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Originally Posted by Lisa~
Julie, Is that the same exercise that Mike Robertson is calling a Chin Tuck in this article? There's a picture of it too, but it's kinda hard to see what he's doing since the movement is so very small.
Neanderthal No More, Part IV
Mike and Eric also show neck stretches, including a stretch for the SCM. Would you recommend those as well? |
Lisa, yes it is essentially the same exercise ... the big difference (maybe) is the EFFORT of the movement. If we want to train the stabilizers as opposed to the prime movers, the movements need to be low effort. Stabilizers are postural muscles, typically slow twitch, and will "shut off" if the effort is too high. In the neck, the SCM will tend to take over. The movement is also not a true chin tuck, because a chin tuck often flattens out the natural curve in the neck, whereas a "nod" just takes the upper cervical region from a hyperexended position and returns it to neutral.
The stretching can be helpful, IF the SCM, trap, and levator are tight ... if they aren't, then stretching might exacerbate an instability problem. Sort of like people stretching their hams when their pelvis is already anteriorly tilted ... they need to stretch the hip flexors. In the neck, the suboccipital muscles are often very tight as most folks have a forward head (which hyperextends the upper cervicals and puts the lower cervicals in a flexed position, causing C7 spinous process to protrude), so they need to stretch the suboccipitals ... but often the SCM, upper trap, and levator are involved as well (adaptive shortening).