5 Exercises for New-Mom Shoulder Pain

Soothe your shoulder pain with these easy moves to massage and stretch strained muscles.

As moms, the vast majority of our day is spent leaning forward with rounded shoulders. Whether we’re carrying our little ones, changing diapers or lugging strollers in and out of cars, it’s no wonder our neck and shoulders ache at the end of the day.

This easy routine is designed to give you relief from new-mom shoulder pain and prevent poor posture habits from forming.

We will be doing five different stretching, massaging, and lengthening exercises to help you feel relaxed and renewed. These moves will not only help improve posture, but increase mobility and prevent injury.

You just need 5 minutes total, so even the busiest mom (and dad too) can fit this into their day!

Here are the tools you’ll need for this routine:

• 1 Mini Foam Roller
• 1 Tennis Ball

Side Lying Lat Roll-out | 30 sec per side

1. Lie down on your side with your knees bent.
2. Place the foam roller under your bottom shoulder.
3. Place your hands behind your head.
4. Roll up and down to massage your latissimus dorsi muscle (the muscle that runs down your side from your shoulder to your ribs).
5. Spend about 30 seconds slowly rolling out each side.

Tips:

• Turn your chest slightly toward the ceiling to get deeper into the lat and avoid the sensitive armpit area.
• If you feel a knot in your muscle, spend extra time on it and breathe deeply to help the muscle relax.

Upper Back Foam Roller Massage | 60 sec

1. Lie on your back and place the foam roller directly under your shoulder blades.
2. Cross your arms over your chest, grabbing onto both shoulders.
3. Roll up and down to massage your upper back muscles.
4. Spend 1 minute rolling out your upper back.

Tip:

• Keep your butt lifted off the floor to feel more pressure on the foam roller and roll up and down smoothly.

Tennis Ball Shoulder Massage | 30 sec per side

1. Stand with your back against a wall and place the tennis ball behind one shoulder blade.
2. Cross your arms over your chest.
3. Step your feet about 6 inches away from the wall and bend your knees slightly to help you press into the wall and put pressure on the ball.
4. Move in slight circles to massage your shoulders.
5. Work on each side for approximately 30 seconds. Focus on rolling out knots.

Tip:

• A golf ball can be used for harder pressure and to work into smaller spots.

Tennis Ball Neck Massage | 20 sec per side

1. Sit in a comfortable position.
2. Tilt your head to one side to stretch your neck.
3. Press the tennis ball into your neck and roll it around to massage the muscles.
4. Massage each side of your neck for 20 seconds.

Neck Side Stretch | 20 sec per side

1. Sit in a comfortable position.
2. Reach your left arm down towards the ground and touch the ground with your fingertips.
3. Tilt your head to the right.
4. Gently pull on your head with your right fingertips to increase the stretch in your neck.
5. Stretch each side for 20 seconds.

Tip:

• Breathe deeply to focus on relaxing and lengthening.

(Your Next Workout: 6 Exercises for Back Pain During Pregnancy)