Crunches give me a stiff neck. Plus weight loss cardio advice.

sswats

sswats

sswats

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26 Mar 2004
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I have been doing crunches and other ab exercises, but halfway through my neck really stiffens up and becomes painful.

I've looked up and followed instructional guides and videos so I think I'm doing them correctly but I always end up straining my neck, specifically in the more advanced excercises rather than the standard crunch.

Second question.
I need to lose a crap load of weight and so need to do more cardio. A couple months ago I started cycling to work which is a 16 mile round trip, and I'm going to do more swimming even though i can barely swim.
I can't do any jogging at the moment as it aggrevates a lower back problem.
Which other exercises can really burn through the fat, AND improve my endurance so i'm not always out of breath.
I'm also doing weights and that's going okay so far.
 
First off, what's your diet like? You can do all the exercise in the world but if you're eating loads of junk then you'll never lose weight. Stick to healthy foods and cut out any junk. Make sure you get plenty of protein and fats (good ones!) and don't go too mental with the carbs. Stick to wholeweat foods, i.e. brown rice/pasta, brown bread, etc and get lots of good meat and plenty of veggies. You can never out-train a bad diet!

With regards to exercises, do you have access to a gym with a rower? I found them extremely punishing and I'm destroyed far quicker on them compared to running, riding, swimming etc. Although if you've got a dodgy back this might not be a good idea.

For fat loss HIIT is very good so have a read up on that. Basically its fairly short sessions of cardio mixing very intense short sprints with short rest periods. You can apply it to most exercises but personally think it's suited best to running or rowing. You can try it on your bike but I don't think that will be as effective. Also you'll need somewhere very long and very straight where you don't have to worry about stopping/slowing down. Don't do it swimming becuase if you're pushing yourself properly you'll probably drown!

Why are you doing crunches? I've never done them but I'm pretty sure they are a poor exercise both in terms of the results (i.e. they don't do much for you), and in the technique in that it's not a very natural movement and puts stresses in odd parts of the body, which would probably explain the pain in your neck. What's your weights programme like?
 
Diets not bad at the moment.
And HIIT doesn't work too well on a bike. Although I do still try and do it. And as i said at the moment jogging is a no no so i guess that leaves rowing. So i'll do that. But in case it does aggrevate a back injury, are any of those girly skiing machines type things of any benefit?

As for the crunches, well I do them for core strengthening to help with my back problem. I have a very bad posture and I was recommended by my physio to do core strength training which includes ab exercises.
 
sswats said:
Diets not bad at the moment.
And HIIT doesn't work too well on a bike. Although I do still try and do it. And as i said at the moment jogging is a no no so i guess that leaves rowing. So i'll do that. But in case it does aggrevate a back injury, are any of those girly skiing machines type things of any benefit?

As for the crunches, well I do them for core strengthening to help with my back problem. I have a very bad posture and I was recommended by my physio to do core strength training which includes ab exercises.
Click to expand...

Get on one of the girly cross trainers and put the resistance right up for 30mins and go for It, well see who's girly then ;) I've lost 8lbs so far doing my cardio on one.
 
shifty_uk said:
Use standing cable crunches instead, if you have access to those facilities. Result = No stiff neck and variable weight stack.
Click to expand...

Cool will definitely do that. Thanks.
Would that totally replace any floor ab exercise work or should i still do some.

And I'll be using the cross trainer later today.
 
sswats said:
Cool will definitely do that. Thanks.
Would that totally replace any floor ab exercise work or should i still do some.

And I'll be using the cross trainer later today.
Click to expand...

If you're looking to build muscle, body weight exercises will only get you so far. With the cables you have the ability to progress in resistance. :)

Skip this video to 2:20:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7sClWmQM0

That's the exercise I was referring to, keep the cables infront of your body, it's a lot easier and far less stress on the neck. I use this as I find any other form of mainstream cable crunch an absolute nightmare to perform.
 
HIIT really works on the cross trainers. Get a good resistance going and do a minute forwards then a minute backwards until you can't do it anymore.
 
Standing cable crunch turned out to be a very bad idea for me.
I did one set on a light weight and felt a little pull down my back. There was a trainer near me and he told me that these aren't good for your back (I hadn't told him that i felt a pull) and showed me this method which i found much more comfortable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nDGiMYmbR0

Did a bit of cross training, and it turns out I haven't exercised those muscles in a really long time. The backs of my legs tightened up very quickly (yes i had stretched). Definitely need to do more of those then.
Rowing felt good though.
 
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