I’ve been dealing with neck pain for many years of my life from an old injury. Recently I recognized that it seemed to get particularly flared up for about 2-3 days after a heavy back workout. For many years my typical back workout consisted of 3 or 4 exercises and doing 3 or 4 sets of each exercise. I would pick 3 or 4 from the following list; wide grip pull-ups, chin-ups, mid-grip pull-ups, dumbbell rows, 2 different grip positions on a back/row machine, and lat pull down machine with various bars/handles. About 2 months ago I decided to try something different, and it has helped my neck pain.
New workout done 2 to 3 times each week:
- 4 sets of chest
- 4 sets of back
- 4 sets of front delts
- 4 sets of side delts
- 4 sets of rear delts
- 4 sets of biceps
- 4 sets of triceps
- 1 or 2 sets of back hyperextension or heavy dumbbell lift
- 1 or 2 sets of abs
I pick one exercise for each of the above, then pick a different one for the next workout, and again a different one after that before finally rotating back to the original ones. I alternate that workout with doing cardio on the other days, so I typically do the above weight program Mon, Wed, and Fri and then do cardio Tue and Thurs, while also getting more cardio on Sat and/or Sun. Sometimes I don't get all that done due to work/life.
So far my neck pain has been reduced. I’ve also tweaked my diet a little and got good definition in my core. My weight is hovering between 196-200 lbs. I use to be in the 205-210 lb range. I was a little stronger, and a little bigger, but my abs were not quite as visible.
