Neck range of motion exercises take your neck through each of its main movements in turn: looking down, looking up, tilting each ear toward its shoulder and turning to look over each shoulder (active cervical range of motion). You do them sitting, at a slow pace, with your shoulders kept low. Physios often give it to keep a stiff or sore neck moving through the day.

How to do the neck range of motion exercises

Sit upright on a firm chair with your feet flat, your hands resting on your thighs and your eyes looking straight ahead.
Lower your chin to look down at the floor, then lift your head to look up at the ceiling. Move slowly and go only as far as is comfortable each way.
Come back to level, then tilt your head to bring your right ear toward your right shoulder. Return to the middle and tilt your left ear toward your left shoulder, with your face still pointing forward.
Now turn your head to look over your right shoulder, come back through the middle, then look over your left shoulder.
Keep both shoulders down and still the whole time, so only your head moves. Finish with your eyes level and looking straight ahead.

What you should feel

Easy, smooth movement in each direction. A light stretch at the end of a movement is fine, usually on the side of the neck away from the direction you are moving. It should not hurt in any direction.

Common mistakes

Rushing through the set or bouncing at the end of each movement.
Shrugging a shoulder up to meet the ear during the side tilts.
Turning your face during the tilts, or tipping your chin up or down during the turns.
Slumping or twisting your upper body to get a little more range.

How often

Many programs use 5 to 10 slow movements in each direction, once to several times a day, and some people use the set as a short break from desk work. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

You feel dizzy, faint or unsteady. Stop and get medical advice the same day. If you faint, it does not settle within a few minutes of sitting still, or you cannot stand or walk steadily, call emergency services.
Things look double, your vision suddenly blurs or goes, your speech slurs or becomes muddled, swallowing becomes hard, your face or lips go numb, one side of your face droops or one side of your body goes weak or numb, you suddenly become so dizzy or unsteady that you fall or cannot stand or walk, your legs suddenly give way but you do not black out (a drop attack), or you get a sudden severe headache. Stop and call emergency services, even if it goes away.
An electric shock feeling runs down your back or into your arms or legs as your head bends forward. Stop and get medical advice the same day.
Pain, pins and needles or numbness travels down into your arm or hand, or one of the movements gives a sharp catch in the neck.

From the clinic

Keep every movement small and relaxed, as the video does. Work in the range your neck has today, and do not chase more. A stiff neck often loosens a little over the first few repetitions. The voice guide gives the turns before the side tilts and the video shows the tilts first. Either order is fine.

If one direction is much stiffer or more painful than the others, keep that one smaller and mention it to your physio. Each movement also has its own page: neck flexion and extension, neck side bend and neck rotation. For a standing set with a short hold at the end of each movement, see standing neck stretches.

If a neck movement makes you dizzy, stop, sit still until it settles, and get medical advice the same day before you try again. Looking up bends the neck back, which briefly narrows the space around the nerves and the spinal cord in the neck. If you have rheumatoid arthritis or Down syndrome, have been told the top of your neck is unstable, or know of pressure on the spinal cord in your neck, get your physio's advice before you start. After neck surgery or a broken bone in the neck, check with your surgeon or physio before you start.

If your neck pain started after a recent car accident or fall, get it checked by a doctor or physio before you begin. Keep still and call emergency services if the pain came straight after a high-speed crash, a car that rolled over, being thrown from a vehicle, being hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling, a motorbike or quad bike accident, a horse riding accident, a diving injury or a fall from a height or down several stairs, or if you have numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or leg. If you hit your head and were knocked out, cannot remember what happened, have had a headache ever since, are being sick, or take medicine that thins your blood other than aspirin on its own, go to an emergency department, and do not drive yourself.

If you have a condition that stiffens the spine, such as ankylosing spondylitis, new neck pain after even a minor fall, knock or jolt is an emergency: keep still and call emergency services if it started straight after the injury, or go to an emergency department straight away, without driving yourself, if it started later. See a doctor the same day, before any exercise, if you are 65 or over, have low bone density (osteoporosis) or have taken steroid tablets for a long time, if your neck pain is severe, if you cannot turn your head halfway toward each shoulder, or if it hurts when you press on the bony middle of the back of your neck. Having none of these does not rule out an injury.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Neck range of motion exercises