If you experience neck pain when lifting weights, your body is telling you that something is wrong. Lifting should not be painful, so you need to make some changes to your lifting routine. If you still experience pain after adjusting your technique, it is time to seek medical treatment.
Maintain a Balanced Posture
Poor posture can lead to neck pain when lifting weights. Lengthen your spine, so you stand up straight. Then let your shoulder blades slide down while your chest moves forward. Do this without arching your back. Your head should be straight, and your hips need to be parallel to the floor. Keep your elbows close to your body when lifting.
Relax Your Neck and Jaw
Tension in your neck and jaw can lead to neck pain when lifting weights. You might think it’s impossible to keep your neck and jaw relaxed when lifting heavy weights, but it is actually easy. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth when lifting. This will cause your neck and jaw to relax, so you are less likely to experience tension-related pain. Breathing can also help you stay relaxed. Take a breath before lifting the weight. Then exhale when lifting and breath back in when lowering the weight.
Build up Your Weak Side
One side of your body is likely stronger than the other. If you force your weaker side to keep up, you can injure yourself, and that can hurt your neck. For example, if your right side can easily handle 80 pounds, and your left side can only handle 50, lifting 80 pounds on both sides will cause trauma. Modify your lifting routine to accommodate your weaker side. Build it up so that it becomes as strong as the other side of your body. This builds symmetry and will help you avoid neck pain when lifting weights.
Stay in Control
If you don’t have control of the weights, you are likely to strain your neck. If this happens, you might need to take several days or even weeks off to rest your neck. Lift weights in slow and controlled motion. If this is not possible, the weights are too heavy. Rack those weights and pick some up that are not as heavy. If you can control the weights, you will put less pressure on your neck.
Rest
You can also hurt your neck by lifting weights too often. While some exercise is good on a daily basis, you should not lift weights two days in a row. Rest the following day, and then you can lift again. This should reduce the amount of pain you feel when lifting.
Stay Pain-free When Lifting
If you experience neck pain when lifting, you could end up with a serious injury. Your body is telling you that it’s under stress, so change your routine. These techniques should help you avoid pain. However, if you are still in pain, visit the injury doctor. You need an evaluation to determine if something is wrong.
If you experience neck pain when lifting weights, your body is telling you that something is wrong. Lifting should not be painful, so you need to make some changes to your lifting routine. If you still experience pain after adjusting your technique, it is time to seek medical treatment.
Maintain a Balanced Posture
Poor posture can lead to neck pain when lifting weights. Lengthen your spine, so you stand up straight. Then let your shoulder blades slide down while your chest moves forward. Do this without arching your back. Your head should be straight, and your hips need to be parallel to the floor. Keep your elbows close to your body when lifting.
Relax Your Neck and Jaw
Tension in your neck and jaw can lead to neck pain when lifting weights. You might think it’s impossible to keep your neck and jaw relaxed when lifting heavy weights, but it is actually easy. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth when lifting. This will cause your neck and jaw to relax, so you are less likely to experience tension-related pain. Breathing can also help you stay relaxed. Take a breath before lifting the weight. Then exhale when lifting and breath back in when lowering the weight.
Build up Your Weak Side
One side of your body is likely stronger than the other. If you force your weaker side to keep up, you can injure yourself, and that can hurt your neck. For example, if your right side can easily handle 80 pounds, and your left side can only handle 50, lifting 80 pounds on both sides will cause trauma. Modify your lifting routine to accommodate your weaker side. Build it up so that it becomes as strong as the other side of your body. This builds symmetry and will help you avoid neck pain when lifting weights.
Stay in Control
If you don’t have control of the weights, you are likely to strain your neck. If this happens, you might need to take several days or even weeks off to rest your neck. Lift weights in slow and controlled motion. If this is not possible, the weights are too heavy. Rack those weights and pick some up that are not as heavy. If you can control the weights, you will put less pressure on your neck.
Rest
You can also hurt your neck by lifting weights too often. While some exercise is good on a daily basis, you should not lift weights two days in a row. Rest the following day, and then you can lift again. This should reduce the amount of pain you feel when lifting.
Stay Pain-free When Lifting
If you experience neck pain when lifting, you could end up with a serious injury. Your body is telling you that it’s under stress, so change your routine. These techniques should help you avoid pain. However, if you are still in pain, visit the neck injury doctor. You need an evaluation to determine if something is wrong.
