[00:00]
Are you experiencing neck pain after some of your workouts? There are two mistakes that you're probably making during your workouts that's causing that neck pain. The first mistake we're going to cover is being able to keep your neck in a neutral position, whether it's squatting, deadlifting, kettlebell swings, push ups, plank's it doesn't matter. Your neck has to stay in a neutral or straight position, for example, when you're squatting. A big mistake people make is they look up towards the ceiling to keep their back nice and straight!
[00:33]
You can see that puts a ton of tension on your neck. You should be able to keep it nice and straight the entire time. Don't look at the wall in front of you. You can see how much tension is being put on my neck and doing that several times throughout a workout.
[00:53]
Of course, you're going to have a lot of tension buildup up into the neck.
[00:57]
Be able to keep that neck nice and straight the entire time as you're lifting will dramatically decrease a lot of that discomfort you're having.
[01:07]
The second mistake we're going to cover is not allowing your upper body to sag any time you lower your shoulders, whether it's in a plank push up or even when you're doing mountain climbers, you have to make sure that you're actually pushing the ground away the entire time and not letting the upper body sag. I'm going to use the plank for this example, and this is what the mistake looks like. If I'm in this plank and I feel my shoulder blades pinching are, you know, that my upper body is sagging.
[01:34]
Now, push that ground away, getting your chest and face away from the floor by letting yourself sag.
[01:40]
You're putting a ton of pressure on the muscles in your upper back that a lot of them go up into your neck and definitely don't look up at the wall in front of you. That's a double whammy. You're really going to have neck pain if you do that, push that ground away, get in your face and chest away from the floor, and keeping your neck nice and straight. The same thing goes for a push-up. Don't let yourself sag. Push that ground away.
[02:06]
Keep your neck nice and straight. If you can implement that into your workouts, your neck pain will dramatically decrease.
[02:15]
If you can avoid those two scenarios, I guarantee that nagging neck pain will go away. If you have any questions for us dropping down below, I'd love to answer them until next time. Keep moving and enjoy the rest of your day.
Headaches are the worst! Try these three easy tips to get instant relief.
Carpal tunnel can happen in the hand and/or arm and causes pain, numbness, and tingling sensations. This condition happens when nerves are constricted while traveling through the wrist, due to some type of pressure to the wrist. A common culprit of carpal tunnel is poor wrist support while typing or using a computer mouse. Because the average time spent at a computer each day continues to rise, cases of carpal tunnel are not uncommon, affecting more than 3 million Americans each year.
Carpal tunnel often gets worse over time if not properly treated. Taking immediate action at the onset of pain from carpal tunnel is key to prevent lasting damage.
Lower back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons people visit the doctor in the United States. Researchers say that over 80% of people will experience LBP at least once in their lifetime.
LBP commonly begins as tightness and achiness in the muscles of the lower back and is typically due to overuse. When you experience these symptoms, it is wise to seek professional help. Specialists, such as the doctors at Empower Health + Performance, will understand what you are doing wrong and help you overcome LBP.
People experience LBP for many different reasons. Some of the common reasons patients at Empower Health + Performance (EHP) experience LBP are:
They lack core stability
They use their hips improperly
They have flat feet (lack arch support)
Our bodies are made up of stable and mobile points which rely on each other to properly function. If we don’t have a stable point to rely on when moving, our bodies automatically create one. For example, when you move your hip (a mobile point), your core (a stable point) should engage before you attempt to move your hip. If it doesn’t, your body will automatically create a stable point somewhere else in the body to allow you to move. For many, that stable point is often produced in the muscles of the lower back and will eventually cause pain.
If you believe that your LBP has been caused by lack of core stability, start doing the exercises in this video:
Read the video transcript (more…)
Sports injuries occur during exercise or while participating in a sport.
Headaches can happen to any individual, regardless of age or health/fitness level. There are countless reasons why an individual may experience headaches. Some of the most common reasons you might get a headinclude a lack of sleep, stress, incorrect eye prescriptions, or loud noises.
Try these three easy tips to get instant relief from a headache:
Sciatica is a pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve, which runs down one or both legs from the lower back.
It's usually caused when a herniated disk or bone spur in the spine presses on the nerve.
Pain originates in the spine and radiates down the back of the leg. Sciatica typically affects only one side of the body.
Medication for pain and physical therapy are common treatments.
Different types of arthritis exist, each with different causes including wear and tear, infections, and underlying diseases.
Symptoms include pain, swelling, reduced range of motion, and stiffness.
Pain areas: in the joints, ankle, back, fingers, hands, muscles, neck, or wrist
Pain types: can be intermittent or sharp
Pain circumstances: can occur while sitting
Joints: stiffness, tenderness, or swelling
Muscular: decreased range of motion, difficulty walking, or muscle weakness
Hand: bump on the finger or bony outgrowth in fingers or toes
Whole body: fatigue or malaise
Also common: flare, physical deformity, redness, or stiff neck
Pain in the neck and shoulder can vary in intensity and in the type of pain experienced. Pain in the neck may feel achy or like an electric shock from the neck to the arm.
There’s countless reasons why you could be experiencing neck pain. Most often, we see patients with neck pain due to prolonged straining (looking up or down), sleeping in an uncomfortable position, stress, or poor posture. Today, prolonged straining is commonly caused by looking at a computer or phone for extended periods of time.
No matter the cause of your neck pain, our team of doctors are trained to help relieve your pain, determine the cause, and help you implement solutions to prevent future neck injuries.
Lower back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons people visit the doctor in the United States. Researchers say that over 80% of people will experience LBP at least once in their lifetime.
LBP commonly begins as tightness and achiness in the muscles of the lower back and is typically due to overuse. When you experience these symptoms, it is wise to seek professional help. Specialists, such as the doctors at Empower Health + Performance, will understand what you are doing wrong and help you overcome LBP.
People experience LBP for many different reasons. Some of the common reasons patients at Empower Health + Performance (EHP) experience LBP are:
It’s likely that most people will experience back pain at some point in life. How long back pain lasts will depend on the cause of the injury and the methods used to treat the injury.
At Empower, our goal is to not only determine the cause of your back pain and help you heal, but also to equip you with long-term exercises that can help prevent your back pain from returning.
Our bodies are made up of stable and mobile points which rely on each other to properly function. If we don’t have a stable point to rely on when moving, our bodies automatically create one. For example, when you move your hip (a mobile point), your core (a stable point) should engage before you attempt to move your hip. If it doesn’t, your body will automatically create a stable point somewhere else in the body to allow you to move. For many, that stable point is often produced in the muscles of the lower back and will eventually cause pain.
If you believe that your LBP has been caused by lack of core stability, start doing the exercises in this video:
