The Best Exercise for a Bad Neck

Neck pain is one of the most common injuries. Most of us at some point have strained our neck from participating in sports, sitting incorrectly, spending too long hunched over a laptop, or even from staring at our phone non-stop. Anxiety and stress can also play a part in neck pain with tension building around that area.

One way of controlling neck pain is to follow a daily range of small exercises which ensure that your neck experiences full movement each day. This aims to prevent stiffness and stretches out your neck muscles, alleviating pain and tension. Here are ONE LDN’s best exercises for a bad neck:

#1 The Neck Flex

This exercise targets the base of the cervical spine, which can easily develop tension from day to day movements. The tighter they get, the shorter they become and in turn start to restrict movement. To do this exercise, bring your head forwards and rest your chin against your chest. Repeat this five times, the slower the better.

#2 The Rubber Neck

This movement is designed to stretch out and elongate the neck muscles. Very slowly tilt your head back and look up at the ceiling, easing your neck into this position. Hold for five beats and slowly bring your head back to starting position.

#3 The Side Flex

This movement targets shoulders as well as your neck. With your head facing forwards, drop your left ear to your left shoulder. Hold for three beats before slowly coming back to the starting position. Alternate sides and repeat five times.

#4 The 180

Slowly turn your head to one side until you reach maximum rotation. Hold for three beats and return to centre. Repeat on the same side five times before alternating to the other side for the same amount of repetitions.

#5 The Chicken Tuck

Channel your inner chicken by drawing your chin towards your neck slowly, hold for one beat, and then counteract the movement by protruding your chin forwards. Repeat five times.

Exercising with an injury of any kind is always something that should be done with caution, and never without the advice of a professional physiotherapist or qualified fitness instructor. Be sure to always consult a doctor when you experience any pain.

See Also

The Best Exercise For Bad Hips

The Best Exercise for Bad Posture

The Best Exercise for Bad Knees