Relax!

One of my pet peeves is watching people at the gym lift up and tense their shoulders while doing upper body exercises. You might see this if someone is doing a seated chest press. The arms go out: everything's just fine. The arms come back: the shoulders suddenly rise up.

The shoulders are the most common place where people transfer their tension. Sometimes they screw up their faces, too. You've probably seen that.

Relax! As you do any exercise, focus intently on the muscles you are working. Try to relax the rest of your body. This will help you isolate the muscles and maximize the benefits of the exercise. It will also help prevent building up unwanted tension and bulk in the shoulders. If you hold too much tension in the neck and shoulders, it also often leads to headaches.

Sometimes we strain so hard, we don't realize what we are doing with out bodies. If necessary, lower your weights, take a step back. Always shoot for good form rather than trying to impress others at the gym with how much you can lift.

One way to make sure you are relaxing is to scrunch up your shoulders purposely. Raise them as high as you can, all the way to your ears. Then let them drop and feel the difference.

Doesn't that feel better already?