Sport

Neck and cervical exercises

The neck area is one of the areas most prone to muscle pain, due to the stress generated in the daily routine or poor posture when doing activities such as sleeping or exercising. To combat this problem, there are exercises that can help to provide resistance and relieve ailments.

Feeling pain in the neck or cervical area is usually a frequent situation for many people, who seek different solutions to relieve them. Some of them, such as receiving a massage, changing position when sleeping, buying a new pillow, among others, can solve the problem in the short or medium term, but after a certain time the situation repeats itself.

In these cases, it is convenient to think that the root of the problem may be much more complex and, therefore, a better solution should be tried or at least incorporate other practices that complement those already mentioned. This is when the option of alleviating these ailments through sports activity appears , specifically, performing exercises for the neck.

One aspect that many people are unaware of is that most experts do not recommend training the neck in an isolated way, but instead combine movements in the exercises to strengthen the other muscle groups involved, such as those of the back, chest and hips. shoulders. On the whole, if this entire area is well exercised, the conditions for neck pain to arise are reduced or easier to treat.

Here are some cervical exercises that can help you minimize or completely reduce discomfort in this area:

Rotations

They are a group of cervical exercises to reduce stiffness in the neck, which basically consist of executing some rotation and stretching movements . Initially, you can start by tilting your head to the right side, trying to bring it in the direction of your shoulder. 

Of course, the movement must be done slowly and carefully, so as not to injure the neck muscles. Next, proceed to repeat the same process with the left side. The respective hand on each side can be used to achieve greater inclination.

Another form of rotation for neck stretches is, once the previous starting position is reached (with the head tilted to one side), it is slowly brought back and rotated in the direction of the opposite side. This movement can also be started by bringing the head straight back.

For any of these rotations, 10 repetitions can be done and it is indicated to hold the position for a couple of seconds.

Bring your chin to your chest

This could also be considered a movement of the previous group, with the difference that it involves the muscles of the chest region. It consists of bringing the chin to the closest distance to the chest area.

It is a simple movement of flexion of the neck, which helps to strengthen the muscles of this area, such as the scalenus and the suboccipital. It can be repeated 10 times for three times a day.

child’s posture

This is one of the yoga postures that, as many know, is a discipline that promotes complete muscular relaxation of the body. To do it, just kneel on the yoga mat, breathing deeply, trying to keep your spine straight. 

Next, the buttocks are brought to the heels of the feet and the arms are stretched to lie face down. This way the forehead will have contact with the mat. A variation of the movement is, after a certain time, to bring the arms back, which will bring more relaxation to the muscles of the shoulders and back. 

As an alternative variation, the arms can be used to support the forehead and give a little more support to the upper body area, if deemed necessary. Before and after executing each movement, take a deep breath.

cobra stance

This pose requires you to lie on your stomach on the mat, with your arms slightly apart to your sides. After taking a couple of deep breaths, the palms of the hands should be brought up to chest level, a little below the shoulders. 

Thus, an extension of the arms is made, while the legs remain stretched out on the ground, with the insteps of the feet parallel to the surface. When extending, the back should arch slowly and with this a slight flexion in the neck can be made, in a backward direction. The idea is to hold this pose for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling.

fish pose

One of the benefits of this position is to help relax the neck. To perform it, you proceed to lie on your back, with your arms on each side of your body. It is recommended to imagine a kind of thread that goes from the height of the chest upwards. 

The movement involves lifting the chest up, initially using the forearm area as support. As this elevation is performed, the head rotates backwards, completely arching the cervical region. 

The goal is for the crown or top of the head to be completely parallel to the mat. Naturally, pulling off these moves takes a lot of practice and patience, so you don’t have to worry about getting them right the first time.

Shoulder raise with wall support

Among the postural exercises, this is one of the most recommended, since it not only helps to improve the position of the neck , but also the back and spine.

This is a very simple move for which a wall or door can be used. The person must stand in front of said flat surface, trying to make sure that the back is completely adhered to this area. 

Next, you should try to place your arms, elbows, and wrists on this surface at chest height. To execute the movement, you have to slide your arms up and down , so that the elbows return to the starting position. This is part of the exercises to strengthen the shoulders and is quite efficient to avoid an unexpected neck strain.

The neck muscles are perhaps the least trained in everyday life, regardless of whether people practice sports or not. Therefore, performing activities to strengthen the neck and other associated areas of the body is essential to eliminate any type of ailment. Thus, do not hesitate to put these movements into practice, or other exercises that seem interesting to you, as long as you do them with the necessary precaution.

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