How to Work on Your Abs Without Straining the Neck

The ideal abs are the dream of many people. Despite the simplicity of the exercise, some people complain about pain in the neck when performing it. You should not leave it unattended. Let’s talk about what such a symptom means and how to get rid of discomfort.

Neck pain is the most common problem during ab exercises. This symptom has a reason –– a person does not work on the abdominal but on the upper part of the body. Because of that, the neck tenses up, but the press does not. This causes pain that no one expects.

Abs are abdominal muscles. The rectus abdominis muscles are the very cubes you want to get. The transverse muscle is located in the lower part of the abdomen, while the oblique muscles are located on the sides of the body. Most ab exercises are done while lying on your back with your head elevated. This is called twisting.

In many people, the abdominal muscles are not strong enough, and the muscles of the lower back are overloaded, so the weight of the head is forced to support the neck muscles. As a result, they overwork and get tired.

Imagine that the spine is a noodle that can bend in different directions but remains a single system. The cervical region is an exception. The human head changes its position regardless of the movement of the spine. While you are doing abdominal exercises, the head seems to be lagging behind and disrupting a single mechanism. Therefore, tension occurs in the supporting muscles of the neck.

There are several ways to avoid muscle discomfort.

• When you do abdominal exercises, put a large roller under your back (just below the shoulder blades) so that the weight of the body rests on it and there is support under the upper back. Keep your hands behind your head to support your head at the back of your head (you can just put one palm on top of the other). And press the chin closer to the chest so that the back of the neck is extended. Do not pull your elbows to your temples –– keep them wider, in one line. Twist directing the ribs forward to the hip joints as if you were folding them into an accordion, shortening the body.

• Pressing your neck to your chest while you complete the entire approach does not always work. Imagine that you are holding a peach in this place. The pressure on it should be moderate. If you strain too little, drop it. If you can't visualize, fold the towel a few times and put it instead of the peach. In 2016, the results of a practical study appeared in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science - it showed that those who pulled their chin up and touched their chest with it noticed a decrease in pressure on the cervical region several times.

There is another way. It is rather unusual but effective. Place your hands on your forehead, not behind your head. If you put your hands behind your head incorrectly, pressure is performed on the neck muscles, and the head deviates more back. This leads to severe neck pain.

Some people think the more actively lifting the body off the floor, the better the press works. This is wrong. The range of motion does not affect the abdominal muscles in any way.

It is not necessary to raise the body high. In abdominal exercises, the back is of great importance, not the abdominal muscles. Make sure that the lower back is pressed to the floor and the ribs can move forward.