Exercises To Strengthen The Core, Back & Neck

The core, back and neck muscles support your spine, move your torso and head, and help move your arms. All of these motions are important for everyday functioning. Therefore, you should exercise these muscles at least once each week to keep them strong. You can perform several exercises to strengthen the core, back and neck.

Crunches

Crunches are arguably the most popular exercise for abdominal muscles. They utilize your body weight to provide resistance against your effort to flex your spine forward. According to strength and conditioning specialists Thomas Baechle and Roger Earle, to perform crunches, first lie on your back with your knees bent and feet elevated. Then repeatedly lift your shoulders about 6 inches off the ground and lower them back down. You can add resistance by holding a weighted object above your chest if desired.

Side Plank

The side plank exercise strengthens your oblique muscles on either side of your abdomen. Like crunches, they utilize your body weight for resistance, but you do not move through a range of motion. Instead, you contract your oblique muscles continually to hold your body off the ground. According to the American Council on Exercise, to do the side plank, lie on your side and using your elbow and feet push your torso and legs off the ground. Hold this position for at least 10 seconds and then repeat on the opposite side.

Superman Exercise

The Superman exercise works your lower back muscles. To perform the exercise, lie on your belly with your arms extended in front of your head and repeatedly raise and lower your hands and feet at the same time to squeeze your lower back. To add resistance, wear ankle weights and hold dumbbells in your hands.

Bent-over Rows

Bent-over rows strengthen several muscles in your upper back including the latissimus dorsi (lats), rhomboids and trapezius. These muscles help move your arms and head. To execute bent-over rows, first bend forward until your torso is nearly parallel to the ground and hold a barbell below your chest with your arms extended. Then flex your arms to pull the barbell to your chest and slowly lower it back down. Repeat for your desired number of repetitions.

Lat Pulldowns

As their name suggests, lat pulldowns emphasize your lats, but also work the other muscle in your upper back. They are performed on a pulldown machine with an overhead bar attached to a weight stack with a cable through a pulley. To perform lat pulldowns, grasp the bar with your hands much wider than shoulder-width and repeatedly pull it down to your chest and let it back up.

Static Neck Exercises

Your neck muscles function to move your head backward, forward and side-to-side and to rotate your head to either side (chin over shoulder). You can exercise your neck muscles by trying to move your head through these ranges of motion, but resisting with your hands so your head does not actually move. For example, to strengthen the muscles that extend your head, place your hands behind your head and try to extend your neck (look up), but resist with your hands so your head does not move; resist for at least five seconds before relaxing. You can perform similar exercises by resisting flexion, lateral flexion and rotation ranges of motion with your hands.