00:00:06.286 --> 00:00:09.106

Text neck has been i think

00:00:09.106 --> 00:00:12.366

firmly put to bed it's not a thing a

00:00:12.366 --> 00:00:16.986

new study has been released in december 2025 as of recording this in january

00:00:16.986 --> 00:00:22.166

2026 that's around one month ago it was a 12 month longitudinal study with over

00:00:22.166 --> 00:00:27.126

400 participants about 390 of them completed the study and found no association

00:00:27.126 --> 00:00:29.186

between neck posture when using a smartphone,

00:00:30.016 --> 00:00:33.016

and neck pain over the ensuing one-year period.

00:00:33.216 --> 00:00:36.676

So we're going to dive into that study and look at the broader literature on

00:00:36.676 --> 00:00:41.876

neck alignment, neck loading, and neck pain, and think about how it applies

00:00:41.876 --> 00:00:43.216

to Pilates specifically.

00:00:44.416 --> 00:00:49.676

So when I was trained up, and very likely, dear listener, same for you,

00:00:49.936 --> 00:00:53.076

when you were trained up, you were probably taught that neutral

00:00:53.076 --> 00:00:55.936

cervical or neck alignment is the

00:00:55.936 --> 00:00:59.456

default safe position and this

00:00:59.456 --> 00:01:03.056

manifests in safety cues

00:01:03.056 --> 00:01:07.676

and protocols like make sure you always put the headrest down on your reformer

00:01:07.676 --> 00:01:13.756

when you're doing shoulder bridge never over quote over flex the neck and what

00:01:13.756 --> 00:01:17.616

i was taught it's actually one of the principles of stott pilates that when

00:01:17.616 --> 00:01:21.776

you do a back bend that the cervical or a forward bend that the cervical spine,

00:01:22.056 --> 00:01:25.016

which is capable of about 90 degrees of extension in most people,

00:01:25.296 --> 00:01:29.256

should follow the line of the thoracic spine, which is capable of about 10 degrees

00:01:29.256 --> 00:01:30.696

of extension in most people.

00:01:31.136 --> 00:01:37.296

So we would really taught probably most of us to avoid the end ranges of the

00:01:37.296 --> 00:01:41.576

neck and specifically to avoid them under load, which is kind of weird considering

00:01:41.576 --> 00:01:44.996

that Joseph Pilates' instructions in his book, Return to Life Through Contrology,

00:01:45.196 --> 00:01:50.376

explicitly say that the chin should be on the chest in a lot of the flexion-based exercises.

00:01:50.716 --> 00:01:56.216

And in the extension-based exercises like swan dive, he specifically says,

00:01:56.316 --> 00:01:59.716

look up at the ceiling, your neck should be extended as far as possible.

00:02:00.776 --> 00:02:03.816

So we were taught that neutral cervical alignment is a default safe position.

00:02:04.116 --> 00:02:08.076

You know, don't put your headrest up in shoulder bridge. We're also taught many

00:02:08.076 --> 00:02:13.216

of us to avoid quote overusing the quote bad neck muscles, the sternocleidomastoids,

00:02:13.396 --> 00:02:17.536

those sort of muscles down the side and front of your neck here, the apotrapezius,

00:02:18.457 --> 00:02:24.197

And that we should avoid overusing those muscles and that we should instead

00:02:24.197 --> 00:02:28.337

focus on using the deep neck flexors, which you can't see from the outside.

00:02:28.337 --> 00:02:31.917

They're located on the very front, deep inside the neck, the very front of the

00:02:31.917 --> 00:02:34.157

vertebral bodies in front of the anterior longitudinal ligament.

00:02:34.837 --> 00:02:39.837

And they are the quite good muscles of the neck. And essentially that the neck

00:02:39.837 --> 00:02:43.917

is treated as fragile and to be protected.

00:02:43.917 --> 00:02:51.197

Now, of course, relatively speaking, the neck is comparatively fragile and very

00:02:51.197 --> 00:02:54.237

precious because our spinal cord,

00:02:54.477 --> 00:02:59.717

our vertebral arteries that feed the brain all go through there.

00:02:59.717 --> 00:03:06.217

So obviously it's very important not to, you know, not to catastrophically injure your neck,

00:03:06.397 --> 00:03:15.477

but the, I think there's very clear evidence that we weigh over value avoiding

00:03:15.477 --> 00:03:16.697

load and avoiding end positions.

00:03:16.757 --> 00:03:21.617

And actually that that causes a detriment that actually is harmful to our clients to do that.

00:03:22.777 --> 00:03:28.217

All right, so the first thing I want to point out here in terms of thinking

00:03:28.217 --> 00:03:32.897

about the way we think about the neck in Pilates is that there are two double standards in effect.

00:03:33.037 --> 00:03:37.937

The first double standard is around the way we treat the neck in different contexts.

00:03:38.497 --> 00:03:41.837

And the second double standard is about how we treat the neck versus how we

00:03:41.837 --> 00:03:43.237

treat many other joints in the body.

00:03:43.497 --> 00:03:46.777

So the first one is how we treat the neck in different contexts.

00:03:46.777 --> 00:03:51.877

So, you know, I'm sure, dear listener, that you've seen the, the, the, the,

00:03:52.954 --> 00:03:57.634

the graphic that has the person sitting up straight, then with their neck bent,

00:03:57.734 --> 00:04:00.394

you know, forwards, and then a little bit more forwards, a little bit more forwards

00:04:00.394 --> 00:04:01.974

until the neck, the chin is resting on the chest.

00:04:02.254 --> 00:04:06.774

And there's like some kind of amount of force or weight or load associated with it.

00:04:06.814 --> 00:04:09.714

So, you know, when the head's bent fully forward and the chin's on the chest,

00:04:09.814 --> 00:04:13.874

you know, the head is like four times heavier or something. I don't know the

00:04:13.874 --> 00:04:15.394

number, but you know, whatever, I'm sure you've said it.

00:04:16.194 --> 00:04:21.554

And that that is, you know, by implication is a quote, bad thing.

00:04:22.654 --> 00:04:25.594

Uh that you know so floating the neck in flexion

00:04:25.594 --> 00:04:28.394

whilst sitting i.e you know the way that you

00:04:28.394 --> 00:04:31.574

look down at your phone when you're scrolling is bad

00:04:31.574 --> 00:04:35.514

because it loads the neck um but so when you're you know when your head's parallel

00:04:35.514 --> 00:04:38.334

to the when your neck's parallel to the floor you know the head is weighs four

00:04:38.334 --> 00:04:42.334

times what i can't remember what the actual number is but you know a lot right

00:04:42.334 --> 00:04:47.374

and yet when we're in a plank or even just plain old vanilla quadruped position

00:04:47.374 --> 00:04:51.314

you know hands and knees on the box or on the floor or on the reformer carriage.

00:04:51.674 --> 00:04:57.554

The neck is at 90 degrees to gravity. Like the exact same loads are on the neck

00:04:57.554 --> 00:05:01.794

in that position as when your neck is flexed 90 degrees when you're upright.

00:05:02.514 --> 00:05:07.794

So the exact same load in that plank exercise or in quadruped is considered absolutely fine.

00:05:09.714 --> 00:05:13.674

But when we're sitting with our head flexed forward, that's somehow bad.

00:05:13.774 --> 00:05:17.674

So the same load is considered good or bad in different situations.

00:05:18.134 --> 00:05:20.714

And the same with.

00:05:23.877 --> 00:05:29.837

There are multiple exercises where we move our neck or load our neck in different

00:05:29.837 --> 00:05:33.577

positions and where it's considered fine and safe and good, but then when we

00:05:33.577 --> 00:05:36.977

do it in other exercises, it's considered bad or to be avoided.

00:05:39.017 --> 00:05:46.097

For example, in the roll-up, you load the neck in flexion, you load the sternocleidomastoid,

00:05:46.277 --> 00:05:49.537

that is considered to be a fine exercise.

00:05:49.717 --> 00:05:52.237

It is a fine exercise, objectively, it's a fine exercise.

00:05:53.977 --> 00:05:59.717

The second double standard is the way that we treat the neck differently to

00:05:59.717 --> 00:06:02.437

every, or not every other joint, but most of the other joints in the body.

00:06:04.630 --> 00:06:08.550

We load most of, I mean, Pilates and any form of resistance training.

00:06:08.710 --> 00:06:11.650

Pilates, you know, is a form of resistance training. It also involves flexibility

00:06:11.650 --> 00:06:13.990

training. It also involves movement skill training.

00:06:14.790 --> 00:06:19.190

So strength, flexibility, and skill are the three core elements that we work on in Pilates.

00:06:19.790 --> 00:06:23.590

And they're the same elements that we work on in every other form of training,

00:06:23.590 --> 00:06:27.370

if it's a well-balanced form of training. We just do it a little bit differently in Pilates.

00:06:29.250 --> 00:06:32.450

And so we take it for granted that

00:06:32.450 --> 00:06:35.110

we will move joints through range of

00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:38.950

motion under load in most other joints in the body for example how

00:06:38.950 --> 00:06:41.910

would you strengthen someone's biceps well you'd give them

00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:44.790

something to hold in their hand that involves some load like a spring or a band

00:06:44.790 --> 00:06:48.170

or a weight or something and then you would move

00:06:48.170 --> 00:06:50.970

that joint through range under load and what range would you go through you'd

00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:53.710

straighten the elbow all the way down and then you'd flex the elbow all the way up

00:06:53.710 --> 00:06:57.930

like you'd take it through full extension to full flexion and we would we just

00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:01.450

treat that as a complete matter of course how do you strengthen and stretch

00:07:01.450 --> 00:07:05.350

the calf muscles i mean we do it every session most of us when we teach reformer

00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:10.150

and you do your uh lift and lower on the foot bar you know at the end of your

00:07:10.150 --> 00:07:13.490

footwork sequence where you have your the balls of your feet on the bar,

00:07:14.210 --> 00:07:19.450

your legs are in parallel and feet are feet are close together and you let your

00:07:19.450 --> 00:07:21.030

heels stretch under the bar.

00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:25.690

So you go into deep dorsiflexion and then you lift up as high as you can,

00:07:25.830 --> 00:07:29.270

both of your heels, and you go into your maximum plantar flexion.

00:07:29.390 --> 00:07:32.890

And we just repeat that and we do reps and it's under load.

00:07:33.010 --> 00:07:35.310

We're dorsiflexing and plantar flexing. We're going through full range in the

00:07:35.310 --> 00:07:38.070

calf muscle. And nobody thinks twice about, oh, that's dangerous for the ankle.

00:07:38.450 --> 00:07:43.270

And I could add so many more examples, the triceps, the leg curls, knee extensions.

00:07:43.510 --> 00:07:46.430

There are so many movements that we just completely take it for granted that

00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:49.650

moving a joint through its full range under load is a good thing.

00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:57.200

And yet, when it comes to the neck, we suddenly think it's bad.

00:07:57.820 --> 00:08:03.520

We suddenly think, oh, don't flex your neck under load. If I take that and take

00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:06.220

the word neck and substitute it for elbow, don't flex your elbow under load.

00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:10.800

Don't flex your knee under load. Don't flex your hip under load. It sounds ridiculous.

00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:14.440

Don't flex your shoulder under load. It sounds ridiculous. Well,

00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:20.920

the neck is just bones, ligaments, joint capsules, tendons, muscles, fascia,

00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.820

exactly the same components as your elbow, your hip, your knee, your ankle.

00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:34.280

And just like all of those other structures, your neck, the tissues respond

00:08:34.280 --> 00:08:39.480

to progressive load over time by becoming stronger.

00:08:39.660 --> 00:08:45.200

And that is in fact what exercise is. It's the deliberate, structured application

00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:49.400

of load to body tissues to stimulate a response.

00:08:49.580 --> 00:08:53.800

And the response is increasing strength and slash or flexibility.

00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:07.980

So the third paradox there is that if we think of the neck as fragile and we

00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.960

think of it as to be protected,

00:09:12.900 --> 00:09:17.300

Well, paradoxically, the best protection is to become less fragile.

00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:20.180

Man, that seems kind of self-evident to me.

00:09:22.257 --> 00:09:26.117

And how do you make any body part less fragile?

00:09:26.337 --> 00:09:31.717

Well, think about a frail resident of an assisted care facility,

00:09:31.957 --> 00:09:34.697

someone in their 90s with, you know, imagine no muscle tone,

00:09:34.857 --> 00:09:37.617

you know, thighs you could put a finger and a thumb around.

00:09:39.277 --> 00:09:43.837

No muscle tone. And then think of a 26-year-old rugby player,

00:09:44.077 --> 00:09:50.337

a Samoan rugby player, legs thick as tree trucks, a neck as thick as most people's torsos, right?

00:09:50.337 --> 00:09:53.637

Which one of those people is more fragile and why

00:09:53.637 --> 00:09:56.437

is the elderly person more fragile not because they're elderly like there's

00:09:56.437 --> 00:09:59.157

nothing inherent in age that makes you fragile it's the

00:09:59.157 --> 00:10:02.277

things that accompany age that make you more fragile you lose

00:10:02.277 --> 00:10:05.777

bone density you lose muscle mass you lose tissue strength

00:10:05.777 --> 00:10:09.937

you know because the tissues become uh smaller and why do they become smaller

00:10:09.937 --> 00:10:15.177

well it's partly uh hormonal uh but it's mainly disuse we we don't load tissues

00:10:15.177 --> 00:10:22.917

as we get older and so the way to make somebody less fragile is to systematically

00:10:22.917 --> 00:10:25.337

and deliberately load their tissues over time,

00:10:26.037 --> 00:10:29.397

to stimulate them to become more massive and stronger.

00:10:29.557 --> 00:10:33.237

I mean, how do you improve someone's bone density? How do you improve their

00:10:33.237 --> 00:10:36.097

muscle strength? How do you improve their ligament and tendon strength and their joint health?

00:10:36.357 --> 00:10:39.417

You load those structures systematically over time.

00:10:39.977 --> 00:10:43.357

And yet we apply the opposite logic to the neck. We avoid loading it.

00:10:43.497 --> 00:10:48.577

We avoid putting it through range of motion, which just is the exact opposite. of.

00:10:50.146 --> 00:10:53.366

What we know from basic physiology i mean imagine somebody came into your,

00:10:53.826 --> 00:10:57.066

pilates class and said i've got really weak biceps and you and then you know

00:10:57.066 --> 00:10:59.866

would you say like oh well okay great well we'll make sure we avoid loading

00:10:59.866 --> 00:11:03.966

your biceps for the rest of the time you know forever now it's like well that's

00:11:03.966 --> 00:11:08.286

illogical it doesn't make sense you wouldn't say that presumably and so if somebody

00:11:08.286 --> 00:11:10.026

comes in and says i've got a very weak neck,

00:11:11.326 --> 00:11:15.046

why would you say well great we'll avoid loading your neck forever now like

00:11:15.046 --> 00:11:17.666

if someone came in and said i've got weak biceps you would say like okay great

00:11:17.666 --> 00:11:20.186

no worries we'll start with a lightweight weight and will strengthen up your

00:11:20.186 --> 00:11:21.446

biceps over time and pretty soon.

00:11:21.806 --> 00:11:23.766

You won't have weak biceps, you'll have strong biceps.

00:11:24.706 --> 00:11:28.306

The neck is no different. Start with a lightweight, build it up over time,

00:11:28.786 --> 00:11:30.806

bam, stronger neck. Now you don't have a weak neck.

00:11:31.326 --> 00:11:35.426

And so why is it important, right? Why is it important to do this?

00:11:36.306 --> 00:11:44.026

Well, when we, and coming to the study, the 2025 study and what they found.

00:11:44.146 --> 00:11:47.306

So the study was called cervical flexion posture during smartphone use was not

00:11:47.306 --> 00:11:50.846

a risk factor for neck pain, but low sweet sleep quality and insufficient levels

00:11:50.846 --> 00:11:55.366

of physical activity were a longitudinal investigation by Coheia et al.

00:11:56.066 --> 00:11:59.386

2025 in the Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy. And I'll link to all the

00:11:59.386 --> 00:12:01.386

studies I'm going to mention here in the show notes.

00:12:02.546 --> 00:12:06.026

So basically what they did in this study was they got like 400,

00:12:06.146 --> 00:12:10.446

about 430 something people, 457 volunteers, male and female,

00:12:10.606 --> 00:12:15.826

between 18 and 65 years old without neck pain. And they...

00:12:18.415 --> 00:12:24.415

Objectively assessed their neck posture in sitting and in standing whilst using a smartphone.

00:12:25.215 --> 00:12:28.835

So they used an inclinometer, which is something that measures the angle of the neck.

00:12:29.715 --> 00:12:36.475

And then they followed them for a year and asked them about their neck pain.

00:12:36.595 --> 00:12:41.255

And what they found was something like 390-something people finished,

00:12:42.575 --> 00:12:49.035

396 people completed the one-year follow-up, and neck pain was reported by 10% of participants.

00:12:49.335 --> 00:12:52.775

I'm just going to read from the result here, quote, multiple logistic regression

00:12:52.775 --> 00:12:58.215

analysis showed that Tex-Nec did not increase the chance of neck pain standing

00:12:58.215 --> 00:13:02.895

or sitting or the frequency of neck pain sitting or standing after baseline.

00:13:03.215 --> 00:13:06.115

However, low sleep quality and

00:13:06.115 --> 00:13:09.455

insufficient level of physical activity increased the chance of neck pain.

00:13:09.815 --> 00:13:14.195

Now, low sleep quality had an odds ratio of 1.76.

00:13:14.195 --> 00:13:17.895

What that means is people who reported that they had low sleep quality were

00:13:17.895 --> 00:13:24.775

1.76 times more likely, so almost double as likely to experience neck pain compared

00:13:24.775 --> 00:13:26.775

to people who didn't report poor sleep quality.

00:13:27.215 --> 00:13:30.955

An insufficient level of physical activity, which they defined as not meeting

00:13:30.955 --> 00:13:32.255

the physical activity guidelines...

00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:36.350

Had an odds ratio of 2.41 almost two

00:13:36.350 --> 00:13:39.130

and a half times more likely to experience neck

00:13:39.130 --> 00:13:42.450

pain so people who don't sleep well and don't exercise

00:13:42.450 --> 00:13:46.370

are way more likely and i don't know what the combination was of people who

00:13:46.370 --> 00:13:49.810

had both of those things uh you know what their odds ratio was but they're at

00:13:49.810 --> 00:13:54.010

least two and a half times more likely if they had both of those things to experience

00:13:54.010 --> 00:13:56.930

neck pain so what is that you know what do we draw from that what can we draw

00:13:56.930 --> 00:14:01.750

from that well firstly tech snack is just not a predictor of future neck pain.

00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:06.550

So this is a well-designed, prospective, longitudinal study design.

00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:11.210

So we looked at Tex-Neck at baseline and then looked at Tex-Neck being the neck

00:14:11.210 --> 00:14:14.770

posture at baseline, and then looked at neck pain over the subsequent years.

00:14:14.930 --> 00:14:20.130

So this study is quite well designed to illuminate causality or lack of causality.

00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:21.490

And we see zero correlation.

00:14:21.670 --> 00:14:24.650

Like they've literally found no correlation between the neck posture and people's

00:14:24.650 --> 00:14:25.910

neck pain or absence of neck pain.

00:14:26.130 --> 00:14:29.750

So what we can see from the study is a pretty large cohort, uh,

00:14:29.910 --> 00:14:33.830

is that there just was not a correlation between text neck and neck pain.

00:14:33.930 --> 00:14:37.710

So text neck does not cause neck pain. Now, is this a hundred percent certain?

00:14:37.810 --> 00:14:39.050

No, you can never be a hundred percent certain.

00:14:39.190 --> 00:14:41.770

And I'll leave my mind open for any future evidence that might emerge.

00:14:41.910 --> 00:14:45.510

But given the totality of evidence that we currently have in my mind,

00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:50.910

it seems like extremely unlikely that text neck does in fact cause neck pain.

00:14:52.670 --> 00:14:58.590

And, you know, when we take the, you know, other evidence that we have in this area,

00:14:59.210 --> 00:15:07.030

we find there was a 2023 systematic review in the Journal of Physical Therapy

00:15:07.030 --> 00:15:09.590

that found moderate certainty evidence

00:15:09.590 --> 00:15:13.510

that neck strengthening reduces the incidence of future neck pain.

00:15:13.930 --> 00:15:17.350

So having a, you know, and that aligns, right, with what we just found,

00:15:17.450 --> 00:15:22.170

what they just found in this 2025 paper, where low physical activity increases

00:15:22.170 --> 00:15:22.990

your chance of neck pain.

00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:26.190

Well, doing neck exercises decreases your chance of neck pain.

00:15:26.370 --> 00:15:29.490

You know, and for a lot of us, you know, intuitively that kind of,

00:15:29.650 --> 00:15:32.890

I'm sure, I imagine, makes a lot of sense, right?

00:15:32.970 --> 00:15:37.410

You know, if you're fitter and stronger, you're more resilient. And.

00:15:39.092 --> 00:15:44.072

And they also have a slightly older review from 2017 by Chen et al,

00:15:44.172 --> 00:15:48.532

which was a systematic review and meta-analysis of workplace interventions for neck pain.

00:15:48.632 --> 00:15:51.452

And they found that compared with ergonomics, stretching, breaks,

00:15:51.832 --> 00:15:56.372

postural interventions, the most effective intervention to reduce and prevent

00:15:56.372 --> 00:15:58.672

neck pain was targeted neck and shoulder strengthening.

00:16:00.072 --> 00:16:05.772

So targeting and strengthening the neck actually works best of anything we know,

00:16:05.992 --> 00:16:11.792

as well as getting a good night's sleep, to decrease the incidence of neck pain.

00:16:12.532 --> 00:16:21.652

So when we excessively protect our clients from loading their neck or moving the neck through range,

00:16:21.772 --> 00:16:27.832

when we avoid loading the neck, we actually are doing our clients a disservice.

00:16:27.992 --> 00:16:31.112

We are increasing their future odds of neck pain.

00:16:31.192 --> 00:16:35.312

When we focus excessively on alignment and think that that's going to protect

00:16:35.312 --> 00:16:37.772

them, it's not. It's not, it's not born out by the evidence.

00:16:38.012 --> 00:16:42.052

There's no evidence that neck alignment predicts future neck pain.

00:16:42.172 --> 00:16:43.972

Now, does that mean you shouldn't ever cue neck alignment? No,

00:16:44.012 --> 00:16:48.312

of course you should cue alignment in every exercise. I mean, that's what Pilates is.

00:16:49.572 --> 00:16:53.412

So this is, it's not about not saying like you should never cue people's position,

00:16:53.612 --> 00:16:57.852

but just don't attach it to the idea that you're somehow protecting them by

00:16:57.852 --> 00:17:00.192

putting them in a certain position or avoiding a certain position.

00:17:00.232 --> 00:17:01.312

Cause it's just not true.

00:17:03.461 --> 00:17:07.301

So both things can be true at the same time. It can be true that alignment doesn't

00:17:07.301 --> 00:17:10.921

predict injury. And it can also at the same time be true that it's valuable

00:17:10.921 --> 00:17:14.061

to cue alignment for other reasons, right?

00:17:14.161 --> 00:17:15.201

Which like, for example, going

00:17:15.201 --> 00:17:19.761

into flow state is a very good benefit of focusing on your technique.

00:17:20.361 --> 00:17:24.941

So I'm all for cueing position and alignment. And I'm all for the neck being

00:17:24.941 --> 00:17:27.001

neutral in certain exercises, like in a plank.

00:17:27.341 --> 00:17:30.421

Great. Have a neutral neck. That's where it's meant to be. When you're doing

00:17:30.421 --> 00:17:32.901

spine twist and you're sitting vertically, the neck should be stacked vertically.

00:17:32.901 --> 00:17:34.161

Like that's part of the movement.

00:17:34.621 --> 00:17:40.181

So this isn't, I'm not trying to discourage you from ever having people in a neutral spine.

00:17:40.201 --> 00:17:42.961

I'm not trying to discourage you from queuing neck alignment.

00:17:43.101 --> 00:17:47.761

But what I am trying to, I guess, discourage you from is telling people that

00:17:47.761 --> 00:17:50.901

certain positions or loads are bad or dangerous for the neck.

00:17:51.261 --> 00:17:54.561

You know, when I say certain positions, like, of course, if a semi-trailer ran

00:17:54.561 --> 00:17:56.641

over your neck, that's bad or dangerous, right? That's a lot of load.

00:17:56.761 --> 00:18:01.101

But the loads that we're typically likely to find in a Pilates class,

00:18:01.101 --> 00:18:03.381

like doing shoulder bridge with your headrest up,

00:18:03.741 --> 00:18:10.341

are just way, way within the envelope of what is completely safe for anyone

00:18:10.341 --> 00:18:15.161

who doesn't have osteoporosis, essentially, or some other kind of substantial pathology of the neck.

00:18:16.281 --> 00:18:17.501

So I guess...

00:18:19.098 --> 00:18:22.118

You know, neck pain is, you know, what I want to take,

00:18:22.198 --> 00:18:24.478

what I want you to take away from this, what I take away from this research

00:18:24.478 --> 00:18:29.898

and from this most recent study from 2025 on Tex neck and cervical flexion posture

00:18:29.898 --> 00:18:33.798

and neck pain is that, you know,

00:18:33.878 --> 00:18:37.278

neck flexion is normal, safe and unavoidable in real life.

00:18:37.438 --> 00:18:39.798

We do it all the time in real life.

00:18:40.238 --> 00:18:42.938

And, you know, load is not harmful.

00:18:43.938 --> 00:18:47.158

Insufficient capacity leaves us open to injury.

00:18:48.218 --> 00:18:52.418

So therefore, progressive neck loading through range builds resilience,

00:18:52.698 --> 00:18:54.518

just like in any other body part.

00:18:55.638 --> 00:19:00.438

Neutral cues can be useful for awareness, for entering a flow state,

00:19:00.558 --> 00:19:04.078

for building skill, but they're just not useful or helpful for protection.

00:19:04.098 --> 00:19:05.378

In fact, they can be counterproductive.

00:19:06.338 --> 00:19:11.578

So, you know, to foster and support adaptable, resilient,

00:19:12.058 --> 00:19:18.318

confident humans with the minimum amount of neck pain, load their necks through

00:19:18.318 --> 00:19:22.038

range progressively, starting with what they can tolerate and building it up gradually over time.

00:19:22.218 --> 00:19:25.698

Don't avoid in-range flexion. Don't avoid loaded extension. Don't avoid loaded

00:19:25.698 --> 00:19:29.158

flexion. Just build up their tolerance gradually over time. The neck is not special.

00:19:29.558 --> 00:19:32.858

It's just like any other body part. It's made of the same tissues.

00:19:32.858 --> 00:19:37.478

It adapts like every other body part. But if you want pain-resistant people,

00:19:37.818 --> 00:19:38.658

let them move their necks.

00:19:39.138 --> 00:19:43.998

Load them deliberately, progressively, gradually. Help them get stronger.

00:19:44.298 --> 00:19:47.538

Don't instill fear in your clients. Don't fear loading the neck yourself.

00:19:48.018 --> 00:19:51.778

Think of it like the biceps or the abs. It's just muscles and bones and ligaments

00:19:51.778 --> 00:19:55.278

and tendons. They all get stronger when loaded over time.

00:19:56.438 --> 00:19:59.938

Okay, dear listener, that's all I've got for you today. I hope you found that

00:19:59.938 --> 00:20:04.518

relaxing and it put you to sleep or I hope you found it stimulating and it woke

00:20:04.518 --> 00:20:06.218

you up and you're punching the air right now.

00:20:06.678 --> 00:20:08.858

Or maybe you just found it mildly interesting or entertaining.

00:20:09.158 --> 00:20:12.778

I hope it brought you joy in some form. Much love and I'll see you in the next one.