Sit-ups and crunches are effective core exercises, but they’re also moves that can leave you feeling pain in your neck the following day if you’re not careful with how you do them.
Any abs exercise that involves sitting up from a lying position risks neck strain, and while you can avoid this by holding your head still and using your abs rather than other muscles to drive the movement, you can also train your core without this kind of move.
This 10-minute abs workout from fitness trainer Kat Boley is built using moves where you either keep your head resting on the floor or stay upright to avoid possible strain.
It’s suitable for all fitness levels and all you need to do the workout is one of the best yoga mats, so next time you have 10 minutes spare, give it a go.
Watch Kat Boley’s 10-minute abs workout
There are five moves in each circuit, and you do three circuits in total for the workout. With each move, do 10 reps; or if it's a move where you alternate sides, do 20 reps in total with 10 on each side.
Boley suggests taking short breaks between each exercise and then a one-minute break between circuits, but you can always rest for longer if you need to, or adjust the reps to be lower if struggling to complete the sets.
If you maintain a good pace with each exercise, you’ll be done in under 10 minutes, and your abs will definitely be feeling the heat, while your neck should be strain-free.
Here are the five moves in the workout:
- Deadbug
- Bent-knee raise
- Windshield wiper
- Russian twist
- Scissors
For the first three moves, lie with your head on the floor to avoid any possibility of neck strain. Then, with the last two moves, stay sitting upright so the neck is still — support your upper body with your forearms for the scissors.
Boley demonstrates how to do each move in the workout in her Instagram post, so swipe through the slides to see her perform the exercises.
How to avoid neck pain during sit-ups
If you do want to do core workouts with sit-ups but have been struggling with neck pain, there are some things you can do to avoid it.
That’s provided the pain is caused by the move, rather than being an underlying neck problem — do see an expert if it’s not going away.
Most of the time, pain comes from having your neck in the wrong position during a sit-up and straining it instead of using your abs to drive the movement.
Nod your head forward slightly and hold it in that position throughout the exercise — you don’t want to be using your neck muscles to help pull you up in particular.
Focus on engaging your core muscles to ensure you're mainly using them to pull your body up. If your abs are starting to struggle, then it’s better to finish your set early than (literally) strain to get a couple more reps done with poor form.
Some people also find that holding their tongue against the roof of their mouth during sit-ups can help them avoid neck pain.
You might also find that you only get neck pain the first few times you do sit-ups, because once your core gets stronger, it will naturally do more of the work and lessen the strain on your neck.
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