Neck, upper back, shoulders and wrists

Upper Body Warm-Up: Chair

The most accessible upper body warm-up: chair support lets you gently mobilise your neck, shoulders, upper back, and wrists with complete comfort and safety.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit back in the chair with your feet flat

   Let the backrest carry you and put both feet on the floor. With your lower back fully supported, nothing below the ribs has to work while you warm the upper body.

2. 2

   Begin at the neck with slow turns and tilts

   Turn your head slowly to one side, then the other, then take each ear gently towards its shoulder. Small and unhurried is the whole idea.

3. 3

   Move out to the shoulders and shoulder blades

   Roll the shoulders backwards a few times, then draw the shoulder blades together and let them slide apart again.

4. 4

   Take the upper back through gentle turning

   Turn your ribs slowly to each side while your hips stay still against the seat.

5. 5

   Finish at the wrists and hands

   Circle the wrists in both directions, then open and close the hands a few times.

6. 6

   Take three to four minutes over the whole sequence

   Move at a pace where every joint gets attention and nothing feels rushed.

What to watch for

The backrest is there so you do not have to hold yourself up, not so you can slide down it. If you notice yourself slumped with your head pushed forward, sit back up first, because an upper back cannot turn from a slump.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Upper Body Warm-Up: Standing

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.