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Workout To Help Improve Back/Neck Strength & Posture
- Thread starter lorajc
- Start date
Yes that would be an awesome one, to help strengthen your neck in the mean time, when you are doing crunches on the floor, for a couple of crunches go lighter on the support for your head, this will make your neck muscles work more. This is what I did, after I had to have my head put back on straight. My head actually ended up in front of the spinal cord, and I had to have it put back on the spinal cord, and then fused with a metal rod in the first 3 vertebras so it would stay put if I ever got in an accident or whatever. After being in a halo brace for 5 months my whole body was as about as strong as jello at first my neck tired out, even with all the support I could offer with my arms doing crunches, but as time went by it got stronger and to keep it strong, I started to do a crunch here and there with light support of my head. And then finally after doing a whole set with my hands there but not really holding my head up, I would take them away for a crunch and cross them across my chest. Then go back to the normal crunch and then repeat if my neck wasn't too tired. Also you can also just turn and move you head as much as possible and then resist with your hand, say you want to turn your head to the left, put your left hand against the side of your head in front of your ear, and lightly resist turning your head. Same if you want to do ear to the shoulder on either side, for frontward or backwards, use two hands, and it's not to make it tougher but to keep the presure even for both left and right sides. As when you put one hand to stop your head from going forward, on side of the neck works more then the other, so you use too to keep it even. As for the back Cathe does quite a few exercises now for the back. The one where you lay on the ball on your stomach, and then lift the back leg up and opposite arm is one of the best back exercises out there. So is the one where where your in about the same position but your legs are helping you stablize this time and then you fold your arms so your hands meet under your chin and then use your back muscles to draw your head and upper body up and then hold and release. Granted that one is mainly for upper back, where the one that your moving both opposite arms and legs works the whole back and even the neck.
I'd love to see more, but the neck is just such a fragile thing, that it would really be hard to make a workout just specifically for it. And I don't mean just to isolate it, but there really isn't all that many *safe* exercises to do for the neck. Granted I'm sure Cathe could add on a 3 minute section to one of her tapes for the neck and then go into back exercises for how ever long she wants. Which would be really cool. But even looking there my books of exercises, I can't really find any more exercises for the neck then I just described. Now I remember why I was soo bored in physical therapy. All I got to do was move my head with my hand pushing against it.
Kit
I'd love to see more, but the neck is just such a fragile thing, that it would really be hard to make a workout just specifically for it. And I don't mean just to isolate it, but there really isn't all that many *safe* exercises to do for the neck. Granted I'm sure Cathe could add on a 3 minute section to one of her tapes for the neck and then go into back exercises for how ever long she wants. Which would be really cool. But even looking there my books of exercises, I can't really find any more exercises for the neck then I just described. Now I remember why I was soo bored in physical therapy. All I got to do was move my head with my hand pushing against it.
Kit