Chin Tuck Exercise: When And How to Perform It?

What is Chin Tuck Exercise:

Chin tuck is one of my favorite exercises. It is easy to do any time, anywhere with no external equipment. In this digital era, chin tuck exercise is a must for people of any age. It can help reduce neck stress, improve posture, increase muscle strength, and relax muscles.

This exercise works great if you spend a lot of your time in front of a screen (for those computer savvy people). Also, it improves a forward head posture or poor neck posture and corrects it. You can perform this exercise in sitting or in standing as shown in the picture.

Benefits of Chin Tuck Exercise:

• Reduces neck pain
• Reduces neck muscle spasm
• Improves posture
• Relax neck muscles

Uses of Chin Tuck Exercises/ when to perform Chin Tuck Exercise:

1. Neck pain or Cervical Pain
2. Cervical disc herniation
3. neck muscle spasm
4. Neck injury
5. Forward head posture
6. Neck arthritis
7. Cervical nerve impingement
8. Stress
9. A tension headache

How to perform a Chin Tuck:

As I just mentioned, you can perform this exercise in many different positions once you get hang of it. As beginners though, I will start with a standing position as shown in the picture below.

 

Keep your neck in a relaxed position. Try to tuck your chin to your sternum or neck area without holding your breath. You should feel a little pull around the upper neck. Hold the position for 3 to 5 seconds, and gently bring your neck to a normal/ starting position. You can perform this for 10 to 12 times a day.

If you spend a few hours a day in front of a computer, you can do this exercise every couple of hours. It helps to reduce the stress in the neck area. This is also a very relaxing exercise as it reduces the tension of your neck muscle. You need to try it to feel it 🙂

How to Progress:

Once you feel comfortable on how to perform chin tuck exercise, you can perform this in sitting, standing without the support of the wall, etc. You can gradually increase the hold up to 10 seconds. You can perform chin tuck exercises followed by neck stretching and strengthening exercises to improve strength and flexibility.

And finally, below is a print-out version of this exercise guide.