Neck pain during knee raises - bad form?#1592
Hello, I recently started the Hybrid Routine. It’s going great, but during knee raises I have pain in my neck. I certainly feel the burn in my legs, but my neck and shoulders are more painful than burning. All my life I’ve struggled with relaxing my muscles and have had to go to physical therapy for it so I also wonder if I’m just straining the hell out of my neck instinctually or if it’s bad form or a weak core. For more context, I also did these after some wall pushups which were hard but not painful. I stretch before as well.
Thanks for any help :)
-Felix
Heya, Chrys here—one of the trainers here at Hybrid! That neck ache is almost always the combo of two things: your head sneaks forward off the floor and your upper-traps fire to help “pull” the knees, so the tiny deep-neck flexors fatigue long before your abs do.
Try lying with the back of your skull gently pressed into the floor, chin slightly tucked like you’re making a double-chin, and keep that pressure constant while you move your legs. If holding that position still makes your neck flare up, slide a folded towel under your head (or whatever is similar to that) so the neck feels neutral, then focus on flattening your lower back and drawing the knees in with a slow exhale. You can even support your head lightly with one hand until those deep flexors catch up.
If the strain is still there, hit up dead-bug knee tucks or bent-knee raises, keeping everything below a pain threshold, and add a few easy chin-tuck holds against a wall during the day to wake up the weak neck stabilizers. Once your neck can stay relaxed and your core does the work, the discomfort fades fast and the burn will be right where you want it—square in the mid-section instead of your shoulders and traps.
Hope this helps brother💪
Thank you so much for the advice! The towel helps, but still hurts a little so I’ll be doing dead-bug knee tucks until I feel ready. I’ll also start adding chin-tucks throughout the day. This was really helpful, I really appreciate it.
No problem! If you need any more assistance, give us a shout!