Behind the Neck Exercises: Do You Need Them?

For every exercise, there's an equal and opposite, behind-the-neck variation. Behind-the-neck lat pull-downs, pull-ups, push presses, strict presses, are just a few examples of exercises I've seen people try to do behind their necks. Perhaps they're trying to hit the same muscle groups in a new way, or target different muscles altogether. Regardless of the reason, I am not generally a fan of the behind-the-neck training club.

Given the overwhelming number of shoulders stuck in internal rotation and spines stuck in kyphosis for the average desk-worker or sedentary individual, many people already come into the gym with a slew of shoulder restrictions and postural limitations. The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body. Because of the huge range of motion in the joint, many people have poor stability overhead. Men and women alike suffer from scapular flaring (see below) as a result of lifestyle habits and poor posture.

She may look like she's at peace, but she's forcing her shoulders into an unstable position!

It is often difficult enough for someone to maintain shoulder stability in the traditional variations of a pull-up or strict press. Now, once you start trying to do these movements behind the neck, you're just reinforcing a dangerous position that may lead to pain or injury in the future.

For starters, let's analyze the neck position of someone doing an exercise behind his neck.

If you've read my previous posts, you understand that the position of the neck impacts the position of the rest of the spine. This particular...gentleman is obviously very muscular. Despite this, however, his cervical spine (neck) is flexed, and he is reinforcing the dreaded forward head posture ("chicken head" posture). This exercise may be counterproductive for him as it could potentially lead to some neck pain down the line.

Now, let's move on to what might be happening to the shoulders in a movement like the lat-pull downs in the above photo.

As the result of the neck position, (because the human body works as a chain) his shoulder stability is also compromised. Ideally, his scapula should slide down the ribcage as he pulls the bar towards his traps. However, if the shoulders are internally rotated, the shoulder blade tilts forward and slopes off of the ribcage.

Many Olympic lifting coaches teach jerks or presses behind the neck, because it enables the athlete to keep his torso more upright in the dip. Unfortunately, for most, this might also damage the integrity of the shoulder position in order to maintain a vertical torso.

In an ideal situation, a behind-the neck exercise might be beneficial for an athlete. Unfortunately, the shoulder position is often compromised. If you have had shoulder issues in the past, you more than likely lack mobility or stability in the shoulder joint, and these types of exercises will just exacerbate your issues.

Unless you are certain you can sustain an ideal position in a behind the neck exercise, perhaps your routine is better off without them!

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Breathe Your Way to Bigger Lifts

Check yourself: as you read this, are you taking deep, full breaths, or is your breath shallow and inconsistent?

I've found that my clients have the tendency to forget to breathe as the they lift. They're getting ready for a max back squat and they step under the bar with a completely unstable abdomen.

You take, on average, over 20,000 breaths per day, yet somehow, in today's stressful society, breathing is not always automatic. When people are anxious or preoccupied, they may forget to breathe, or their breathing may not be of adequate depth.

The respiratory system, courtesy of www.philschatz.com.

Now, above I've placed a photo of the respiratory system. As you can see, there is a lot going on there. Many people who are stressed or are in the sympathetic nervous system response (fight or flight), will breather primarily through the neck and chest--this is usually easily visible. Someone who is calm and in the parasympathetic nervous system should breathe through the diaphragm, and you will note that their bellies and lower ribcages will expand as they inhale.

The respiratory system obviously provides our brains with oxygen, but it also helps to stabilize our abdomens. When we inhale, the diaphragm contracts and presses up against the lungs, and as we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes.

A proper diaphragmatic breath helps us create intra-abdominal pressure. On a compound movement like a squat, deadlift or bench press, maintaining that intra-abdominal pressure is imperative for safety of the spine and maximal power output.

He may be cute, but we certainly don't want to emulate his physique!

My friend Wileen, a Licensed Massage Therapist and practitioner of NeuroKinetic therapy, gave me this wonderful example--she said that without sufficient intra-abdominal pressure, the body is much like the Slinky Dog in "Toy Story." Essentially, the abdomen will be soft and unprepared to handle a sufficient load.

Would you rather lift with a body like that of Slinky Dog or that of Buzz Lightyear? I have my money on Buzz Lightyear any day of the week.

A heavy lift requires a substantial amount of tension in the body, from the feet, all of the way up to the torso. Without that necessary rigidity, the risk of injury is exponentially higher, and the amount of energy we are wasting comes in droves.

A strong core creates bigger lifts. We can't optimize the strength of the thorax without proper spinal bracing via the breath, so therefore, a stronger breath means more weight on the bar! You follow me?

Now, down to the nitty gritty. You may be wondering how you should breathe on these big lifts. There is a technique that many lifters employ called the Valsalva maneuver. This is just one way to breathe to take advantage of the intra-abdominal pressure. I will warn, though, that anyone who has a history of high blood pressure should not breathe this way, as it does raise the blood pressure even more. Ideally, we want to inhale through the nose, which facilitates a full contraction of the diaphragm. Then, we should engage the abdominals. I tell my clients to imagine like I'm going to punch them in their stomachs. Once they have that down, they may begin the movement. During the hardest part of the movement, or the end of the concentric phase (think of standing up on a deadlift or squat or locking out an overhead press), they should forcefully exhale through the mouth. If they are doing a set with multiple reps, they should repeat this before each repetition.

This photo of the Valsalva maneuver in action demonstrates an iron clad core. As you can see, the airway is cut off and the diaphragm is contracted abdominal cavity expands. This individual is ready to move big weight.

Many people use lifting belts to enhance this effect. The belt acts as somewhat of a tactile cue to improve that core stabilization. I won't get into that too much today, though, as that is enough material for an entirely new post.

As you can see, the way you breathe has a profound impact on your performance, both in and out of the gym. It's is extremely important to learn how to maintain intra-abdominal pressure throughout a heavy lift for both efficacy and safety.

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Your Hips Don't Lie...Or Do They?

We'd all like to move our hips like Shakira (or maybe that's just me). One thing I've noticed, though, in many of my clients, is that the cue "hinge at the hips" usually raises confusion. The fact is that many people I've met do not know the difference between bending at the hips and bending at the waist. I am to put an end to this gray area.

Whether you're picking something up from the floor or preparing yourself for a deadlift PR, it's crucial, for the longevity of your spine, to learn how to properly load the hips.

This guy knows how to drop it low.

Take a look at the photo: which one looks safer? If you were going to pick up your dining room table while moving into a new house, what do you think would be the safest and most mechanically optimal way to do so? Which position would allow someone to efficiently deadlift upwards of 500 pounds?

I'm guessing (and hoping) you picked the photo on the left.

The photo on the right will place excessive shear force on your intervertebral disks and prevent you from properly engaging the powerful forces that are the erector spinae, the gluteus maximi and the hamstrings complex.

Look at that hip hinge...

To help clients learn to hinge at the hips, I have them lift up one leg and place a hand in the crease of the hips. Once they've established this placement of the hands, I ask them to keep their hands there and try to bend and squeeze their hand with their hips as they push their butts back towards the wall. This tactile cue allows them to feel how they should load a weighted movement.

You'll know you're hinging at the hips properly when you feel a nice stretch in your hamstrings at the bottom of the movement--this allows us to use that elastic capacity to extend the hips as we stand.

You should lift both a laundry basket and a barbell in the same manner: loading the hips and bracing the core. When used properly, the hip extensors (like the hamstrings and the glutes) can produce an incredible amount of power. When misused, we run the risk of injury and we are limiting the full potential of the posterior chain.

Your glutes are (arguably) the biggest muscles in the body, so why wouldn't you want to take full advantage of them while lifting heavy weight?

If you want to learn to move like Shakira, the first step is to understand how to prime the hips for movement.

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