[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.
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…)
If your knees are collapsing inward while you squat, it could be due to a weak glut med. By doing this exercise, you'll strengthen your glut med and be able to keep your knees out. This exercise is one of our favorites!! You'll feel the burn immediately.
Read transcript:
Do you have pain in the front of your shoulder after doing curls for the girls!? If so, it’s likely that you have bicep tendonitis. The bicep is made up of two attachment sites, one short and one long. The longer tendon is the most common sight for tendonitis. When the shoulder is not sitting in the right position, it puts extra stress on the tendon causing irritation. By doing the exercise shown in this video you’ll strengthen the muscles on the backside of the shoulder (external rotators), which will pull your shoulder into a better position and relieve the tendon from irritation.
Having low back pain while standing for long periods of time is a common complaint. This video will teach you what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Typically patients that have this pain, arch too much throughout their lower back, making their muscles tight and achy.
Do you have radiating pain that goes down your arm from a pinched nerve? This video will show you a position that provides immediate relief from that pain. By slightly tucking your chin and looking away from the side the pain is on, you’ll open the hole where the nerve exits the spine taking pressure off the nerve.
Do you have poor posture? In this video, you'll be given two easy exercises to help fix your swayback posture. There are typically two things that can cause swayback: 1. An imbalance in the core muscles 2. A stiff thoracic spine (midback). By doing these exercises you'll improve your posture and minimize all your aches and pains.
Stretching isn't always the answer to a tight muscle! You have to figure out why the muscle is tight in the first place. This video will explain why you're experiencing tightness in the hip flexor and give you two awesome tips to solve the problem.
Do you have poor balance? Try these two exercises! They may look easy, but I bet you will find them to be harder than they appear. There are several areas throughout your body that are responsible for balance such as your feet and hips. This video focuses on hip stability to help your balance.
