Neck pain from crunches

CaptainAmazing

So I acknowledged long ago that I am doing something wrong when it comes to ab work because every time I do something like crunches or bicycles I always have pain in my neck and throat. Like my muscles are contracting really hard, especially in my throat, and it hurts to do them.

What am I doing wrong? How can I fix this so that it doesn't hurt?

sorellabella

This happened to me to and what the instructor told me is when I was doing my ab work I was pulling my neck instead of supporting it. I think I actually gave myself whiplash :laugh: Try supporting your neck instead of pulling it...good luck. Hope it feels better I was sore for a week!

SexyIsPainful

While doing crunches, try picking a spot on the ceiling and keep your eyes on it throughout the movement and try to keep your chin off your chest. Just lay your head in your hands - dont use them to left up. Good Luck!

jlewis2896

I agree with sorellabella. Try lifting your head by getting your shoulders off the ground, but keeping your neck in a straight line. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it clearly, but I try to take the yoga approach and make sure everything is centered. You don't want to curve your neck too much when you are lifting, because not only will it hurt, but it makes the crunches less effective.

Ge0rgiana

I had that problem, too. You have to keep your chin up while you're doing crunches. Denise Austin says to pretend you have a piece of fruit under your chin. I also read a suggestion (Jillian Michaels?) of pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Focus the effort of the crunch on your abs. Try to concentrate your movement there instead of letting your neck do the work.

gecallo

Keep your chin off of your chest. People have a tendency to bend/tilt the head down towards the chest. Keep the tension in your abs and not your neck or back muscles.

julest25

This is a typical problem. Hold your hands lightly behind your ears and don't use them to pull up your neck. Try to make sure you look up at the ceiling instead of following the move to look at your knees. Also make sure you don't bring your chin down, there should be a gap at leastas big as an orange between your neck and chest. I'd give it a few days to give the muscles time to heal before doing them again.

mworld

I have a trick that I used a while back to stop me from doing this. You know how you can hold your hands behind your head for the classic situp/crunch?

Well, instead of holding them behind my head, I held them together, one hand over the other fist (acting like a ball) under my chin. What this did for me is give me constant feedback on whether i was using my neck too much since my chin would dig into my hands. To adjust intensity either hold your elbows way out, or in close to your sides.


After a while, I was eventually able to keep track of my neck without needing the fist.

Hope that helps,

PixieGoddess

I had the same problem. An instructor told me to pick a spot on the ceiling and not look away (as already mentioned)

Another visualization I was given that helps is to think of pulling your chest up straight, as if a string was attached to your....well, she said bra! :laugh: And you'll curve naturally due to the way your abs contract.

Hope this helps!

Azdak

Looking at the ceiling is all well and good, but you might also try thinking about the muscle and exactly what it is you are trying to do. The only reason your upper body should even move at all is as a result of the shortening of the ab muscles. period. No other part of the body should move until the abs start to contract. If you focus on that part of the movement, then it doesn't really matter whether you are looking at the ceiling or not because that part of your body is just following along anyhow.

I know it's not easy for every one, but if you can focus more on the specific muscle and muscle movement rather than external cues, you will be better off in the long run.

For most ab crunches the amount of actual torso movement is very small--that is, if you are doing the exercise correctly. Same thing w/the ab curl machine. I would say that 80% or more of people use this machine incorrectly. 50%-60% STILL do it incorrectly, even after I spend 10 minutes instructing them in the proper form.

CaptainAmazing

Thanks so much for the responses! I am going to try and keep it all in mind next time. I have avoided ab work for so long because of this. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks!