How do I avoid straining neck muscles when doing pull ups?
I would like to train for a pull up contest with my friend. I can do ten now, and want to get to twenty or so.
The problem I'm having is that when I do a session of pull ups, later that day or the next day, the muscles in the top and back of my neck (trapezius, I think) get tight and strained, so that it's uncomfortable even to twist my neck enough to look over my shoulder.
If I rest a day, I get better, but the problem recurs when I do another session of pull ups.
What steps should I take to avoid these strains while doing pull ups?
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Could also be that you're not well balanced from a strength perspective. The result of that might be bad form like the other folks are calling out, but if I were trying to beat my friend in a pullup contest:
Lose all the excess weight (fat) you can --> I love intermittent fasting
Work our your core/biceps/back/chest
Do pull-ups with good form as was already suggested
Yoga --> always improves my form for anything, ability to lift, and stretches me out so I don't get sore
My suggestion is to make sure that you are doing the exercise properly.
Grab a bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, with your hands facing away from you.
Hang all the way down.
Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.
Slight pause, before lowering yourself all the way back down.
On the way up really concentrate on isolating your back and biceps. Don’t swing, and look up towards the bar. Looking down forces the head to be pushed forward, placing undue and dangerous stress on the neck.
The way some people do their pullups (there are many variations) can place some rather unique and interesting loads on the traps (even more so sometimes with an added weight belt). Your "pain" is most likely just some tendinitis of the tendon connecting the shoulder blade to the trap muscle.
Make sure your traps are really solid and strong before attempting significant loads with pullups exercises. Your traps are here to stabilize the scapulae while you do your pullups --- and, as with many arm exercises, failure to stabilize the shoulder blades can have some pretty nasty consequences.
Personally, farmer's walks and weighted vests are my goto for traps strengthening.
I used to have this problem with doing pull ups too but I realised that I straining my neck during the last few reps when you are trying to get your head over the bar. The neck strain can also happen if you jerk your body, or even grit your teeth in the struggle to get the chin past the bar.
I guess the best prevention is to have better pull-up form. One thing that helped me is to always pack your shoulders into your torso. What this means is when start the pull-up from a dead hang position, pull your shoulders down toward the body and pack them into your torso.
Or try this: extend your arms toward the ceiling, your shoulders will beside your ears. Without flexing your elbows, try to bring down your shoulders. Your arms will still point toward the ceiling but your shoulders will be ‘down’ and ‘packed’ into your torso.
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