Sore neck doing crunches.. Help please??

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  • Dory_42
    Dory_42 Posts: 3,587 Member
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    kat_williams wrote: »
    It's not so much that I'm choosing to do crunches a lot, it's part of a class I do and each week I struggle, I'm just looking for a way to help stop hurting my neck doing it. Thank you for the practical suggestions :) I'll give them a go

    Ask your instructor to help you with your form. Any decent instructor should know the correct form of the exercises they are asking you to do and can help you best as they can see exactly what you are doing wrong.

    One of the things I love about my trainers is that they would rather we do a small number of reps with the correct technique than thousands wrong.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    I know people are saying don't put your hands behind your head but I found when this was an issue for me I would let my head rest in my hands behind my head, so there was no need to hold my head up as much taking away the need to engage the neck muscles. Relaxing the jaw can help too.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
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    slaite1 wrote: »
    kat_williams wrote: »
    It's not so much that I'm choosing to do crunches a lot, it's part of a class I do and each week I struggle, I'm just looking for a way to help stop hurting my neck doing it. Thank you for the practical suggestions :) I'll give them a go

    You don't have to do the exercises just because you paid for the class. I like the idea of doing them from an angle. That will help me too.
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    Most effective ab exercises

    Weighted hanging leg raises
    Weighted captains chair leg raises
    Cable crunches
    Ab wheel
    Air bicycles

    None of those will strain your neck
  • khumphries27
    khumphries27 Posts: 8 Member
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    HIP HOP ABS!! (You never do crunches while lying on the floor!) I love it and Sean T is sooo entertaining! :smiley: lol. I have been doing it for 3 months and it still works every muscle in my body! Its based on intensity, you do the routines more intense when it seems too easy. I have the level 2 but have not needed it yet. I am also on a low calorie diet where I try to get all the food groups in my diet. (I did have to figure out how many calories my body needed to lose weight with trial and error) In 3 months I have lost 23 lbs and I can feel my muscles getting toned (just can't see them yet, lol). Also, I hit a stall in the weight loss, so I started breaking my meals down so that I am eating every 3 hours and it seems to be helping, I am back to losing again! Also if you can't afford the $20 for this, Sean T posts mini workouts on his facebook all the time, I'm sure you can find his videos on YouTube as well. So much fun! :wink:
  • AmandaHugginkiss
    AmandaHugginkiss Posts: 486 Member
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    Don't do crunches. They suck.

    The Jefit app for your phone or tablet has more ab exercises than you can possibly do. Try it.
  • laoryn
    laoryn Posts: 11 Member
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    AsISmile wrote: »
    Instead of placing your hands behind your head, try touching your ankles with your hands while crunching.
    Or just cross them on your chest.

    Crossing them over your chest might help you out, yes. I was a pretty athletically inept kid but took karate class twice a week, and this was how we did it.

  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    The topic of why has been beat-up pretty good, so I'll just mention that I do the ab-wheel is probably one of the best exercises you can do for the abs and obliques. Not saying THE best, but one of the best for sure. I also like 90-degree crunches because they eliminate about all the problems that come with regular crunches but active the abs pretty well too.

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