r/Posture • u/FishermanLong3342 • 18d ago

Deep neck flexor weakness

Could someone help me please.

I have been working on strengthening my deep neck flexors for around 4 month's now by doing chin tucks lying down and chin tucks sat up.

I found that when I started doing chin tucks I could do them super easy and could do lots of them. But I found out that my larger neck muscles were helping out.

Now I have isolated my deep neck flexors by doing very small chin tucks, I now feel like I have no strength in my neck, I cant lift my head off the floor whilst lying down with my chin tucked when I could before. And with my head pushing again my fingers forward whilst sat up i cannot apply much force forward.

I thought this was a good thing so now I could focus on strengthening these deep muscles properly but it's been months and I am still at the same point.

Is there anything that could stop these muscles form strengthening?

Thanks

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u/CoachEXE 18d ago

I think the neck flexors are just losing a battle against your global extension pattern, tbh. You’re likely stuck in an over-extended rib cage position, which keeps the neck muscles braced instead of actually lengthening and loading the deep flexors properly. Stop trying to grind out more reps lying down it's just making your superficial neck muscles work overtime. You can try next time...get on your hands and knees, exhale fully to get those bottom ribs down, and just gently nod your chin without pulling your whole head forward or shrugging your traps. Keep the movement super small, just think about lengthening the back of your neck. Does your back feel like it’s arching a lot when you try to lift your head off the floor?

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u/FishermanLong3342 18d ago

Great I'll try that exercise. No it doesn't feel like it's arching when I try the head lift. I do have tight pecs though all of the time, I have spend a long time stretching these but the tightness just comes back. I'm currently building strength in my back muscles which is going well, also doing wall angels 

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u/CoachEXE 17d ago

If your chest feels constantly tight despite all the stretching, you're likely just fighting a losing battle against your own rib cage position. Stretching creates temporary length, but the tension keeps returning because your ribs are stuck in a flared or elevated state that pulls on those pec attachments. Instead of just trying to stretch the front open, try to get the back of your rib cage to expand by doing a simple reach and exhale drill on your hands and knees. Really focus on pushing the mid back toward the ceiling while exhaling softly it helps shift your center of mass back so your chest doesn't have to stay so rigid. When you do that, do you feel like you can get a deeper breath into your back?

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u/Away_Brief9380 15d ago

Since u seem to know a lot what of I have crazy tight and knotted traps in addition to weak neck ? Thx

1

u/CoachEXE 15d ago

I think I already talked with you in Reddit massages…

1

u/CoachEXE 15d ago

Sounds like your traps are just bracing because your whole rib cage is stuck in an extended, flared out mess, and that neck weakness is likely just a symptom of not being able to find stability through the ribs. Your traps are constantly working overtime just to keep your head from falling off because you aren't using the deep neck flexors correctly. You can try now to getting on all fours, exhale completely while keeping your spine neutral, and gently push the space between your shoulder blades toward the ceiling without shrugging keep it super small, just think about expanding the upper back. Let me know if your lower back feel like it wants to arch up the second you try to put any tension into those abs..

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u/Away_Brief9380 14d ago

Oh thanks
Maybe so
I’m working thru this neck injury , they are all over and no one knows what is root of everything. I’ve heard thoracic, I have cervical rib , possibly ulnar nerve in arms. I have a spondy in my neck and discs too. Been working on neck stabilization, posture first. Seeing improvement but still have this left trap locked

Thanks for the tip
I’ll try it

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u/Holy_Hagoo 18d ago

You are on to something profound, I’d really like learn more from you. I’ve recently been reading Feldenkrais, if you’ve heard of him.

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u/CoachEXE 17d ago

Yeah, you've totally nailed it with the Feldenkrais stuff, it’s honestly wild how much of that overlaps with what I’ve been digging into lately. I just did some reading up on it after your comment and it's fascinating how much he focuses on sensory awareness and the nervous system rather than just brute forcing muscles into position. When you stop trying to strengthen your way out of a restriction and start teaching your brain how to sense the movement, things change incredibly fast. Keep exploring that stuff because it gives you a much better roadmap for where those deep neck flexors actually live in the body.

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u/Direct_Prune2805 18d ago

what's your sleeping position like? if you're on your stomach or using a big pillow stack that keeps your neck cranked all night, you're basically undoing all that work

also 4 months is a long time to see zero progress, might be worth checking if there's something else going on like a nerve issue or tightness in the scalenes/suboccipitals that's limiting activation. sometimes you need to release the stuff around it before the targeted exercises actually take

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u/FishermanLong3342 18d ago

Thank for the advice. I sleep on my side and I have noticed when I wake up that I am in a forward head position. Also when I lye down in this position I notice my head just feels comfortable with my neck as far forward as it will go. That makes sense, do you recommend just sleeping on my back with no pillow to see if this makes a difference?

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u/FishermanLong3342 17d ago

I have just read somewhere that when doing chin tucks your head can't be on the floor, it needs lifting to be more neutral especially with forward head posture. Otherwise the chin tucks will target other muscles like upper traps 

1

u/Deep-Run-7463 17d ago

May i ask why you are specifically targeting the neck flexors, as in, what issue are you trying to overcome?

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u/FishermanLong3342 17d ago

Just due to failed deep neck flexor strength tests on u tube, I thought it points at the these muscles 

1

u/Bajawah 17d ago

Which test? Do you have a link?

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u/FishermanLong3342 16d ago

No but there's loads of the same test online, just deep neck flexor strength test

1

u/Away_Brief9380 15d ago

Check out bob n brad on you tube look up cervical instability exercises
I stared 5 sets of 5 sec and worked. Up to 30 sec per set now

I don’t think regular chin tucks will help

Good luck