Sore neck during sit ups

[Lora]

Hi,
I said I have lots of questions. How come my neck hurt so when I do the ab. workout? What can I do to make it stop besides support my head/neck with my hands? It is the only thing that really hurts while doing this kind of workout. I just can't finish the workout because of my neck pain.
Thanks, Lora.

 

[purpleprincess]

I have the same problem

My neck goes out before my abs!!!!

 

[kathryn]

neck pain

Are you maybe pulling on your neck when doing curls? You could either be pulling with your hands (if they are "supporting" your head too much), or yanking up on your head when the going gets tough. If you make sure to keep yours hands by your ears (I sometimes just put my fingertips right behind my ears, to avoid as much as possible the tendency to pull), it can help to keep you from doing that. I also find it helps to think of leading up with your shoulders rather than with your head. Imagine that the shoulders are curling up, and the head is just going along for the ride! I've read various opinions on the best way to do situps: some say to tuck your chin to your chest and cross your arms over your chest, which will keep you from pulling on your neck. Others say that it's a good idea to strengthen your neck muscles, and that this can be done by doing situps. If you're not pulling on your neck or straining, it could be that your neck muscles are weak.

 

[jjohnston]

Building on what Kathryn suggested...

One other idea - one of my instructors suggested finding a point on the ceiling and focussing on that one point while doing my abs. This has prevented me from straining with my neck & head and instead concentrate on my abs.

Cheers,
Jessica

 

[Lora]

Thanks Kathryn

Hopefully these will work. Are you an instuctor. You seem to know alot.

Lora

 

[kathryn]

not an instructor...

...unless French and Spanish counts

I just have a tendency to read all I can about areas I'm interested in like weight training (guess that's one reason I made it through grad school with a PhD!) and to combine that info with some personal experimentation.

 

[purpleprincess]

Cathe, could you help?

I know that I just have weak neck muscles because I never pull on my head, I make sure of that! Is there anyway to strenghten the neck muscles, or something I could do during the ab exercise to stop the neck pain, especially in MIS? Thanks Cathe!

 

[Lora]

I'm curious too.

Everyones advise is great but I also don't pull on my head and my neck still hurts. I need the same kind of help. Lora

 

[honeybunch]

Me, too, with MIS

MIS is the only tape with an ab section which causes discomfort in my neck...specifically the "simulated pec deck" exercise. Other than that, I think that is the BEST ab section of any of your tapes, Cathe.