretches the heel cord, and this hip gets stretched. This offers hip flexibility for good posture. This offers a stretch on the ankle to help eliminate foot drag or toe drop when you're walking. A nice benefit, particularly when you're older. Brad: Okay, now the exercise itself, I'm going to talk about how we're going to get this to strengthen the leg, feed our wide apart, toes pointed forward. We stepped forward into that wide deep stance. This front leg is going to do most of the exercise. This muscle, the quadriceps is going to strain and probably burn a little bit after about five to 10 seconds. Brad: Make sure you're not leaning forward and you're up in good posture. Brad: After you feel the burn, and approximately three breaths. Breathing is absolutely critical. I need to get up a little bit. I'm starting to burn. Okay, now we'll go to the other side. Do the other leg. Breathe in your nose, exhale out your mouth, and relax everything. When you learn to relax your upper body and allow the lower body to work, you're really going to find a big difference in your balance and your strengthening. And then you feel much more comfortable. I'm going to come back and I'm going to do the right leg again. Again, knees bowed out, toes are pointed forward, and relax. Exhale, three to five breaths, whatever it takes. If it becomes too easy simply take a deeper stance and try to keep that back heel down. That gets more difficult and the strengthening part gets more difficult as well. Brad: Now, make sure that you do use a stick, a cane, or a cupboard for balance when you start out because it is a little awkward at first. So you're going to do this on a daily basis. If you get sore muscles after the first day, which you may if you haven't done these before, every other day is the best sequence. Alright, now let's relate this, not to strengthening, but a practical source in regards to picking something up. Some people have a hard time, particularly as we age, to bend over and pick something up and be steady. Well, with this, you simply step forward. Let's say I want to pick up that shoe. Here we are, we're in that stable stance. Now, I'm going to take this arm, I'm going to rest it on my thigh over here, and I can easily come down and pick up the shoe or whatever it may be that you want to pick up. So another benefit of the front stance. Mike, do you have anything to say about the front stance? This is new to you. Mike: You are much more known in the karate world than I am, so I just want to see you throw a kick with it. That's about all. Brad: Well, you know that's a different program. That's another show entirely. But yeah, we did throw a few kicks from that stance. Mike: Now if you want to check out more videos specifically on leg strengthening, check out our video " One Life Changing Exercise For Stronger Legs (50+) ." This video talks more about the split squat, which is something I am much more comfortable doing, personally. Brad: Yeah, but you just wait until you try this a few times. You are going to be front stancing, back stancing, and horse stancing. Mike: I'm going to lose all my karate fights. Brad: And no dancing at all. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store  and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

It is quite common to experience shoulder pain in bed or while sleeping. Shoulder pain at night can often be attributed to poor positioning. Common problems: Sleeping on painful shoulder side. This may be due to habit. One should avoid sleeping directly on a painful shoulder if possible. If not, we will show you an option. Option One: Sleep on the nonpainful shoulder and support the painful shoulder arm with two pillows. Place one pillow on the bed lengthwise next to the body. Place the second pillow on top of the first pillow. Tuck the pillow in the armpit of the painful shoulder and allow the remainder of the arm to rest on the pillow. Make it comfortable. Option Two: Sleep directly on the painful shoulder. Reduce stress by creating on canal. Use two pillows to support the head in a side-lying position. Have a third smaller pillow or throw pillow to place about 6 to 8 inches from the two pillows. This creates the canal. Lie on your painful side and place the painful shoulder/arm in the canal. Pressure will be distributed to your head, rib cage, and partially to the painful shoulder. But much less stress than normal. Option Three: Sleep on the painful shoulder side but roll back slightly. This will take any pressure off the point of the shoulder and it will be felt more on your shoulder blade and back. Use a pillow to support your back in that position. Sleeping on stomach with arms overhead. This should be avoided at all costs. We suggest this extreme measure if you continue to sleep on your stomach. Sew a tennis ball into the front of a t-shirt. With a ball in place, any attempts to lie on your stomach will be extremely uncomfortable. Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program