SCM Stretch

The sternocleidomastoid muscle, or SCM for short, is a neck muscle that connects your collarbone and sternum to your skull, specifically your mastoid process which is right behind your ear. When both SCM are acting together, they flex your head forward. Acting alone, the SCM brings your ear down towards your collarbone - essentially, rotating your head to the opposite side and flexing it down.

The SCM is highly overused as it gets tensed up when we protrude our chins out - typical computer neck posture! To stretch it, you have to rotate your head to the opposite side (so for the left, turn your head to the right), and then extend your head back. To prevent any neck pain or feeling of vulnerability, I recommend sitting up against a surface where you can rest your head after extending. You can also gently massage the muscle while stretching for some extra TLC.

Muscle Strengthening: Scap Squeeze with External Rotation

Mid back strength is a key component to good head/neck/back posture. The muscles on your shoulder blade (or scapula), and the ones that connect the shoulder blade to your spine, are important for keeping your shoulder blades flat against your rib cage, and bringing your shoulders back into a neutral position in the joint.

The scap squeeze activates your lats and rhomboids, and the external rotation activates the infraspinatus and teres minor muscles in your rotator cuff. Using these muscles and teaching them to work together helps improve your body’s postural strength and awareness. I recommend doing 3 sets of 10-15 daily!

Muscle release: Rhomboids

Rhomboid tightness is another culprit in mid-back pain/tightness, and can be a contributor to poor posture, or a results of it. The rhomboids originate from vertebrae C7-T5, and insert into the inner (or medial) border of the scapula - or in regular speak, they attach the inner border of your shoulder blade to your mid-back spine. When working properly, they support your scapula and draw them in towards your spine. They end up overstretched, weak, and tight when we are constantly in forward rounded postures, which is very typical in today's modern culture.

Releasing the tension or trigger points within the muscle can help it begin to function optimally and improve your posture. I recommend doing some wall angels before and after you release, and you may see a significant difference in how you feel!

More wrist positions to avoid

We've talked hyperflexion and hyperextension of the wrist, but we haven't covered wrist deviation yet! Our wrists can deviate two ways - to the radial (or thumb) side, or to the ulnar (or pinky) side. Staying in a deviated position for a prolonged time can lead to overuse injury, since the muscles that control the deviating motion are overworked and can become inflamed. That inflammation results in pain anywhere from your wrist, up your forearm to your elbow, since the muscles that control your wrist joint originate at the elbow.

I highly recommend setting up a camera to capture your wrist posture while you knit, to give you a true sense of what your joints are doing! I've also found that resting your forearm on a pillow or soft surface can help provide tactile feedback to maintain neutral wrist positioning, without compressing the forearm muscles and nerves.

How to weave in ends pain-free

Weaving in ends is one of the final steps before an FO is officially an FO - and let's face it, a lot of us hate it. Maybe you hate it because it's tedious, or maybe you hate it because it creates a lot of pain - if the latter is you, then here are my tips for pain-free end weaving.

Make sure your space is well lit! Better lighting means you won't hang your head down or scrunch your body up to see your work. Make sure you're seated in good posture - chin tucked, shoulder blades slightly squeezed, shoulders neutral, and back straight. Weaving in ends can take some time, so you definitely want your body to be in optimal posture. Lastly, using a pillow or soft surface to elevate and carry the weight of your project will prevent your head/neck from contorting and hanging downwards, and take the weight off of your hands and wrists.

How to knit on 9in circulars

Let's talk knitting with shorties! 9in circulars for knitting socks or sleeves have become popular in recent years - and let's face it, why would you want to do magic loop or DPNs if you can just keep knitting continuously?! Makes sense! However, many people run into pains and aches quickly with the small circumference needles, especially at tighter gauges and tiny needles with socks.

I converted successfully to knitting my sleeves on shortie needles, but hadn't done it yet for socks. In the name of research, I moved my sock WIP over to a 9in circular and analyzed my hand and wrist postures and where I subsequently felt pain. The reel highlights what I have found are common postural "mistakes" that can happen. In summary - my best tips to you are to relax your grip as much as possible, and to keep your wrist neutral - avoid hyper extending or flexing, and avoid any wrist deviation as well. I found that resting my wrists on a pillow on my lap also helped maximize my grip relaxation and maintain a more neutral wrist posture. Above all - take your time and be patient - change takes time and practice!

How to use pillows for support while knitting/crocheting

Pillows can be a great tool to help support your body while you're knitting/crocheting. Placing a pillow under your knees can help alleviate low back strain or knee pain - if you're someone who has sciatic pain, that slight bend in your knees will also decrease any nerve discomfort you're experiencing. A pillow behind the low back helps to prevent excessive curvature of your low back, and to prevent an excessive posterior pelvic tilt. Placing pillows behind your head/neck takes out the stress and tension of holding your head up and can allow your shoulders and neck muscles to relax a bit. Lastly, pillows can be used to elevate your project closer to eye level to avoid compromising neck posture. The softness of pillows also prevent any compression of the brachial nerves in your forearms and wrists while they're resting on it. Pillows under your elbows can also take some stress off your shoulders and prevent any "shoulder hiking". I find that they're also a great way to take the weight off any large and heavy projects, such as large sweaters or blankets!

How (not) to lift

One of the most common ways that people injure or “throw out” their backs is from bending over and lifting. A common tip you will hear is to use your legs - which means to bend your knees and squat, so that the power needed to lift an object off the surface comes from your leg muscles and not your back. Keeping your back straight and your core muscles engaged will also help protect your back and keep it healthy when you bend down and lift. Another key part to lifting is to keep the object as close to your body as possible - and as close to your center of gravity too, which is usually located right in front of your tailbone when you’re standing. Try to always carry objects in front of you and at hip height if possible - I often will brace it against my hip bones as an added help. The further away you hold it from your body, the more weight and pressure ends up in your low back. Avoid twisting or side bending your back if possible too!

How (not) to wind yarn

Winding yarn can be a tedious but necessary chore before casting on a project. It can lead to pain due to the repetitive nature of the movement required, and depending on how many skeins you wind at once, how long it takes. It can be tempting to get it done with poor posture and body mechanics, but if you want to be smart and avoid falling into the trap of chronic pain, it is well worth the effort to do the job the correct way.

Basic body mechanics that you should look to achieve: keep your torso and low back straight, keep your wrist neutral. Avoid excessive motion from your wrist, and avoid bending over while winding. If your winder is lower than elbow-height, either kneel or sit in a chair to bring your body to the appropriate height. If you are winding multiple skeins, I also recommend switching which arm you wind with, to even things out and avoid overworking one arm.

TMJ Massage

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the connection between your jaw and your skull, and the pivot point that allows you to open and close your mouth. There are several muscles that control your jaw - the main 4 are the temporalis, masseter, lateral pterygoid, and medial pterygoid. The ptyergoid muscles can become tight if you chronically clench or grind your jaw.

How to know if you clench your jaw? Well, you will either have a really sore jaw or get frequent headaches or neck pain. Fun fact - TMJ dysfunction and neck pain are highly interrelated; in fact, half of TMJ care in physical therapy is related to the neck and posture. When your jaw is at rest, or what we call "resting position or open pack position", your mouth should be slightly open, with lips together and teeth not touching. Your tongue should also be resting on the roof of your mouth right behind your top front teeth.

The good news is, that tight TMJ muscle react well to massage. Just a few minutes of intense and deep massage to these muscles will go a long way to help relieve pain and tightness. If you suffer from chronic pain, I recommend that you perform the massage daily for 5-10 minutes, and also work on identifying when you are clenching your jaw and practicing the resting position.

Muscle strengthening: Clamshells

Hip pain and/or weakness is extremely common in today's sedentary culture, and can be especially pervasive with all the sitting we do while we knit/crochet/craft. The external rotators of the hip become weak with increased sitting and can cause pain. The muscles that make up the external rotators are the piriformis, gamellus inferior and superior, obturator internus and externus, and quadratus femoris. Many of these muscles also help stabilize our pelvis so weakness can also cause instability and pain in those areas. Fun fact - the sciatic nerve (the largest and longest nerve in your body!) either travels under the piriformis or pierces through the piriformis depending on your individual anatomy, so tightness in that muscle has the potential to cause tingling/numbness as well.

My favorite exercise to target these muscles is the clamshell. Form is important for activating the correct muscles, so make sure your hips are stacked and not rotating, feet together, and knees slightly bent at 30 degrees, with your feet in line with your spine. I recommend 3 sets of 15 reps daily for both sides; and if that is too easy, you can go up to 3 sets of 30 reps. A theraband to provide resistance is nice to have but not necessary; you can always increase your reps to challenge yourself more.

Muscle strengthening: Wrist flexion & extension

There are many muscles that contribute to the actions of wrist flexion and extension; for the sake of brevity and simplicity, we will call them the wrist flexor group and the wrist extensor group. One thing you may not know is that the muscles that control your wrist actually originate up by or below your elbow - so if you are having any elbow tenderness or forearm tenderness, what you need to do is strengthen your wrist! The wrist also does the actions of pronation, supination, radial deviation, and ulnar deviation. If you would like to learn how to strengthen those muscles, I have a Wrist Rehab 101 video on my Patreon for subscribers.

Wrist strength is especially important for crafters and makers - we rely so much on our hands and wrists to be healthy and we use them a lot. You can do these 2 exercises daily, for 3 sets of 10 reps. Make sure you move through the entire range of motion (as long as it's painfree!) as I demonstrated with my hand hanging off the surface edge.

Muscle strengthening: Wall Angels

A major contributor to poor posture is often weak upper back muscles - usually the middle trapezius, rhomboids, lower trapezius, and latissimus dorsi. These muscles act to draw your shoulder blades back and together, and also pull the humeral head back - bringing your upper body into the correct upright posture. They end up weak and overstretched with all the time we spend sitting with our arms in front of us - using the computer, driving, knitting/crocheting/crafting.

The wall angel is a great exercise to strengthen all 4 muscles, as well as stretch out the front of your chest. It can feel very uncomfortable at first, but the discomfort will ease the more you practice over time.

Muscle strengthening: Chin Tuck

A common culprit in neck pain and poor head/neck posture is weak deep neck flexor muscles. This muscle group is comprised of longus capitius, longus colli, rectus capitus anterior, and rectus capitus lateralis. These muscles are small and short, and sit extremely close to the spine. Because of this, they are essential in head/neck control and stability.

The chin tuck exercise is the first step in activating this muscle group. You can also do this lying on your back if you have neck pain or if this is difficult to do sitting up. This is also the optimal position for your head to be in without adding additional weight or stress to your neck. Increase the amount of time you hold the chin tuck to improve endurance, and you can also progress to different positions (on all fours, lying on your stomach) to challenge the strength.

Muscle releasing: Neck pain (Levator scapulae)

We spend a lot of time looking down, whether it's down at our phones or down at our knitting/crocheting projects. If you aren't slightly tucking your chin back (for explanation see my reel on neck postures to avoid), a lot of pressure and weight is falling on your levator scapulae muscles to hold your head up. The levator scapulae muscle originates on the inner top border (superior medial border) of your shoulder blade and runs up to attach on your upper cervical spine. A lot of muscular neck pain can be from this muscle being overworked, overstretched, and tight.

Muscle releasing: Shoulder Pain (Pecs and Lats)

If you've got any shoulder tightness or pain, chances are your pectoralis muscles and latissimus dorsi muscles are tight. Even if you don't have pain, you'd be surprised at how tight these muscles are, which actually isn't that surprising considering how common a forward rounded shoulder posture is these days. Releasing these tight muscles is the first step in improving your posture too! If the pecs and lats are too tight, you won't be able to sustain good posture since your body won't physically be able to stay in that position long.

Muscle releasing: Low back pain (QL)

Low back pain is one of the most prevalent conditions affecting adults. It can be due to any variety of reasons, but one common consequence is a tight quadratus lumborum muscle (QL). The QL muscle originates on your iliac crest and runs up to attach on your lumbar vertebrae and the bottom of your 12th rib. Its main action is to extend your back, and also side bend your back. Releasing this muscle can help with low back pains and aches.

Reminder- foam rolling can feel very intense, especially this one! Go slow, take deep breaths, relax into the discomfort.

Muscle releasing: Hip flexors and TFL

With all the sedentary sitting that we do in modern society, nearly everyone has got tight hip flexor muscles. Tight hip flexors can lead to hip pain, low back pain, and other issues as it throws off the natural alignment that our bodies should be in.

The main hip flexor muscle is the iliopsoas, which is really a combination of the iliacus and psoas muscles. It runs from the low back vertebrae down to the front of the thigh. The tensor fascia lata muscle (TFL) is located just in front of the side hip bone (greater trochanter). These bony landmarks can be a bit difficult to find if you're not a super bony person, so I encourage you to google images to help you find them. The iliopsoas flexes your hip, bringing your knee closer to your stomach. The TFL helps with that and also helps stabilize your pelvis. Fun fact - the TFL attaches into your IT band, which we covered in the knee pain reel!

Again - muscle releasing using either the lacrosse ball or foam roller can be very intense! Take your time, take deep breaths, relax into the discomfort.

Muscle releasing: Knee Pain

Knee pain can be due to any number of factors - tight muscles, strained ligaments or tendons, overworked muscles, poor mechanics, etc. What I have found is that wherever there is pain, there are usually tight muscles. These muscles can be tight and causing the pain (by pulling on the joints abnormally), or be tight in response to pain (think whiplash and protection). Muscle releasing can help in reducing pain and discomfort, and is usually one of the first steps in healing. The knee joint can be affected by the muscles above and below it, but for today we will focus on the muscles above it. These include your ilitotibial band (IT band), quad muscles, and hamstring muscles. Make sure to foam roll the whole length, from the top of your hip down to your knee. If you find an especially tender spot, you can spend some time on it. Foam rolling can feel very intense, so take your time and try to relax your body into it - I like to imagine my muscles melting into the foam roller. Muscle twitching or spasms are common too - that just means you really need it!

Positions to avoid: Neck and Head

The average head weights between 10-12lbs. Did you know that for every inch the head is forward, it's an extra 10lbs of weight through your neck? That's why it's important to keep your head and neck neutral, and to keep your ears stacked above your shoulders. All that extra weight from poor posture will lead to overworked and overstretched muscles. Keeping the chin slightly tucked is also essential to good head/neck posture, and will keep those deep neck flexor muscles working the way they should. Even if you stretch daily, you will still have neck pain if you continue to knit and craft in poor posture.

Positions to avoid: Elbows and Shoulders

The ideal ergonomic elbow position is flexed at 90deg. Try to keep your elbows loosely at your sides; holding them out causes your shoulder muscles unnecessary work. Relaxing the shoulders to prevent any tension in your upper trapezius muscles is probably one of the hardest postures to achieve - a lot of us tend to carry stress in our shoulders and if you pause and think about your shoulders, you’ll be surprised to see how tense they are when you aren’t even aware. Excessive tension and overuse of the upper trapezius muscles can lead to shoulder and neck pain since the muscles originate up in your cervical spine.

Positions to avoid: Wrists

Just like with the fingers, you want to avoid any positions of hyperflexion and hyperextension. Not only do these extreme positions put the wrist joint and its surrounding tissues under stress, but in keeping your wrist in these positions, you are also overusing the muscles in your forearm that control these motions. The muscles that control your wrist originate up by your elbow joint, so you can feel pain anywhere from the elbow down the forearm into your wrist. Try to keep your wrist neutral, or in a very slight flexed position (wrist slightly bent towards your palm). Same principles apply to crocheting, and perhaps even more so since crocheters use more rotational motions in their wrists than knitters do.

Positions to avoid: Fingers

This month we are starting a new series on positions to avoid while crafting. I’ve gotten a lot of questions related to posture and optimal positions, so we will be going through what positions to try to avoid and what I consider to be optimal positions for decreasing pain or chance of injury/stress based on anatomy and biomechanics.
For the fingers, you want to avoid putting them in hyperextended or hyperflexed postures - essentially, try to keep your finger joints as close to straight as you can, but with a slight flex. It’s unavoidable to have some extension and flexion as you move, but the idea is to avoid prolonged time in those end ranges of motion because that is what will stress out your joints and muscle tendons over time. Try to keep you grip somewhat loose, you don’t want to be clenching your work tightly. The same principles apply to crocheting as well - don’t hang onto that hook for dear life!
Making these changes can be hard; habits are hard to break! But keep practicing and trying and you’ll get there eventually.

Identify your pain generator

Who else is guilty of powering through pain just to get “one more row”? Or do you often end up in pain but aren’t sure why or where or how? It’s extremely important to know where your pain is coming from, and what positions or actions are triggering it, not only for yourself but also so healthcare professionals can better help you! Most of the time when we feel pain, our inclination is to immediately move out of it. BUT, if you are able to pause first before you move to figure out 1) where does it hurt, and 2) what position am I in right now, it can reveal a world of answers. It’s a great way to begin to tune into your body and increase your body awareness. That will shed light on what postural habits you have and give insight to what changes you could make to alleviate discomfort. After you pause and identify your pain and position, move into a more comfortable positions and take a few deep breaths to release the tension and relax your body. If you’ve successfully identified where the pain is, try one of my stretching or strengthening reels for that body part.

Thumb stretch & massage

Thumb aches and pain are very common for knitters and crocheters. It's often due to tight grips, or a thumb that is too flexed or extended. I will go over what positions to avoid in another video. As always, try to hold stretches for 30 seconds and make sure it's a gentle stretch! Disclaimer: I have very flexible hand joints so your thumb may not move as much! (If you're watching this later, we are inside a tent bc this is the Texas snowpocalypse of 2021 and need I say more?)

Piriformis stretch and release

Hip tightness and pain is super common with all the sitting we do nowadays. The piriformis muscle is a usual culprit in tight spasms, pain, and weakness. It runs diagonally between your tailbone and the side of your hips. Getting up once in an hour to stretch and/or release it can do wonders in reducing pain! Psst - it also gets tight in pregnant and postpartum women. Honestly, it's a great stretch and release for anyone!

Pectoralis stretch

You may not feel tightness in your chest, but believe me, it's very likely that your pectoral muscles are tight! Pec tightness can also translate into tight or rounded shoulders. Our pectoral muscles get tight when we spend a lot of time in positions where arms and shoulders are rounded forward - like when using a computer, driving, and crafting! Combat that forward rounded posture by stretching out those pecs. And psst - tight pecs can affect your shoulder joint positioning and predispose you to rotator cuff impingement.

Thoracic extension

This is great for any mid back pain, especially after long bouts of sitting. It's optimal for our health and wellness to move frequently, and I generally encourage people to move every 30min-1hr. During your movement break, these thoracic extensions can bring some relief and combat the forward posture we usually find our bodies in. If you sit a lot for work, your thoracic spine is likely pretty stiff so this exercise is wonderful for working on that mobility to improve your posture. You can do 10 reps at a time.

Neck Stretches

Two stretches to alleviate or prevent neck pain! We are focusing on stretching the upper trapezius muscle, and levator scapula muscle. These two are often what are overworked and tense when we spend a lot of time shrugging our shoulders up when stressed, or sitting with poor posture with heads looking down. As always, hold the stretch for 30 seconds and you can do these as often as you like.

Headache relief / Suboccipital release

This is one of my favorite ways to deal with headaches, and works great for tension headaches as well.

Wrist flexor stretch / thumb massage

These stretches are great for dealing with wrist and hand pain. Also great for preventing pain too. I recommend doing the stretch every 30-60min if you're crafting for a long time. Daily is best to maintain that muscular health and length.