Aching Neck and Shoulders? Try Strength Training

Posted March 8, 2008 at 04:00 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: In The News, His Fitness, Strength Training, Injuries & Rehab

The more time you spend at the computer and the less time you spend at the gym, you may notice pain in your neck and/or shoulders. New research suggests that strength training may ease chronic neck and shoulder pain.

This chronic pain in the neck and shoulders (or within the shoulder blades) commonly stems from the upper trapezius muscle, which spans the upper back and shoulders, and helps move the neck. As humans, our bodies are built for strong movement of the larger muscles, not fine movment of small muscles. Repeatedly performing “monotonous” tasks, such as computer operations like typing on a keyboard or slightly moving the mouse, can cause the muscle to become tight and tender.

A research study (published in the Journal Arthritis & Rheumatism) looked at this exact phenomenon, to try and explain why this chronic pain is happening and find ways of how it can be relieved. The study included 48 Danish women with chronic trapezius pain, most of whom spent much of their workday in front of a computer. Researchers randomly assigned the women to either perform supervised strengthening exercises or aerobic exercise, or to get general health counseling.

After 10 weeks, women who strength-trained showed a 70 percent to 80 percent decrease in their pain ratings from the beginning of the study. In contrast, those who got aerobic exercise often felt better in the couple hours afterward, but there was no long-term pain improvement.

According to Dr. Lars L. Andersen, of the National Research Centre for Working Environment in Copenhagen, the results suggest that specific exercises targeting sore neck and shoulder muscles can bring more pain relief than general exercise, according to lead researcher. Strength training boosts the metabolism of protein in muscle, and this might help repair painful muscle tissue. In addition, stronger muscles can bear more of a workload, which might help prevent pain from developing.

The strength exercises used in the study were simple, standard ones for the shoulders and upper back — like slowly shrugging the shoulders while holding a weight in each hand, arms extended by the sides of the body. So they can be performed at home, Andersen said.

Research sources and for more information: [MSNBC]; [picture]