The two most important neck exercises in my program #phyical #physicaltherapy #chestworkout

Your neck is one of the most mobile parts of your body. And the reason for this is so it can respond to changes in the position of the body below during walking. Because of this, it plays a crucial role in balance and even vision.

Your neck also impacts the position and function of your airway. And because of that, it can influence the behavior of your entire nervous system.

Most people take this for granted. I know I sure did until I had a neck injury that would kick off years of chronic pain.

Looking back, the likely reasons this became chronic were related to the injury itself and the management of it. Like many people with neck injuries, PT just wasn't it!

You'll usually get a bunch of stretches and low level movements. Maybe some bands for shoulder stuff.

What's missing:

1. Direct neck work
2. Integration of the neck into the gait cycle
3. Integration of the neck into resistance training

In these two particular exercises, I’m checking boxes 2 and 3. And in my opinion, these are two of the most under-emphasized component of neck rehab.

Here’s the rationale…

My neck injury occurred on the left side. I had a sudden increase in weakness of my left neck, arm, and upper back. This was reduced the overall compression on the left side of the neck.

During walking, you need to compress your left when you are over your right leg.

During lifting, you require this compression to be even with the right to be able to stabilize the upper rib cage.

These two activities allow for me to work on these skills. And while it doesn’t look like I’m training my neck, this is better than anything you’ll get from traditional physical therapy.

Rehab doesn’t have to be low level or boring. It does have to be precise.

Don’t forget to train.

#physicaltherapy #personaltrainer #upperbodyworkout #chestday

[ChaplinPerformance]

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