Q: hi Mike, long time reader, first time writer. I was just wondering, I carry all my stress on my back mainly my showlders, I heard exercising can help to relieve stress. Any hints.

A: Exercising in general is a great stress reliever, whether it's cardio, weights, sports, or pretty much any other physical activity. Whatever you enjoy doing -- do it! And if you don't enjoy any of them, do something anyway! :)

Weightlifting specifically will give you greater control over your muscles which will carry into your everyday life. Your posture will be better and you won't involuntarily tense up as much.

For upper back and shoulders exercises like shrugs may be a good choice. You can even do them without any weights and still gain much of muscle control benefits. Stand upright, feet shoulder width, arms at your sides, relax, shrug your shoulders up (just up, not forward or back), hold them there for 1-2 seconds, slowly bring them back down. Inhale as you shrug them up, exhale as your return them to normal. Do a couple of sets of 15-20 of these -- if you're not using weights you can do them daily. Hope that helps!