The uppermost major muscles on your body are the trapezius and rhomboids. The trapezius or "traps" extend along the back of the neck to about mid-back. The rhomboids lie underneath the traps from the bottom of the neck to just below your scapula (shoulder blades). You felt these muscles work together the very first time someone called "attention" and "let's square those shoulders." Shrugging your shoulders and pulling the shoulder blades down are all outcomes of the traps. The rhomboids play a very minor if any role in these last two.

Lift 1: Lateral raise

This is a primary tool to keep the traps and rhomboids strong. You will want to go light weight on these since you should lift in a smooth motion from your sides to even with your shoulder line and be able to return the dumbbells to your sides again in a smooth motion. Do not rotate your upper arm or shoulder inward at the top of the lift, which can lead to shoulder impingement.

  • Let the dumbbells hang at your sides, palms facing forward, elbows slightly bent. Feet are shoulder-width apart.
  • Raise your arms straight out to your sides until at shoulder level (form a T).
  • Pause and then lower the dumbbells back to your sides.

Lift 2: Cable row to neck with external rotation

A bonus on this is that the last part, of rotating your upper arms backward, strengthens the rotator cuff, which will help stabilize shoulder joints. You can also do this standing or lying on a bench — just change the clip-in point to the top of the weight stack.

  • Attach a rope handle (the one normally used for triceps pull-downs has a clip in the center so that it forms two handles) to a weight machine cable, linking in at the bottom clip of a weight stack. Sit on the floor in front of the weights. Choose a lighter weight to start until you master a smooth technique.
  • With palms facing each other, grab the bottom end of the rope with each hand.
  • Now the technical part: Pull the middle of the rope (the part that clips to the weight stack) to your face. As you do this, rotate your upper arms up and back. Your finish position will have your hands about ear level, your elbows will be straight out to the at your sides and your shoulder blades will be squeezed together. Imagine a referee signaling a touchdown but keeping his hands at ear level and shoulder width.
  • Slowly return to the start.

Lift 3: Dumbbell shrug

This lift places less stress on shoulder joints than the barbell shrug since you don't rotate your shoulders, keeping them more stable. You can go heavy on this one.

  • Let the dumbbells hang at your sides, palms facing each other.
  • Shrug your shoulders as high as you can. Try to touch your ears without moving any other part of your body.
  • Slowly return to the start.

Best stretch

You only need to do two reps of this upper-back stretch.

  • Place your hands on the ball about 6 inches apart, palms facing each other.
  • Lean forward with your hips and press your shoulders toward the floor. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

Bob Thomas is director of the Navy Wellness Center in Pensacola, Florida. Email him at jomof14@cox.net.

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