Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Neck Lateral Flexion

oec:neck-lateral-flexion

A gentle cervical mobility exercise that mobilizes the neck and stretches the lateral cervical musculature by tilting the ear toward the shoulder.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Head Tilts, Lateral Neck Stretch, Neck Side Stretch, Cervical Lateral Flexion

How to do it

Setup

  1. Sit upright on a chair or stand tall with feet hip-width apart.
  2. Relax your shoulders down away from your ears and keep your eyes facing forward with your head in a neutral position.

Movement

  1. Slowly lower your right ear toward your right shoulder until you feel a gentle stretch along the left side of your neck.
  2. Pause for a moment at the end of your comfortable range without forcing the movement.
  3. Smoothly return your head back to the upright, neutral position.
  4. Repeat the motion on the left side, bringing your left ear toward your left shoulder, then return to neutral.

Breathing

Inhale as you pass through center and exhale smoothly as you tilt your head to the side.

Cues

  • Ear to shoulder, not shoulder to ear.
  • Keep shoulders anchored down.
  • Move smoothly without jerking.

Common faults

Shrugging the shoulder upward to meet the head.
Actively keep both shoulders depressed and relaxed throughout the movement.
Rotating or flexing the neck forward during the tilt.
Keep your gaze straight ahead and move purely in the side-to-side plane.

Safety

  • Move only through a pain-free range of motion; discontinue immediately if you experience sharp pain, radiating tingling, numbness, or dizziness.

Muscles

  • Sternocleidomastoid prime mover
  • Upper trapezius prime mover
  • Levator scapulae synergist
  • Splenius synergist

Joints

  • Cervical spine: Lateral flexion

Details

Movement
Lateral flexion, Mobility drill, Stretch
Modality
Mobility, Flexibility
Mechanics
isolation
Force
not applicable
Laterality
alternating
Kinetic chain
open
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Repetitions; or Duration
Load
none

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

neck-lateral-flexion.json