It's a Team's Life

Rounded Shoulders

By Linda Caffee
Posted Apr 5th 2022 7:52AM

When I started doing a little research on this I found an article about Trucker’s Shoulder in Mother Trucker Yoga. If you have not heard of Mother Trucking Yoga don't feel alone as I had not heard of her till attending the Mid America Truck Show. Funny coincidence as I had just been made aware of how bad my posture was becoming. Her website is well worth the time to look over.

Why is posture so important? How often as a child did you hear “Stand up Straight”? Our parents were right good posture is to center your weight over your feet for balance. As we get older our balance gets worse and I wonder if a lot of the balance issues are due to our posture worsening.

This problem did not happen overnight and the sad part is that the posture has become an unknown habit that will continue to get worse as I age. There are several exercises that can easily be done in the truck to help loosen the shoulders and open the chest muscles. Like any exercise use good judgment to not hurt yourself. The idea is to improve your health not hurt yourself.

One that can easily be done in the truck is when you walk from the sleeper to the cab put both arms on the doorway and stretch your chest muscles. This is called a doorway stretch. When doing this you might be surprised at how tight the muscles are. Go slow and stretch the muscles so as not to tear anything.

Get stretch bands and pull with each hand at shoulder height to pull your shoulder blades together. The stretch band does not take up much room in the truck which is a bonus. The bands are handy for a lot of different strength exercises. I am guessing that while driving you could at different times while driving is to pull your shoulder blades back and together.

Another exercise is the Hand Clasp that is behind the back. Stand or sit up straight and grasp your hands together behind your back. Pull your shoulders back while keeping your head and neck straight. Do not lean your head forward. This stretch will really let you know how tight your chest muscles are.

This exercise can be done while driving or sitting and is called the shoulder blade squeeze. The idea is to pull the shoulders blades back as if pinching a ball between them and hold then repeat.

While researching rounded shoulders the first thing that comes up is to wear a shoulder brace that will pull your shoulders back. There are all different kinds that are easy to put on and take off. They can be worn under your clothes or over your clothes. The shoulder braces along with exercises should help strengthen and your stretch your chest muscles. Hopefully, over time you will be standing straight and not slumping when driving.