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The Neck pull is a Pilates exercise that requires you to use your core muscles to bring up your body from the mat.
While the name suggests pulling the neck, it doesn't actually involve pulling your neck at all. If you pull your neck, it will become more of jamming your neck than helping it.
Correct form of doing neck pull
Lie down on your back on a mat. When you do so, ensure that your entire spine is against the mat, and no part of your back, especially your lower back, is away from the mat.
If required, relax your hip and muscles around the area to ensure that your entire back is against the mat.
Next, engage your quads and hamstrings. You can either keep your toes pointed forward or heels stiff with toes pointing towards the ceiling. At this point, you can decide whether you want to keep your legs at shoulder-width apart or joined.
After you’ve come to this position, put your hands behind your neck, and stack them one over the other. To exercise, inhale, and curl your chin towards your chest. Slightly roll up over your legs while moving your elbows beside your knees as much as you can.
Next, move back up slowly, and move to a seated position with a straight spine. From there, curl your chin towards your chest again; tuck your tailbone, and move back to the mat.
When you’re moving back, make sure your back is touching the mat one vertebrae at a time till you’ve reached the starting position.
Tips to do Neck Pull better
When you’re doing the neck pull, your breathing plays a key role. You need to be focused on inhaling when you curl upwards and exhale when you move to the seated position.
Inhale when you’re seated, and exhale when you move to the starting position. This breathing pattern plays an important role in helping you exercute the exercise properly.
Keep your core engaged, and pull up with your abdominal muscles. Do not push your neck forward or pull it when curling upwards. Doing so will mean you're putting your neck at risk of injury.
Finally, you need to make sure your entire spine is glued to the mat before doing the exercise. If you feel that's not happening, you should focus on that first before doing any further movement of the exercise.
Benefits of Doing Neck Pull
Neck pulls come with numerous benefits such as:
- Strengthens abdominal muscles.
- Focuses on stretching the hamstrings.
- Enables the body to work on flexibility.
- Provides aid to prevent back pain.
- Helps with making the back stronger.
Common Mistakes While Doing Neck Pull
When you start doing this exercise, the goal should be to master it. Therefore, being aware of the common mistakes will help you ensure the same.
Lifting shoulders and legs
Your entire body should be on the mat. Therefore, your shoulders and elbows should be on the mat, and you should lift from your abs. Meanwhile, do not lift your legs, as that’ll take away the stretch that was supposed to work on your hamstrings.
Neck posture
The most common mistake while during this exercise is that you might end up pulling your neck. If you constantly feel that you’re pulling your neck, try to do the movement slowly, where the principle of Pilates kicks in. The more you understand the flow of the movement, the better it’ll be for you to perfecting it.
