Q+A: How to improve the lateral mobility of the neck by John Sifferman

QUESTION:
John, After 1.5 month of practicing I still can’t move my head from left to right while keeping my head straight. do you have any tips? Thanks.
-Bart

Edit on 4/2/2009 – I just got an e-mail from Bart saying that he has regained the lateral mobility of his neck. It took him 2.5 months, but he’s got it back now and I’m sure he’s feeling great!

ANSWER:

If you’re having trouble with a particular area, then I suggest working around it as much as possible. If you can’t move left/right, move forward/backwards or tilt or twist. Try going through the ranges of motion you already have and then come back to the trouble area. Not only should you practice the different planes of motion at the difficult joint, but also move the adjacent joints. So, if you’re having trouble with elbow mobility, for example, work your shoulders and wrists before trying to do the elbows.

The key point is to move up until tension starts, but not through it. You should be able to relax throughout the entire range of motion. If your face is tense, you’re not doing the exercise correctly, and you probably won’t improve your mobility.

If you’re doing it correctly, you should feel instantaneous results, and see improvements in your range of motion within a couple of weeks. Spend a few months practicing and you should be able to restore full range of motion at any joint that has not been surgically altered.

I want to stress that it’s difficult to teach any form of exercise through video, let alone through short clips like the one above. If you’re having trouble improving your mobility, I recommend you get a program that is both comprehensive and user-friendly, one that was designed to teach your exactly how to do mobility work. I always recommend Scott Sonnon’s Intu-Flow DVD Program. The benefit of learning from this program is that you not only get hundreds of different exercises to choose from, you also get a formula for successful mobility practice – which is really the key to long-term success.

You can find more information about Intu-Flow by clicking here:

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and Joint Mobility aficionado