Everyone wants a fit body, especially fit, tight abs. We see people with these types of abs on our television sets and in our magazines. But we can only achieve flat abs with a lot of hard work. If you are like a lot of people, achieving the abs you want is even harder because you have problems with your neck.
People today are more stress filled than ever. A lot of times, this stress will center in one’s neck. This can cause tremendous amount of pain, swelling and even headaches. Exercise and other activities can also put a strain on the neck area.
Even though we have neck problems, we still have to exercise our abnormal muscles, the ab area. It isn’t just because we want to look good. We have to do it because the abs are the core of our beginnings. With strong ab muscles, are backs still better aligned and since the ab is the biggest muscle near our hearts, we need to keep it fit.
Here a few exercises I have learned to that doesn’t put a strain on my neck.
Crunch
Yes, you can do the crunch. But you must support your neck while doing it.
Lie on the floor, on your back. Place your feet on the floor, close to your bottom as possible, knees together. Now place your hands behind your neck for support. Relax your neck. Slowly raise your shoulders off of the floor, contracting only the abdominal muscles. Hold, slowly return to the floor. Be sure you gently return to the floor.
Leg raises.
Lay on the floor on your back. Bend your legs. Now extend your right leg out, slowly lift it up to knee height. Hold. Now lower it back to the ground. Do the same with your left leg.
When doing this, if you place your hand on your stomach, you should be able to feel the muscles working.
This works the lower part of our abs, the hardest area to work.
The hip roll
This works the obloquies (the sides of our abs).
Again, lay on the floor, on your back. Now bend your legs up towards your body, slowly roll your body to the left, hold, right, hold and back to starting position. Do this slowly and try to keep your neck as loose as you can.
Standing rotation
Now back to your feet. Stand, with hands behind head, legs apart. Raise your left leg and at the same time cross your right arm towards the leg, trying to touch. Just stretch as far as you can without straining. Hold. Alternate with other leg and arm.
This will help keep your waistline trim.
Seated bicycle
Sit, hands on floor on each side of your body. Legs extended on floor. Now slowly, bring left leg towards body in a bicycle type motion, then extend it back out and bring your right leg towards your body. Repeat.
If you are really strong, you can even add ankle weights.
This exercise also works your waistline.
Plank
Lie flat on your stomach. Place your hands at either side of your chest (as if you were going to do a pushup). Keep your back flat. Push yourself up onto your knees. Your upper body is now off of the floor and your hands and knees are supporting you. Continue to keep your back flat. Pull your stomach button as high as possible as if you are trying to suck it in. Hold for 10-60 seconds. Continue to breathe normal. Relax.
This exercise tones the walls of our abs.
As you can see, you can exercise your stomach and protect your neck. Just remember a few more tips. Always stretch your neck muscles before and after your exercise. Only do the amount your body can handle. When stretching, only stretch as far that is comfortable for your body.
If your neck does start to hurt later in the day after exercising, try using hot, cold compresses and muscle rubs. Please never exercise if your neck is all ready bothering you a lot or if you are swollen. See a doctor if the problem persists.
