Pain in the neck

bw1099 · Post by **bw1099** » January 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Recently -- well for maybe 6 months -- I have been worried about neck pain. Every once in a while, I will bend my neck in a certain way, and it feels like it might just go into a horrible spasm and I'll never be able to move by head again. It has been getting worse lately.

My theory, which is probably based on just about nothing more than imagination, is that as I became a stronger rower, by upper back muscles became stronger, but they are working next to my old weakling neck muscles that haven't benefitted from increased fitness, so things are out of balance.

Has anyone else experiences this sort of thing? Any ideas what might really be going on so I might discard my silly theory?

Thanks,

bw

Alissa · Post by **Alissa** » January 4th, 2007, 9:17 pm

I really have no thoughts on your theory, but am wondering how you are holding your neck when you row...

Is your head cocked back a bit, so that your chin leads as you drive & then move back up the slide?

Or is your neck extended so that your spine extends into your neck/back of your head in a smooth line, so that you lead with your forehead?

Alissa

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » January 5th, 2007, 12:31 am

I think what you are saying is right on the mark.

You might be using your arms too much through your shoulders as you row. instead of utilizing the strength of your back.

MomofJBN · Post by **MomofJBN** » January 5th, 2007, 12:33 am

In the vein of what Alissa said, roll your head around before and after erging to relax it. Try to pay attention to what you're doing during your stroke. Are you tensing up your neck? Your shoulders should be down (not up near your ears) and relatively relaxed.

HTH

jbell · Post by **jbell** » January 5th, 2007, 12:41 am

Does it happen if you turn your head around and look down? I've had it happen a few times and recently my coach has told me to not shrug my shoulders at the end of the stroke. Problem has gone away as far as I can tell.

bw1099 · Post by **bw1099** » January 6th, 2007, 9:30 pm

Alissa wrote:Is your head cocked back a bit, so that your chin leads as you drive & then move back up the slide?

Or is your neck extended so that your spine extends into your neck/back of your head in a smooth line, so that you lead with your forehead?

Alissa

Thanks for your comments.

I erged form the first time in about 3 weeks today, and tried to pay attention to what I was doing. Of course, once you start thinking about it, you can't be sure if you haven't changed it. Here are my observations:

I row with my head tipped forward slightly. I have the TV eye level and adjust my head so I am looking out of the top of my progressive bifocals. I also found that I frequently had my nose pointing a little to the right - again a probably a progressive bifocal thing for the TV to be in focus.

I thought about my spine extending to neck. I am not doing so well there -- bad posture from many years of slouching.

My shoulder position doesn't seem to be a problem. I am not aware of shrugging at the end of the stroke. I took it easy today, so might do that with more intense workouts. My shoulders are pretty tight lately, even with no erging for three weeks.

bw