One of the most common complaints about traditional abdominal exercises is neck or back pain. If you’re one of these people you may wonder whether you should you throw in the towel or push through despite the discomfort.
As a personal trainer and coach, I hear this complaint often and it tends to boil down to a handful of causes, all which are related to improper form. Here are the top three reasons why ab exercises may be aggravating your neck and your back — plus, a few fixes you can use in the moment to protect your neck and back, reduce pain and lower your risk of injury.
Even though ab exercises are supposed to be all about your core, many positions require your head and neck to lift up off of the ground. Jonathan Tylicki, director of education for AKT and certified personal trainer, says that the strain you may feel in your neck in this position is most likely related to your posture. “The continued neck flexion is associated with sitting, working at a computer, and texting. This reinforced improper alignment can creep up when you are doing ab work, making you pull your head forward and use your neck during exercises, ” he says. When you’re in a supine position on your back, typically you’ll rest your head in your hands and then curl up, lifting your head and neck off the mat. This can cause discomfort, particularly if your posture muscles are tight and you’re not used to engaging your core correctly.
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But what if you’re in a Pilates or core class and don’t want to be the odd one out doing your own routine?
What if your arms are doing too much work? Specifically, if you’re not using a towel and instead you’re placing your hands behind your head, it's important to remember that this should not be an arm workout. Your arms and hands are simply supporting your neck. But a major mistake people make is engaging the arms instead of the abs.
Trainer Kristina Alai, certified fitness trainer at The Bay Club Company, says that while doing exercises like crunches, you may be overcompensating by grabbing your neck with your hands instead of focusing on the ab engagement. Liana Hughes, certified personal trainer and coach for the fitness app Gixo, says, “It’s very common for people to want to pull their neck when they have their fingertips behind their head.” For many. it’s an automatic action that we do without even noticing, so even if you don't think this applies to you, it can be smart to keep these two tips in mind:
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As a Pilates instructor, I see so many people using their back instead of their abs to do abdominal exercises. This is concerning because when done incorrectly it can lead to a lower back injury. That’s why it’s important to laser focus in on the transverse abdominis, the deepest ab muscle, to ensure the low back is not overworking in core exercises. This is most common in exercises where your legs are extended or straight. When done correctly, it should feel challenging to keep your core engaged and you will feel this deep in your core muscles (and not so much in your back.) But how can you ensure you have the proper engagement?
Finally, check out these three suggested moves — they're a great way to reset mid-workout so that the pain doesn’t persist and cause a bigger issue. These basic Pilates exercises are meant for beginners, but are good modifications for all of us to to keep in mind when pain creeps up during exercise. They will also train you to do a proper abdominal crunch while lying down without straining your neck or back, so adding them into your workout routine consistently will help improve your form over time.
Lying down on the floor, bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the mat. Place your hands behind your head, and rest your head in your hands. Take a deep breath in, and then exhale as you pull your naval in towards your spine. Pull your lower ribs down towards your hips, and from this core engagement you can curl up so that your head and hands are off the ground. Exhale as you curl up, and inhale as you lower back down. Repeat this 10 times.
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On the mat with your feet flat on the ground, take a deep breath in. Then exhale as you draw your naval in towards your spine, slowly bring your right knee up to a table top position. Draw your lower ribs down towards your hips, and tighten your core as if you were wearing a corset. From here, lower the right leg down to tap the toe onto the ground while maintaining the engagement of the core. There should be no movement above the hips, and the back should stay gently pressing into the ground while the abs are pulling in tightly. Exhale as you lower the leg down, and inhale to bring it back up. Repeat 10 times and then switch to the left side.
Lying on the mat, bring your legs straight up towards the ceiling. Tilt your pelvis so that your lower abs pull in (as if you are zipping into a tight pair of jeans) and your back presses gently into the ground. Maintain this core engagement as you exhale and lower the legs down a few inches towards the ground. Inhale to bring them back up. Be sure to keep your back connected to the mat throughout the entire exercise by drawing your naval in towards your spine.
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Stephanie Mansour is a health and fitness expert and weight-loss coach for women. She is a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor and Pilates instructor, and host of “Step It Up with Steph” on American Public Television. Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter Snapchat icon A ghost. Snapchat Fliboard icon A stylized letter F. Flipboard Pinterest icon The letter P styled to look like a thumbtack pin. Pinterest Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link
Exercises like sit-ups and crunches result in neck pain for many, so it's better to focus on isometric holds like planks. Getty/Tom Grill
I want to work on my core strength but really struggle with ab exercises as I always seem to feel pain in my neck and back. I don't have a lot of excess fat on my belly and hope to lose a bit more by continuing with the calorie deficit that's been working for me so far, but I know I can increase ab definition by building up the muscles too.
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I'm also aware that I need a strong core to support me in my training, which is a mixture of resistance and cardio. What can I do to develop my abs and core strength without hurting my neck and back?
Every time I go to an exercise class that involves movement like crunches, I have to use my hands to support my head because the neck pain is so bad. I've tried so many different tricks that are supposed to help, but to no avail.
So I'm very pleased you asked this question — I've consulted three experts who explained how we should be training to strengthen our core and build our ab muscles without hurting our necks and backs.
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It's possible that the reason you're feeling pain (and not the ab-burn we're looking for) when performing certain core exercises is that your technique or positioning isn't quite right.
There could be a number of reasons why your back and neck hurt during core exercises, but one of the main causes of neck pain during ab exercises like crunches is due to simply straining your neck, Tashi Skervin-Clarke, qualified personal trainer and founder of the TSC Method, told .
Make sure you're lifting up your shoulders to support your neck, unclench your jaw, and you can always cradle your head in your arms to offer more support.
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Don't be afraid to take regular breaks too. If you feel any discomfort in your lower back, take a break, catch your breath, and go again.
If we imagine our bodies as a series of segments, the hips and the shoulders should both be areas of motion and mobility (and they have the large cross-sectional areas of muscle to assist that), our midsection should be an area of stability — the muscles we have there are designed to stabilize and protect, he told .
Training our core to resist movements gives our whole body mechanics the opportunity to move in the way it should, and addressing any kind of movement dysfunction should always start with re-establishing this starting point.
Why Your Neck Hurts During Abs Exercises
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