Chin tuck exercise is among the essential exercises that help maintain and improve a good neck and head posture. Also, this will help you have your head right above your spine. So, your head does not drift forward, which causes poor posture.
You can do this to improve your neck’s function, flexibility, and overall strength. These results are from doing the chin tuck exercise regularly and with a proper form. Thus, this is an excellent exercise for people with herniated or ruptured cervical disks. Also, people who have a weak or damaged neck because of whiplash can benefit from this exercise.
How to Perform the Chin Tuck Exercise
You can perform this exercise as you sit or stand. There are some simple ways through which you can do the chin tuck exercise:
You need to sit upright and then look straight with your ears coming over your shoulders
- Then, it would help if you placed a finger on your chin
- Pull your chin backward as you keep your finger on your chin and elongate the neck until you feel a pleasant stretch at your neck and head.
- Stay in this position for five seconds
- Now, bring your chin forward towards the finger
- Repeat the movement about ten times.
As a beginner, you can make your finger your point of reference. When the chin tuck gets a bit more comfortable, you will not need to use your finger. Another point you need to note is that the chin tuck may emphasize the strength of your deep neck flexor muscle. Also, this can happen as you apply some resistance using your hand under your chin. For example, you can apply slight downward pressure to the hand for around five seconds.
Also, it is helpful to do around five sets of ten tucks a day. The chin tuck exercise helps strengthen and stretch your neck and upper back muscles. Also, it helps make you maintain a good body posture throughout the day.
Doing around ten reps of the chin tuck exercise will take a minute. Some ways through which you can incorporate the chin tuck exercise in your daily activity include:
Morning routine–You can do the chin tuck exercise as you take your morning tea or coffee. You can also do it before brushing your teeth or changing your clothes.
You can also do chin tucks while in a car or any other mode of transportation. Some chin tucks during a red traffic light will also help you maintain a good posture.
You can also do the exercise while you are relaxing during your break. These will help you maintain a good body posture all day.
Multiple ways will help you fit around five sets of chin tuck exercises throughout your daily routine. First, think about the best times to do the exercise the next day when you start it. Then, organizing it more will help you gain the best results in the least possible time.
Physical Skill it Improves
As the chin tuck exercise helps in improving overall body posture, it allows you to do all activities that require a good body posture. For example, gymnasts need to maintain a good body posture in balancing acts. One mistake, and they end up ruining the action they are performing. A chin tuck exercise will help them maintain a good head posture and improve their balance.
Weightlifters and fighters require more strength in the neck as they do strenuous activities. The muscles of the neck can become weak because of poor posture. Activities such as a chin tuck exercise help them maintain healthy neck stability and strength. Also, shooting, snooker, and other sports that require handling weapons or bows need healthy neck strength and stability. Doing a chin tuck exercise will help the players perform well in sports and activities with good neck posture.
Muscles Worked
Bad head posture and an overall body posture are risk factors behind neck pain. Also, this is because of the high stress on the cervical spine and the structures that support it. For example, a chin tuck activates the following muscles:
It helps to make the deep cervical flexors strong. Also, it helps in lowering the cervical extensor muscles and other types of muscles. These include those that help make the head in the straight direction where your ears are right above your shoulders.
It would help stretch your body scalene muscles along your neck’s front sides and the suboccipital muscles. These muscles are present at the base of your skull.
These are some muscles that you can strengthen as you do the chin tuck exercise. You can try doing the exercise regularly to yield better results. It is essential to combine other exercises that also target your shoulders and chest to help you give proper support to your neck.
Now, let’s see more information about the chin tuck exercises to provide your neck strength, stability, and flexibility.
Mistakes of Chin Tuck Exercise
Some people complain of having pain during this exercise as they don’t consider making their cervical collars. To do so, you will first need to stimulate the neck area. Next, you will need to stick your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Thus, this will cause tension that helps you activate the area you are trying to exercise.
Also, most people complain of getting pain while doing this exercise as they don’t create a barrier first. You can also create a barrier by making an L shape with your fingers at a right-angle triangle. Then, use your finger to touch underneath your chin every time you lower your head down. Also, this can create stability and would not let you go further down the notch, which may cause pain.
To conclude, most people complain about getting pain in their neck area because they ignore stimulation. You can do the tongue trick to stimulate your neck region as you create tension in that area. Also, you can work on making the L shape using your hand to put a barrier to your angle of bending down. Doing these two things will save you from feeling pain during or after the chin tuck exercise.
Modifications of Chin Tuck Exercise
Some modifications of the chin tuck exercise include:
1. Chin Tuck Lying Down
This modification of the chin tuck exercise is a pleasant stretch that you can do before you get out of your bed in the morning time. For this, you need to do the following steps:
- Try tucking your chin in
- Go back to your normal resting chin position, then repeat tucking in.
2. Chin Tuck Exercise with Wall
This exercise will help you maintain the correct body posture. Also, this is a type of essential chin tuck exercise modification.
- You will need to stand with your head, back, and shoulders flat against your wall.
- Then, you will need to tuck in your chin
- Pause for some seconds
- Go back into a normal chin position and then repeat the movement
- From the initial position, you need to put your arms upright against the wall, and your palms should be out
- Move the arms up and then down against the wall
3. Forward Neck Stretch
This exercise is also helpful for maintaining a good head and body posture. You can do this modification of the chin tuck exercise with these steps:
- From the initial position, you need to stand or sit and tuck in your chin
- Use two fingers in your hand
- You will need to place the other hand on the top part of your head
- Gently push in and pull your head towards the chest. Keep doing this until you are feeling a stretch.
- Hold this stretch for about 20 seconds
- Go back to your initial position and repeat the movement three times.
These are some modifications of the essential chin tuck exercise. Try doing the basic technique or these modifications that fit the requirements for starters.
The last word on the chin tuck exercise
The chin tuck exercise is excellent for maintaining a good head posture and body posture. You can do the exercise with the steps you read in this article. You can also do the exercise modifications, such as the forward neck stretch, chin tuck against the wall, and chin tuck lying down. These are variations of the essential exercise that will help you benefit from the conventional chin tuck exercise.
However, you need to know that you can gain the fastest results regularly as you do the exercise. It would help if you practiced consistency and discipline to yield the maximum benefits from this exercise.
