Optimize neck flexion and gain health and performance for your arms, with Lift Clinic's team of physio, chiro, RMT and strength coaches!
See what our clients have to say :
Mike Fung is a fantastic RMT – I showed up with some serious ‘tech neck’ and shoulders from working an office job for over a decade. He helped get me back in shape where 4-5 months later, I have no muscle knots/tensions or any tension headaches. He also incorporated techniques from the gym next door – Enhanced Performance – that allowed me to do my own exercises at home. All very effective!
I went to see Henry at Lift after speaking with my doctors and two massage therapists regarding issues in my neck and shoulders that made me have an inability to lift my right arm above the horizontal. Within 10 minutes Henry had identified the main issues, isolated them into acute and chronic types and by the end of our first appointment had developed an exercise routing for me to follow at home. I started to see improvement within days which has continued gradually during the following weeks and follow-up appointments.
Assessing the neck flexion while laying on your back, helps us determine if there is a postural stability issue that prevents full neck flexion. Furthermore, if you can’t do it standing up, but you can do it laying down, there probably isn’t a restriction directly coming from your neck.
Additional tests are used to determine if there are restrictions in the upper and/or lower neck segments. These tests help us determine if there are restrictions between:
- the skull and the uppermost cervical spine segment 1,
- between cervical spine segment 1 and cervical spine segment 2.
Next, we assess to determine if the restriction is a result of soft tissue (muscle, fascia, ligaments, tendon) and/or joints.
Don’t forget the rest of the body! Other places we check include the chest, lower back, and pelvis. Movement restrictions in these regions can have upstream effects in the neck as well!
All of these assessments lead Lift clinicians to specific limitations to that individual. This helps us provide the most individualized treatment to our clients. The end result? Effective and efficient progress towards achieving your goals.
Visit our IG post to explore how physiotherapists Travis Dodds and Sam Nguyen assess neck flexion
Assessing the neck flexion while laying on your back, helps us determine if there is a postural stability issue that prevents full neck flexion. Furthermore, if you can’t do it standing up, but you can do it laying down, there probably isn’t a restriction directly coming from your neck.
Additional tests are used to determine if there are restrictions in the upper and/or lower neck segments. These tests help us determine if there are restrictions between:
- the skull and the uppermost cervical spine segment 1,
- between cervical spine segment 1 and cervical spine segment 2.
Next, we assess to determine if the restriction is a result of soft tissue (muscle, fascia, ligaments, tendon) and/or joints.
Don’t forget the rest of the body! Other places we check include the chest, lower back, and pelvis. Movement restrictions in these regions can have upstream effects in the neck as well!
All of these assessments lead Lift clinicians to specific limitations to that individual. This helps us provide the most individualized treatment to our clients. The end result? Effective and efficient progress towards achieving your goals.
Why is optimal neck flexion Important?
When you come in to Lift Clinic with any performance or rehabilitation goals, we always start with a thorough head-to-toe assessment of how you move. Our goal is to uncover limitations in your movement that may be causing pain or limiting your performance. With this in mind, our clinicians can find the root cause of your pain and create a personalized treatment plan to help you beat pain and perform at 100%.
During any full body assessment, one of the key movement that we will look at is neck flexion. Neck flexion is the movement that you do when you look down or bring your chin to your chest.
Limited movement in the neck (including flexion) can lead to feelings of neck tension, pain and headaches. These symptoms may extend to the shoulders and arms as the nerves that control our upper extremities stem from the neck.
Full movement in the neck ensures that the signals to the arm are un-interrupted. In sum, having good neck movement not only reduces pain, it improves function and performance. Further, having full neck mobility can help you swing harder, swim faster, and throw further.
What is optimal movement for neck flexion?
In our neck flexion assessment, we are looking for the following:
- Can you touch your chin to your chest (without opening your mouth)?
- Is there a uniform curve in your neck during the movement?
- Can you perform the movement smoothly?
If you can do all of the above, congratulations, you have fully functional neck flexion! If not, do not worry, we are here to help! The next step is for our clinicians to further assess to find the root causes that may cause these limitations. Continue reading to find out more about our neck flexion assessments.
Optimal neck flexion can be limited in ways you might not expect
If you can't touch your chin to your chest, our team will help you identify the root cause using these following steps:
Assessing the neck flexion while laying on your back, helps us determine if there is a postural stability issue that prevents full neck flexion. Furthermore, if you can’t do it standing up, but you can do it laying down, there probably isn’t a restriction directly coming from your neck.
Additional tests are used to determine if there are restrictions in the upper and/or lower neck segments. These tests help us determine if there are restrictions between:
- the skull and the uppermost cervical spine segment 1,
- between cervical spine segment 1 and cervical spine segment 2.
Next, we assess to determine if the restriction is a result of soft tissue (muscle, fascia, ligaments, tendon) and/or joints.
Don’t forget the rest of the body! Other places we check include the chest, lower back, and pelvis. Movement restrictions in these regions can have upstream effects in the neck as well!
All of these assessments lead Lift clinicians to specific limitations to that individual. This helps us provide the most individualized treatment to our clients. The end result? Effective and efficient progress towards achieving your goals.
Here's how you can assess your own neck movement!
You can assess your own neck flexion at home. Set up a camera from a side view and bring your chin to your chest. Review your video and see if you pass the 3 points mentioned above.
Stay tuned for more about how we work at Lift Clinic to help people achieve optimal movement every day.
Our next post will cover approaches we use to treat these assessment findings! Follow us on instagram or check back soon for our next blog post!
