The four most effective exercises to strengthen the cervical

In addition to taking care of our posture at all times, especially in front of the computer, some localized exercises can help us strength...

In addition to taking care of our posture at all times, especially in front of the computer, some localized exercises can help us strengthen the cervicals to prevent and avoid pain.

One of the areas of our body that more predisposed to suffer injuries are the cervical vertebrae. Due to bad postural habits, sudden movements, repetitive work or accidents, the cervicals need some exercises that reinforce them.

For this reason, I propose some exercises to strengthen the cervical and prevent injuries and contractures.

The musculature of the neck must support the entire weight of the head. It is not strange that an area with so much movement may hurt at some time in our lives. Torticollis, a contracture, pinching, or even dizziness are the result of problems in the neck.

You can prevent them in time with these exercises!

The body posture

To begin with, the best remedy for any ailment is prevention. We must take responsibility for taking care of our health.

For this, self-awareness and, above all, the attention to our bad habits is fundamental. In this case, we should look at our position during the activities we do the most (at work, at home, when sleeping, etc.).

If we overload the cervical area with a lot of tension, we will cause long-term bone and muscle imbalances. Therefore, in order not to damage tendons, nerves, and vertebral discs, we must monitor the posture when walking, when carrying weight, when sitting, etc. We must self-observe daily to correct postural errors.

Important tips for cervical

Strengthening the cervical is essential to prevent contractures and injuries. However, in the first place, we must take into account these tips:

• Do not carry too much weight or try to balance it between both arms.
• Avoid spending too many hours in the same position.
• Always try to raise your back. Do not store to bend or walk with head down.
• Use the backrest of the chairs and do not arch your back.
• Flex the knees to lift the weight. Thus the force will be made by the legs and not by the back.
• To avoid contractures, try not to cool the neck and neck area.
• Use pillows and mattresses of the best quality.
• Place the screen of your computer at eye level.
• Use a bag of hot water or seeds to relieve cervical pain.
• Practice daily exercises to strengthen the cervical.

Exercises to strengthen the cervical

Exercise 1: Circles with the head

To begin to relax all the cervical musculature, we will make slow circles with the head. During the exercise, the arms should be relaxed on both sides of the body and always with a straight back.

Start from left to right, for example, and, after three repetitions, change the direction of the turn. Try, without pain, reach the limit of the stretch making the circles wide open.

Repeat this exercise five times. It is advisable to try closed eyes to avoid the feeling of dizziness.

Exercise 2: Lateral Tilt

This exercise is ideal for offering elasticity to the neck muscles. It also helps to decontract the crushed muscles. The movement is very simple:

Tilting the head as if the ear wanted to touch the shoulder. Maximize our ability to stretch. Although we often feel some crunching of the vertebrae, the movement should not cause us pain.

We can repeat it five times per side and always slowly and smoothly, without brusqueness. We can help with the hand opposite to the side that we are going to flex.

Exercise 3: Raise your shoulders

Another simple exercise to strengthen the cervical is to raise the shoulders. With this movement, we tone the trapezius muscles and the musculature of the shoulder blades.

The shoulders should rise and fall in a parallel way, although we can make variants by making circles with the shoulders.

Do five repetitions of the exercise combined with the previous ones. If we also want to enlarge the musculature of the sternocleidomastoid, we can carry weight in each hand.

Exercise 4: Side by side

The last exercise that I also propose is very simple and can be done at any time to strengthen the cervical.

Make head turns from left to right. We must pay attention so that the trunk is still and aligned with the shoulders. The head should rotate horizontally and, again, without sudden movements and at maximum stretch.

These four exercises should be practiced as a warm-up for any sports activity and as maintenance of our cervical flexibility. If we decide to start with a sport to improve the cervical pains we recommend swimming. This discipline helps to avoid injuries and to exercise all our muscles.