Thread: pain in neck/traps after overhead work

Just sounds to me like you may be craning your neck.

Do you do pulldowns or OHPs behind the neck at all?
doing more direct trap and neck work will strengthen the neck area and may reduce the problem, but i'm no chiropracter so my word isn't final.

Originally Posted by Stewart14

does anyone have any ideas as to why my neck hurts the day after I do any form of overhead exercise? it's not so much a pain, just a completely uncomfortable feeling where I feel like I need to crack my neck every 2 seconds and I can't get comfortable no matter the position I am in. only laying down feels good.

it happens on both push and pull exercises, so basically the overhead press and pulldowns/pull ups. I know it's the exercises because I have gone stretches without doing either and have not had the pain, and then gone and done them and instantly it returned.

any ideas? is it something with my traps perhaps?

Do you do overhead movements behind the neck?

no, everything to the front.

and I do upright rows as far as direct trap work, and various forms of deadlifts for their indirect trap work

Hmmm. the only thing i think we can suggest is you film a few of your lifts to assess if there is any torsion or strain exhibited by your neck and then we can try and help again.

failing that a chiroprachter might be the only option

Well, your levator scapulae and upper trapezius muscles both attach onto your cervical vertebrae (back of your neck). Those are two major muscles involved in overhead pressing, because you elevate your scapula during the movement. It could be muscle tension and DOMS causing your discomfort. Plus, those two muscles tend to become hyper-tonic, as shrugging of the shoulders is part of the natural behavioral pattern people exhibit when they are stressed.

Weight lifting could be exacerbating the situation

Originally Posted by fufu

Well, your levator scapulae and upper trapezius muscles both attach onto your cervical vertebrae (back of your neck). Those are two major muscles involved in overhead pressing, because you elevate your scapula during the movement. It could be muscle tension and DOMS causing your discomfort. Plus, those two muscles tend to become hyper-tonic, as shrugging of the shoulders is part of the natural behavioral pattern people exhibit when they are stressed.

Weight lifting could be exacerbating the situation

then Fufu would a sports massage or at least a normal massage alleviate any additional strain on the muscles?

Originally Posted by fufu

Well, your levator scapulae and upper trapezius muscles both attach onto your cervical vertebrae (back of your neck). Those are two major muscles involved in overhead pressing, because you elevate your scapula during the movement. It could be muscle tension and DOMS causing your discomfort. Plus, those two muscles tend to become hyper-tonic, as shrugging of the shoulders is part of the natural behavioral pattern people exhibit when they are stressed.

Weight lifting could be exacerbating the situation

I might also add that you may be doing too many movements involving overhead work and causing the problems Fufu covered. I do Barbell military presses and pullups, but not much else overhead. Also, I can't stand Upright rows, they always give me shoulder issues. Might be helpful to see your whole routine including sets and reps.

firstly, thanks guys for the quick responses.

fufu's explanation seems to make the most sense to me, it definitely feels like those muscles in my neck are in a constant state of tension. I never really thought I did that much overhead work, basically this time around all I did were standing db presses and some lat pulldowns.

the weird thing is that if I do the upright row motion even without weight, it makes the muscles in the area feel better, almost like if I could walk around with my arms in the top position of an upright row all day, I wouldnt have this problem. shrugging seems to help too, basically anything that raises my scapulae.

I really have no problem if I couldn't do these movements anymore, it's just I was wondering if there was a reason for this that I could potentially correct, or if it's just always going to cause the tension/discomfort.

Originally Posted by Stewart14

firstly, thanks guys for the quick responses.

fufu's explanation seems to make the most sense to me, it definitely feels like those muscles in my neck are in a constant state of tension. I never really thought I did that much overhead work, basically this time around all I did were standing db presses and some lat pulldowns.

the weird thing is that if I do the upright row motion even without weight, it makes the muscles in the area feel better, almost like if I could walk around with my arms in the top position of an upright row all day, I wouldnt have this problem. shrugging seems to help too, basically anything that raises my scapulae.

I really have no problem if I couldn't do these movements anymore, it's just I was wondering if there was a reason for this that I could potentially correct, or if it's just always going to cause the tension/discomfort.

Perhaps the muscles are tight, and by shrugging your shoulder you are shortening the muscles and therefore reducing pulling. I obviously can't say for sure, but this may be occurring.

I'm sure there are ways to alleviate your pain. Have you thought about seeing a sport specific physical therapist or massage therapist?

Originally Posted by trapzilla

then Fufu would a sports massage or at least a normal massage alleviate any additional strain on the muscles?

I don't like the word "sports massage", because it often just means deep tissue. And what does deep tissue mean? Usually just increased massage pressure on muscles for no apparent reason. Therapists throw around those catchy terms, but the therapists often don't have a great game plan when it comes to forming an effective treatment.

I understand what you are saying though, and massage may be a great treatment for Stewart.

Massage can help increase the health of the tissue by restoring normal tissue length (among other things), thereby reducing tension and pulling when the body is in a relaxed neutral state (if that is what you mean by strain).

It is hard to get too specific without actually assessing the person with the problem.

I get severe pains in my neck from trying to shrug too much weight. I lowered the weight and slowed down my reps. I try for a lot of weight in my traps cause they really respond to heavy weight. It was just too much!lol

I do remember getting a massage one time and the therapist was having a field day with my trap area, I recall her saying how tough it was to massage and how tense it was, I think she mentioned how she could feel knots. So I guess Ive had this problem for a while and perhaps fufu is right, doing the wrong exercise just exacerbates the problem, and i guess the overhead press is the prime culprit.

Thanks for the info, it will help me formulate a game plan. In the meantime, I guess I'll just not do the movements that bother me for now.

Originally Posted by Stewart14

I do remember getting a massage one time and the therapist was having a field day with my trap area, I recall her saying how tough it was to massage and how tense it was, I think she mentioned how she could feel knots. So I guess Ive had this problem for a while and perhaps fufu is right, doing the wrong exercise just exacerbates the problem, and i guess the overhead press is the prime culprit.

Thanks for the info, it will help me formulate a game plan. In the meantime, I guess I'll just not do the movements that bother me for now.

I don't think you'd have to stop OHP though. Your neck issue just may have gone unchecked for too long and now you are feeling the symptoms more regularly.

Maybe just back off from the OHP work and get some work done for your neck, then reintroduce the movement and see how it feels.