A reader recently wrote to me because she was experiencing strain in her neck while doing Pilates exercises. She was wondering if she needed to do special exercises to strengthen her neck. The answer is, probably not. A more likely scenario is that the abdominal muscles are not yet strong enough to support the head and neck in the many Pilates exercises that curve the upper body up off the floor in forward flexion. If this sounds like it might be you, read on.
Since the last thing you want to do is stress your neck, your first step might be to get the help of an instructor to make sure that you are engaging your abdominal muscles correctly. Then, just take your time and build repetitions gradually. Put your emphasis on doing just one or two reps with good form, i.e. strong, deep abs and no neck strain - or do a rep or two, put your head down, breath and start again. There are a lot of mat exercises that can be very effective if modified by keeping the head down, so you will want to play with that as you work your way up. Even if it seems like less of a workout at first, it is worth taking things slow to get the abs working for you. Ideally the neck will be fairly relaxed.
Try the exercises in the Flat Abdominals Series but experiment with resting your head and neck back to the floor every few reps. You can also try many of them without lifting the head, shifting the focus to the lower abs.
Related Links:
Since the last thing you want to do is stress your neck, your first step might be to get the help of an instructor to make sure that you are engaging your abdominal muscles correctly. Then, just take your time and build repetitions gradually. Put your emphasis on doing just one or two reps with good form, i.e. strong, deep abs and no neck strain - or do a rep or two, put your head down, breath and start again. There are a lot of mat exercises that can be very effective if modified by keeping the head down, so you will want to play with that as you work your way up. Even if it seems like less of a workout at first, it is worth taking things slow to get the abs working for you. Ideally the neck will be fairly relaxed.
Try the exercises in the Flat Abdominals Series but experiment with resting your head and neck back to the floor every few reps. You can also try many of them without lifting the head, shifting the focus to the lower abs.
Related Links:
- Flat Abdominals Series
- Exercise Modification Tips
- Establish Core Support from About's site on Back and Neck Pain
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