Neck, upper back, shoulders and wrists

Upper Body Warm-Up: Standing

An upper body warm-up performed standing, adding a gentle postural challenge while mobilising your neck, shoulders, upper back, and wrists for the session ahead.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand with your feet hip width and knees soft

   Weight spread evenly through both feet. Standing adds a mild postural demand that the seated versions do not have.

2. 2

   Settle your weight before you move anything

   Feel both feet on the floor and let your shoulders drop, so the movements come from a steady base rather than from swaying.

3. 3

   Start at the neck with slow turns and tilts

   Head turning to each side, then each ear towards its shoulder.

4. 4

   Move to the shoulders, then the upper back

   Shoulder rolls and shoulder blade squeezes first, then turn the ribs to each side while your hips stay facing forward.

5. 5

   Finish with the wrists and hands

   Circle the wrists both ways and open and close the hands.

6. 6

   Take three to four minutes, or sit if standing tires

   If standing for this long is uncomfortable, do the same sequence in a chair or on the floor.

What to watch for

Standing still for several minutes is its own demand. If you catch yourself locking the knees or leaning back to reach further, soften the knees and make the movements smaller, and change to a seated version if standing gets uncomfortable.

Ways to adjust it

• Chair
• Floor

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Upper Body Warm-Up: Chair

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: Chair

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.