Fix Neck Pain From Ab Exercises: Tips & Alternatives

About the author

Evelyn Reed, M.S.

Health Science EducatorCertified Wellness Coach

Evelyn Reed, M.S., is a Health Science Educator and Certified Wellness Coach specializing in evidence-based, at-home wellness solutions. With a Master's degree in Health Science, she focuses on translating complex scientific research on cellular health and light therapy into practical, accessible protocols. Evelyn is dedicated to empowering individuals to manage pain, improve sleep, and enhance skin vitality. Her science-first, empathetic approach makes her a trusted advocate for achieving long-term health goals.

Neck pain that flares up every time you work your abs is frustrating, especially if you are committed to taking care of your body at home. As a red light therapy and targeted wellness specialist, I see this pattern often: people want a stronger core for posture, back health, or aesthetics, but every set of crunches ends in a tight, aching neck. The good news is that in most cases this is not a sign that your neck is “weak” or damaged beyond repair. It is usually a fixable issue with mechanics, exercise selection, or an unrecognized underlying neck condition that needs attention and gentler progress.

In this article, we will walk through what the research and clinical experience say about why your neck hurts during ab exercises, how to correct your form, which alternative core moves are safer if your neck is sensitive, and when to get professional help. Along the way, I will weave in practical coaching cues you can use immediately in your next workout at home.

Why Your Neck Hurts During Ab Exercises

Neck pain during crunches and other ab moves is extremely common. Multiple physical therapy and fitness sources point out that it is usually a technique problem, not proof that your neck simply needs to be “strengthened.” When you perform a crunch, the primary goal is to flex the trunk slightly and shorten the abdominal muscles, not to drag your head and neck off the floor.

Several articles from physical therapists and trainers emphasize that the cervical spine (your neck) can move independently from the rest of the spine. That independence is helpful in daily life but can become a liability during crunches. If your head lags behind your torso or juts forward, the muscles in the front and sides of your neck end up doing far more work than they are designed for, especially under gravity. Over time, that overuse can produce strain, stiffness, and sometimes sharp pain.

One helpful analogy used in fitness writing compares the spinal discs to jelly doughnuts. When you thrust your head forward repeatedly, you increase pressure on the front portion of the cervical discs. That can push the inner material backward. In milder cases this feels like local discomfort; with more irritation or preexisting issues, it can contribute to a bulging disc and radiating symptoms such as numbness or weakness. The goal of good technique is to keep the spine moving as a coordinated unit instead of hinging excessively at the neck.

Another common mistake is initiating the crunch from the chest or neck rather than from the abdominal wall. Even when someone looks “technically correct” from the outside, they may be bracing the neck and upper chest to curl up instead of using the deep abdominals. Several physical therapists note that this compensation pattern is one of the most frequent hidden causes of neck pain during core work.

Finally, neck pain during ab exercises sometimes uncovers an underlying neck condition that was not yet obvious. Clinicians writing about this topic describe patients whose crunch technique is good, but the flexed neck position aggravates a previously silent cervical disc or joint problem. These are the people who notice pain radiating to the shoulder blade, numbness or tingling down the arm, or symptoms that get worse hours after the workout, not just in the moment.

Woman grimacing from neck pain during abdominal crunches.

How the Neck and Abs Should Work Together

A well-performed crunch or curl-up is a small, controlled movement. You start on your back with knees bent and the spine in a gentle, continuous curve from the tailbone through the neck. As you exhale and draw the ribs toward the pelvis, your trunk flexes into a subtle C-shape. The head, neck, and upper back all move together as one block for a short distance, driven by the abdominal muscles.

Physical therapists often cue people to gently pull the lower belly toward the spine and draw the front ribs toward the belly button before they even lift. This “set” creates a stable cylinder in the torso. When you maintain that shape and initiate the curl from the trunk, the neck is simply along for the ride, supported but not yanked.

Research summarized in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science and in fitness-oriented articles shows that specific adjustments to head and neck position can decrease neck muscle overactivity and increase ab engagement. One particularly effective strategy is a slight chin nod or “chin tuck,” as if you are slowly saying yes while keeping the back of your neck long. This position engages small stabilizing muscles under the chin and at the front of the neck, which helps distribute load more evenly and relaxes the big strap-like muscles that often become overworked.

The key is to think of the neck as part of the spine, not a separate lever you lift first. If, during your ab work, you feel more effort in the front of the neck than in the abdominal wall, your mechanics likely need adjustment.

Man performing crunches with hands supporting head to prevent neck pain during ab exercises.

Common Technique Mistakes That Overload the Neck

Across physical therapy blogs, orthopedic guidance, and fitness coaching articles, certain mistakes show up repeatedly in people with neck pain during ab work.

One major error is pulling on the head with the hands. Interlacing the fingers behind the head is not inherently wrong, but when you yank the head forward with your arms, you are using neck flexors as the primary movers. This places shear forces on the cervical spine and quickly leads to soreness. Several coaches recommend placing the hands on the forehead or lightly behind the ears instead of directly behind the neck to reduce the temptation to pull.

Another problem is excessive range of motion. Many people try to sit all the way up in a crunch, lifting much more of the torso than necessary. This often causes the head to lag behind the torso. Once the head falls out of alignment, you instinctively “catch up” by snapping the neck forward, which strains the muscles and disrupts the normal spinal curve. Research-informed articles emphasize that a small, upper-trunk lift is sufficient and often more effective for targeting the upper abs.

Head and eye position matter as well. If you stare at the ceiling and let your chin point up, you hyperextend the neck. If you jam your chin all the way into your chest, you over-flex it. Both extremes increase stress on cervical joints and soft tissues. Instead, multiple sources recommend eyes subtly directed toward the thighs or belly with a gentle chin nod and about the space of a tennis ball between your chin and chest.

Breath-holding is another subtle driver of tension. When you hold your breath while straining through repetitions, you increase pressure inside the chest and neck and often recruit accessory breathing muscles in the shoulders and neck rather than the diaphragm. Several clinicians encourage a pattern of inhaling to prepare and exhaling as you curl up, which reinforces abdominal activation and reduces neck tension.

Finally, rushing. Fast, jerky repetitions rely on momentum rather than muscles. Physical therapy and fitness writers consistently recommend slow, deliberate crunches with controlled lowering. Moving more slowly gives your nervous system time to recruit the abdominals and keep the neck relaxed.

Man on mat with hands behind head for neck support during abdominal crunches.

Fixing Your Form: Neck-Friendly Crunches and Core Work

Adjusting how you set up and move during ab exercises can dramatically reduce neck strain. While everyone’s body is unique, there are evidence-informed cues that consistently help many people.

Begin by setting your spine. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Gently pull the lower back and stomach toward the floor, creating a slight posterior pelvic tilt. Some clinicians describe this as “gluing” your low back to the mat. This position reduces the tendency for the upper spine to move independently and improves recruitment of the deeper core muscles.

Next, engage your core before you lift. Exhale gently, draw the lower belly inward without tensing the throat or shoulders, and imagine your ribs sliding toward your pelvis. Keep that engagement as you initiate the curl. You should feel the effort deep in the abdomen, not primarily in the neck or hip flexors.

For the neck, use the “tennis ball” or “peach” cue described in multiple sources. Imagine a small piece of fruit between your chin and chest. You are holding it gently in place—enough contact that it will not fall, but not so hard that you squash it. This creates a subtle chin tuck and keeps your head aligned with the upper back.

Hand placement is important. Instead of locking your fingers behind the head and pulling, place your fingertips lightly behind your ears or rest your hands on your forehead. Let your head rest into your hands with minimal pressure and focus on lifting the shoulder blades just off the floor by shortening the space between the ribs and pelvis. Fitness and rehab articles report that placing the hands on the forehead and tucking the chin reduces activation of the large neck muscles and increases abdominal activation.

Keep your elbows open rather than squeezing them in toward your face. When elbows collapse forward, people often use their arms to drag the head up. When elbows stay wide, the arms are more likely to support rather than pull.

Move slowly. Take several seconds to curl up and several seconds to lower back down. Slow movement minimizes momentum, gives your body time to coordinate the abdominals and neck stabilizers, and reduces the chance of sudden jerks that aggravate sensitive tissues.

If you still feel neck strain despite these adjustments, consider using a small pillow or folded towel under your head to give you a partial “head start” into the curl. This modification, suggested by physical therapists, allows those with weaker abs to begin from a slightly flexed position so they are not lifting from a fully extended neck.

Woman doing abdominal crunches on a mat, demonstrating form to prevent neck pain.

A Quick Comparison of Helpful Technique Cues

You can use the following table as a practical reference during home workouts.

Technique cue	Why it helps your neck
Gentle chin tuck (tennis ball)	Engages small stabilizing muscles and reduces overuse of large neck flexors
Hands on forehead or by ears	Discourages pulling on the head and decreases strain on cervical joints
Low back “glued” to the floor	Improves core recruitment and prevents excessive upper-spine and neck movement
Slow, controlled tempo	Minimizes momentum, allowing the abs to lead and the neck to stay relaxed
Small range of motion	Keeps the spine moving as a unit and prevents the head from lagging or snapping
Exhale to initiate the curl	Directs effort into the abdominal wall and reduces accessory neck muscle tension

These cues are drawn from clinical and research-based recommendations shared by physical therapists, orthopedic specialists, and experienced trainers.

Smart Exercise Alternatives When Crunches Bother Your Neck

Sometimes, even with good form, traditional crunches are not the best choice, especially if you have a history of neck problems. Orthopedic physicians and neck specialists often caution that repetitive neck flexion can aggravate chronic neck pain and may be less effective than other core exercises for some people.

Several sources suggest swapping or supplementing crunches with core movements that keep the upper body closer to the floor and limit neck movement. Planks are a standout example. When you hold a forearm or high plank, your neck can stay in a neutral, elongated position while your deep abdominal and back muscles work hard to stabilize the spine. Articles on chronic neck pain emphasize that a strong core helps support the neck by reducing the need for neck muscles to compensate.

Exercises like dead bugs and bird dogs are also highlighted by trainers as neck-friendly options. In these moves, the head typically rests in a neutral position while you move the arms and legs in a controlled way, challenging the core without repeatedly flexing the neck.

Leg raises and certain bridge variations, when done carefully, can load the abdominals while keeping the head on the floor. However, some orthopedic guidance notes that bridges can be risky for people with significant neck pain if they accidentally support too much weight on the neck. If you choose bridges, focus on pressing through the feet and shoulders, not the head or neck, and stop immediately if you feel pressure at the base of the skull.

For people with chronic neck issues, some specialists recommend avoiding traditional sit-ups and crunches altogether in favor of planks, leg-raise variations, and other core-focused moves that do not irritate the cervical spine. Everyday health guidance on neck-friendly ab exercises reinforces this idea, encouraging movements where the head and neck can remain relatively relaxed while the trunk does the work.

Nielsen Fitness and other coaching sources also point out that weakness in the upper back and shoulders can worsen posture during core exercises, further loading the neck. Strengthening the muscles between the shoulder blades and along the spine can therefore be an indirect way to make ab work more comfortable.

Woman in plank pose on mat, building core strength to prevent neck pain from abdominal exercises.

When Neck Pain Signals Something More Serious

Most neck discomfort from ab work is a form issue that improves with better technique and smarter exercise selection. However, several medical and physical therapy sources highlight red flags you should not ignore.

If neck pain during or after ab exercises shoots into the shoulder blade, upper back, or down one arm, that may indicate nerve irritation. Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the arm, especially if it travels past the elbow, is another warning sign that your neck problem may involve a bulging disc or more significant nerve involvement.

Clinicians also note that symptoms that worsen hours after exercise, or that persist and intensify over days despite rest and gentle care, deserve professional evaluation. This is especially true if you have a history of neck injury, whiplash, or previous spine issues.

Harvard Health Publishing and other medical sources emphasize that exercise can be very helpful for neck pain overall, but it should be tailored to the severity, irritability, and underlying diagnosis. For some people, early gentle movement speeds healing; for others with specific conditions, certain movements must be temporarily avoided.

If you experience radiating pain, significant or progressive weakness, numbness, dizziness, or persistent pain that interferes with daily life, it is important to consult a physician or physical therapist before continuing ab-focused workouts. Online information, including this article, is educational and not a substitute for individualized medical care.

Building Long-Term Neck Resilience to Support Your Core Training

Addressing neck pain from ab exercises is not only about modifying one movement. Building resilience into the neck and surrounding systems makes it easier to tolerate core work without discomfort and supports overall spinal health.

A systematic review summarized by USC’s Ostrow School discussed adults with chronic neck pain and found that neck exercises using fixed resistance, along with graded physical training, led to meaningful changes in how the nervous system processes pain. In simple terms, structured neck strengthening reduced pain sensitivity over time.

Another meta-analysis in the medical literature focused on isometric neck training—where muscles contract without visible joint movement. This type of training significantly reduced neck pain, improved function, and enhanced joint mobility in people with chronic neck issues. These findings suggest that gentle, well-designed neck strengthening is a powerful non-drug tool for chronic pain relief.

A randomized controlled trial on chronic mechanical neck pain compared three programs: conventional therapy alone, conventional therapy plus deep cervical flexor training, and conventional therapy plus combined neck and core stabilization. All groups improved in pain, posture, neck range of motion, and disability after four weeks, but the groups that added deep neck flexor or core stabilization work generally improved more. Adding core stability appeared to further reduce pain by enhancing spinal stability and neuromuscular control.

Harvard Health Publishing has also reported that, in people with neck and shoulder pain (including after whiplash), early gentle exercise leads to faster recovery and less chance of developing long-term pain compared with prolonged rest.

Taken together, these findings support a multi-component approach: stretching appropriate muscles, training deep neck flexors and extensors with low load, strengthening shoulder girdle and upper back muscles, and integrating core stabilization. For someone whose neck flares up during ab work, this means that improving neck strength and control is not separate from your core goals—it is part of the same system.

Practical At-Home Strategy: How I Coach Neck-Safe Ab Work

When I work with clients who report neck pain from ab exercises, we start well before the first crunch.

First, we clarify what the neck pain feels like and when it appears. If someone describes sharp, radiating pain or numbness, I recommend medical evaluation or physical therapy before we push any core work. For milder, localized soreness that clearly corresponds to exercise, we move into technique and tolerance testing.

Next, we temporarily downshift from traditional crunches to neck-friendly core moves such as planks, dead bugs, and bird dogs, while also adding gentle neck range-of-motion and stretching exercises similar to those recommended by national health services. At this stage, the priority is keeping the neck calm while maintaining or improving core strength so the neck does not have to compensate.

As symptoms improve, we reintroduce curl-up variations using all the cues described earlier: low back anchored to the floor, gentle chin tuck, hands on the forehead or by the ears, slow tempo, and small range of motion. Often, we start with just a few carefully executed repetitions and add one or two reps every few days if the neck remains comfortable.

When appropriate, we add low-load isometric neck exercises and upper back strengthening based on the evidence supporting fixed resistance and isometric training for neck pain. The resistance stays modest, especially early on, because research suggests low load can have immediate pain-reducing effects and avoids provoking protective muscle guarding.

Throughout this process, I remind clients that any adjunct wellness tools they use, including red or near-infrared light for general recovery and relaxation, are complements rather than replacements for movement. The core strategies that consistently change neck symptoms are form correction, progressive exercise, and attention to posture and daily habits.

Integrating Everyday Posture and Ergonomics

Even if neck pain shows up most clearly when you do ab exercises, daily posture often sets the stage. Research and clinical commentary highlight forward head posture—such as leaning toward a computer screen—as a common contributor to chronic neck pain. When your head sits forward of your shoulders for much of the day, the muscles at the back of the neck have to work overtime to hold it up, leaving them irritable by the time you lie down to do crunches.

Practical recommendations from academic and clinical sources include checking your monitor height and distance so you are not craning forward, keeping the screen at or slightly below eye level, and bringing the work closer instead of reaching forward. In seated positions, gently pulling the chin back, relaxing the shoulders down, and maintaining a small natural curve in the lower back can reduce chronic strain.

Harvard Health’s discussion of exercise-related stiff necks also highlights activity-specific form. Whether you are cycling, gardening, swimming, or practicing yoga, the same principles apply: neutral neck, shoulders away from the ears, and avoiding holding the head in extreme positions for long periods. These habits make it far easier to tolerate the brief, controlled load of a well-executed ab workout.

When posture and ergonomics improve, people often notice that their neck tolerates core exercises better, even before they have changed their ab routine much. Think of posture as the background “volume” on your neck; exercise is the song you are trying to play. Lower the background noise, and the song sounds much clearer.

Frequently Asked Questions About Neck Pain From Abdominal Exercises

Is all neck soreness after ab workouts bad?

Mild, short-lived muscle awareness in the neck can happen when you start new exercises, just as any underused muscle may feel worked. However, if the main sensation during the exercise is in the front of the neck rather than the abs, or if soreness lingers, worsens, or returns reliably every session, that is a sign your neck is doing too much. Research and clinical guidance support the idea that you should not push through pain in the neck; instead, correct your form, adjust exercise selection, and consider professional input if symptoms persist.

Should I stop all ab exercises if my neck hurts?

You usually do not need to abandon core training entirely. Many sources highlight the importance of a strong core for supporting the spine and reducing neck overwork. Rather than stopping all ab work, shift to neck-friendly exercises such as planks, dead bugs, bird dogs, and carefully controlled leg raises where the head can stay relatively relaxed. At the same time, work on your crunch technique if you plan to return to it, and monitor symptoms closely.

How long will it take for my neck to feel better?

Time frames vary. Some people notice improvement within a few sessions after changing form and exercise choice; others with chronic or more complex neck issues may need several weeks of progressive work, similar to the time frames used in randomized trials where four weeks of structured exercise produced significant improvements. The key is consistency, staying below pain thresholds, and adjusting based on how your neck responds day to day. If you are not seeing gradual progress, it is wise to involve a health professional.

In my work with people using at-home red light therapy and targeted wellness strategies, the most sustainable results come when light, movement, and mindful mechanics all work in harmony. If your neck has been the limiting factor in your core training, consider this your invitation to slow down, refine your technique, choose smarter exercises, and, when needed, partner with a professional. A stronger, more comfortable neck and core are absolutely within reach—and your future workouts do not have to be a pain in the neck.