Trapezius Stretches

The trapezius runs from the base of the skull across the top of the shoulders and down the middle of the back. These stretches target the upper part, which often feels tight after long hours at a desk. You'll find filmed moves with steps and hold times, a short sequence and guided routines.

Trapezius stretches with video

These are the 4 movements from the MoveWell library for this area. Each page has a demo, numbered steps, the muscles worked and common mistakes.

A simple trapezius sequence

Do these in order: warm-up drills first, then any rolling, then the longer holds. Move slowly and stop if anything is sharp or numb.

#MovementHold or repsSides
1Neck Rolls5 each wayn/a
2Shoulder Rolls10 each wayn/a
3Banded Trap Stretch60 sn/a
4Neck Stretch30 s/sideEach side
JR

Joel is the founder of MoveWell and IMPOSSIBLE. He became the youngest person to run an ultra marathon on every continent, and created MoveWell to make recovery easy with routines he would actually do.