Ladies–how often do you get neck pain?
Many women experience this far too often. And, despite their best efforts to seek relief through massage, chiropractic, and even physical therapy, neck pain can persist far longer than it is welcome.
So if you have been through the gauntlet of neck pain relief specialists, I am writing this article for you.
The truth is even though neck pain is common for many women, it does not have to be chronic and long-lasting. In fact, there is a very good reason why many other modalities aren’t any good at addressing neck pain, despite their claims.
This reason is exactly what I want to share with you, and in doing so, I hope to help you understand why your neck pain has continued to persist for months or years and what you can do to change that once and for all.
Let’s get right to it.
The number one reason why most modalities are not any good at addressing neck pain is because they are all focused on the wrong thing as the underlying cause.
Whether it is your discs, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, fascia, nerves, or posture, there are so many scapegoats that are blamed for neck pain. Unfortunately, none of these issues actually address one of the biggest underlying reasons why many women have neck pain and why it lasts so long.
In my experience, the most common reason why women have persistent neck pain is because of weak and poorly functioning muscles.
Time and again over the last decade, I have seen that when my clients’ muscles get stronger and function better, their neck pain is a thing of the past.
But here’s the thing–rarely are the muscles of the neck the ones that need to get strengthened. In fact, I have seen the neck muscles be the primary issue in less than 2% of my clients with persistent neck pain.
Instead, the biggest area I see needing to be strengthened is the shoulders, specifically the shoulder blade muscles that live along the upper back just under the neck.
When those muscles get weaker and become dysfunctional, the neck is not as supported as it should be. As such, the muscles in the neck try to work harder to compensate for this lack of support, creating tightness in those muscles and extra stress through the discs, vertebrae, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and nerves within the neck.
However, once the muscles of the shoulder blade get stronger and function better, the neck muscles relax and the associated pain and symptoms go away.
The second biggest area I see needing to be strengthened are the muscles of the trunk–essentially everything that lives between your pelvis and your shoulders that controls your spine and core.
Not only can dysfunctional trunk muscles create issues with the neck directly, they can also create issues with the shoulder blade, and as such the neck.
Now, many chiropractors, physical therapists, and personal trainers will have a cookie-cutter list of exercises you can do to strengthen your shoulder blade muscles and trunk muscles, but there’s a problem with this.
The problem is those exercises don’t work.
Not “don’t work” in the sense that they aren’t challenging the right muscles, but rather “don’t work” in the sense that they don’t get the right muscles involved…
Because here’s the thing–the reason why you are having persistent neck pain in the first place is because these muscles aren’t functioning properly.
If you give exercises to muscles that aren’t functioning properly, do you know what happens?
Your body has to compensate around those dysfunctional muscles in order to do the exercise!
Which means the exercises that are supposed to be helping you end up making things worse simply because you are unable to use the correct muscles when you are doing the exercises.
Instead, you need to to “turn on” or activate the dysfunctional muscles as Step 1. Then, once those muscles are activated, you can start to do exercises for them and they will be viable options for your body to use.
This is where Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) comes into play. MAT® is a systematic process to assess your body and figure out where you have dysfunctional muscles, also known as muscle inhibition. Once these muscles are identified, the MAT® process is able to address these muscles directly, improving the strength and function specifically of the muscles that aren’t working well.
As a result, your neck can be better supported and move how it is supposed to without having to take on extra stress. Additionally, any reinforcement exercises you do on your own will actually have a shot at helping you because you have all of the right muscles turned on and ready to go.
Ultimately, you get to get back to doing all the things you love without having to worry about persistent neck pain.
If you are in the Chicagoland area, I’d love to see you on my MAT® table. You can find the time that works best for you in my schedule by clicking here to schedule your initial MAT® consultation and assessment.
I can’t wait to see you on my MAT® table soon!
In strength and health,
Julie
Julie Cates is an experienced, certified, and insured National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Personal Trainer and mastery level Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) Rx Specialist (MATRx).
She is one of 88 certified mastery level Resistance Training Specialists® (RTSm) in the world. This combination makes her style of training impactful and still preventative and restorative of joint and muscle issues and pain that are common with exercise.
Julie specializes in working with women 50 and over. Specifically, her main focus is working with women with bone density loss, muscle loss, Osteopenia, and Osteoporosis.
Julie has incredible experience working with brand new exercisers. Very specific types and styles of exercises are needed for restoring and maintaining bone density, and Julie guides her clients through these in a pain-free way.
She is also well experienced in helping women exercise even with various joint, bone, systemic, and neurological diagnoses. Julie is definitely your go-to personal trainer for women with Osteoporosis!
