Exercise For Neck Pain:
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It Ain't What You Do....
It's The Way That You Do It!
How you hold your head, neck and shoulder (and even your back) muscles during your daily activities will have a far greater impact on the condition of your muscles than any exercise could ever have. Even if you spent two hours a day exercising your neck (and let’s face it – who is ever going to do that!) you will still spend six times that amount of time using your neck muscles in your same old habitual way whilst going about your daily activities. And it's these habits that in many cases are the cause of your pain.Neck exercises do not change how you use them!
Habits are not changed by doing conventional exercises. In fact, from my experience of teaching hundreds of neck pain sufferers in many cases they make it worse. If you sit badly you will put unnecessary strain on your neck – it’s not your neck that needs exercising it’s your total posture that needs re-educating.
Even if your exercise routine is targeting the right muscles the best intentions of your therapist can be undone when you carry out your daily activities in your habitual way. Re-education involves taking you back through the basics of movement. These movements will initially feel wrong because they can very different to your everyday feelings associated with turning and supporting your head. The tension has become a habit and you may be unknowingly holding this tension just to sit.
In place of using exercise, you can learn how to move and balance with less tension and condition your muscles by performing everyday tasks without the need to exercise. I have seen this approach work time and time again whilst conventional exercises have failed.
For details on my online program please click here.
