Facebook Pixel
Brookbush Institute Logo
Preview

Deep Cervical Flexor Progression for Range of Motion (ROM)

Learn how to do the Deep Cervical Flexor Progression exercises to improve your range of motion (ROM) in the neck. In this simple video tutorial, get step-by-step instructions on properly increasing the ROM in your neck.

12 likes

Transcript

00:00 - 00:03This is Brent coming at you with another progressions video for the deep
00:03 - 00:07cervical flexors. Now we've been through isolated activation exercise, we've been
00:07 - 00:11through two progressions videos for stabilization exercise, now if we've
00:11 - 00:16managed to activate the deep cervical flexors and then increase endurance and
00:16 - 00:20stabilization so that an individual is able to maintain, good, cervical posture,
00:20 - 00:25it's time for us to start working on that range of motion that was lost. Now I
00:25 - 00:28have to thank Doctor of Physical Therapy Michelle Petrowski, over at Dynamic
00:28 - 00:33Sports Physical Therapy for giving me the idea for these progressions, they all
00:33 - 00:37start the same way. They're all going to start with one of our upper body
00:37 - 00:42activation exercises to stabilize the scapula and help to inhibit those
00:42 - 00:48overactive synergists in the cervical spine, followed by retraction to activate
00:48 - 00:52the deep cervical flexors, and then we're going to work in to whatever range of
00:52 - 00:56motion that we've lost. I have my friend Leanne to come help me out. She's going
00:56 - 01:00to demonstrate these exercises. The first thing we're going to do is a very common
01:00 - 01:03exercise you have seen, which is that bilateral, external rotator
01:03 - 01:07activation up against this wall. I think you will see the advantage of
01:07 - 01:12having this wall here really quickly. This is definitely an exercise that I choose to
01:12 - 01:19use initially, when I'm just starting to work on range of motion. So, Leanne is
01:19 - 01:23going to get into her external rotator activation position, she's going to go
01:23 - 01:28ahead and rotate out, that's the "chest out thumbs out" position, scapula are
01:28 - 01:32stabilized, she's going to retract against the wall, that's going to
01:32 - 01:38activate those deep cervical flexors, and then from here, I can go in any range of
01:38 - 01:42motion that I've lost. Let's say Leanne's lost some flexion, so I can have her try
01:42 - 01:50to touch her sternum and then come back up. If she's lost lateral flexion, having
01:50 - 01:53the wall here is really nice for this one, I can have her go into a
01:53 - 01:58little bit of retraction, and then maintain that retraction as she goes
01:58 - 02:03into lateral flexion, and back. Good. I could do rotation. This is
02:03 - 02:07actually one of my favorite exercises regardless of if somebody is starting, or
02:07 - 02:14has progressed quite a bit, having this wall here to queue somebody into rotation, is
02:14 - 02:19extremely helpful! Now, with whatever range of motion you have lost,
02:19 - 02:23it would seem just from from my experience, you want to get somebody to
02:23 - 02:29activate first, retract, they're going to go into whatever range of motion they
02:29 - 02:34lost, they're going to try to maintain that for two to four seconds, come back
02:34 - 02:39to neutral, and start over. This is what I found to work best from a practical
02:39 - 02:43perspective, and then we can go back to those 12 to 20 repetitions that we
02:43 - 02:47normally do for activation exercise. Now, other than this exercise we could do
02:47 - 02:54cobras. Cobras are great because they they resist depression.
02:54 - 02:59The resistance is pulling upward, so as she pulls down and back we get a lot of
02:59 - 03:04depression in the scapula, we get a lot of inhibition of our lateral flexors of
03:04 - 03:09the cervical spine, which is why I love to use this one to work on lateral
03:09 - 03:16flexion. So, if I have her retract and then move this way, I'm sure Leanne can feel
03:16 - 03:21it. This is a great exercise for working on that active flexibility
03:21 - 03:25of these structures in here, and then she can go back up. If she had only lost
03:25 - 03:28range of motion on that side, I would only go to that side. If she's lost range
03:28 - 03:31of motion in both directions I could have her then go to lateral flexion to
03:31 - 03:36the other side, work on getting all the active flexibility in these structures,
03:36 - 03:41and then back, and then of course she can start over.
03:41 - 03:46Down, she's nice and stabilized here, she's retracted, and then once again go
03:46 - 03:54back into lateral flexion. The next exercise that I really enjoy using for
03:54 - 03:59this deep cervical flexor activation and range of motion, is, I don't know if you
03:59 - 04:03saw that serratus anterior progressions video we did, where we did
04:03 - 04:11this modification of this Sarmon serratus anterior activation, but
04:11 - 04:19if we start with that, here's what happens. As Leanne moves her arms up, and
04:19 - 04:27focuses on scapular depression, she forces her scapula into upward rotation.
04:27 - 04:33That upward rotation already starts to lengthen the levator scapulae, and
04:33 - 04:41lengthening that levator scapulae I can start working on that flexion and
04:41 - 04:45rotation combination that so often becomes a problem for people with
04:45 - 04:53cervical dysfunction. Then she can go into the other direction, and then
04:53 - 04:58relax for a second. Alright, good. Draw-in. Let's do one more rep.
04:58 - 05:05So she can draw-in, squeeze up, make sure she's focusing on scapular
05:05 - 05:14depression, so we forced upward rotation, and she can go here. Now I know I've
05:14 - 05:17thrown out a lot of words, a lot of queues, a lot of information in this video, but I
05:17 - 05:22want to show you guys how easy it is to incorporate all of these exercises in
05:22 - 05:27to an activation sequence, or an upper body warm up for somebody with
05:27 - 05:32cervical spine and upper body dysfunction. So, if Leanne starts off with
05:32 - 05:37her isolated cervical flexor activation, and it works to do this much
05:37 - 05:41better in front of a mirror, but we'll make do with what we've got right now, so
05:41 - 05:46she can start off with her 15 repetitions just doing her deep cervical
05:46 - 05:49flexor activation, so this is getting her prepared to work on those
05:49 - 05:56range of motion exercises. Relax, and back. Now we're going to say that
05:56 - 06:01most of Leanne's problems were on her right side. So I'm going to go ahead, and
06:01 - 06:05after she's done 12 to 20 repetitions of this, have her flip around use
06:05 - 06:07the same wall,
06:10 - 06:16and we're going to have her do her bilateral external rotator
06:16 - 06:22activation, keep her scapula depressed, and now I can have her work on right
06:22 - 06:31lateral flexion, or right rotation. Good. I'll have her do 12 to 20 reps of that, then I
06:31 - 06:38can have her jump over to her cobras.
06:39 - 06:43Same thing here. If I did right rotation here, maybe I want to do right lateral
06:43 - 06:48flexion here, or work on some range of motion she's lost, have her do her 12 to
06:48 - 06:5520 repetitions. Good. Then I can go ahead and have her do her Sarmon exercise.
06:58 - 07:03And now, maybe I worked on rotation here, lateral flexion here, I can work on that
07:03 - 07:09rotation lateral flexion and flexion on this one, going to the levator scapulae
07:09 - 07:15active stretch, and cervical spine range of motion, making sure the whole time I'm
07:15 - 07:19queueing retraction. Now, I realized if I did 12 to 20 reps of that, and I had
07:19 - 07:23it set up in a nice tight area like this, it might take five minutes to get
07:23 - 07:27through this, and I've also activated her external rotators her serratus anterior,
07:27 - 07:33and her lower traps. All of this has been done so that she can go into whatever
07:33 - 07:38upper body exercise, or whatever functional task for her upper body you
07:38 - 07:42want her to be able to do with better form, and of course better motor unit
07:42 - 07:46recruitment. I hope you have enjoyed these exercises, I hope you enjoy
07:46 - 07:51these progressions, I hope you get great outcomes!

Comments

Guest

Related Videos

3 Certifications, 165+ Courses, 500+ videos, and so much more!

The Brookbush Institute (BI) continues to improve affordability, access, flexibility, and convenience to the highest-quality education.

The Bl is the only approved/accredited certification and continuing education course provider with a true monthly membership model (cancel anytime).

This reduces the initial cost of education to just 3-5% of comparable education, improving access to complete, continue, or just "try" education with low financial risk. Don't get fooled by great marketing to make a large purchase for potentially sub-optimal education. Become a member, and find out why we think this is the way education should be!


or
Sign Up with Email Address
Already Have an Account? Sign In