Does it matter if I always use my neck when doing sit-ups?

I believe everyone has done sit-ups. For example, during physical education classes, teachers often ask you to do sit-ups. Sit-ups are very easy to do. For example, you can do them on a yoga mat. In addition, people like to do sit-ups on the bed. Sit-ups can best exercise the waist and especially help lose abdominal fat. Some people need to use their neck to help with the force when doing sit-ups. Will this hurt the neck?

Does it matter if I always use my neck when doing sit-ups?

Sit-ups have a certain impact on the neck. If you suffer from cervical spondylosis, it is not recommended to do sit-ups while holding your head.

People often feel neck pain when doing sit-ups. This is because sit-up practitioners train with their arms stretched backwards and their hands crossed behind their heads. At the beginning of the exercise, they seem very relaxed and their movements are very fast, but after a while, the speed slows down significantly and the whole movement becomes very strenuous.

Then, with shaking arms, try to pull the head and neck forward, bending the whole torso forward to make up for the lack of abdominal muscle strength.

Because of this, the cervical spine and the soft tissue of the neck are subjected to very strong flexion stress. Once the stress exceeds the limit that the cervical spine or the soft tissue of the neck can withstand, it will cause neck strain or minor injuries, causing neck pain.

Correction method

1. To prevent this type of neck pain, avoid using your arms to replace your waist and abdomen during training. Especially for those with weak abdominal muscles, it is not advisable to adopt the position with arms behind, but to stretch arms forward for training. This can reduce the difficulty of the movement and avoid traction on the head and neck. Also, don't move too fast.

2. Learn to use your abdominal muscles instead of using your whole body to complete the movement. Relax other parts of your body and keep your abdomen tense. Chin tucked in.

3. Pay attention to quality, and make sure each movement is up to standard. Don't force yourself, otherwise you won't use leverage.

In addition to sit-ups, I would like to introduce the following two abdominal muscle exercises:

1. Special Forces Abdominal Muscle Enhancement Method

Lie on the bed with your body straight, put your legs together and lift them as high as possible, then lower them but not completely, then lift them up again, and lower them again, repeating this process until you are exhausted. If it feels easy, then carry the weight.

2. Lazy people riding bicycles

Lie on the bed and do cycling exercises, fast and for a long time.

Both methods I mentioned do not require cervical spine exercise. These are the best abdominal muscle training methods for lazy people. Haha, for reference only.