Hammer Curls with very bad neck/head pain

[stud0000]

Hey guys I been doing hammer curls the last few months and when I first started doing them I always had a very light noticable pain on the right side of my neck going up about halfway to the middle of my head on the right side of my body but I didn't have any pain the last say month or so until Sun.. What happened was on the last set of hammer curls I was doing I was struggling just a tad and was doing everything in my power just so I could complete the last few reps(I regret it now) I foolishly was bending my shoulder and as I brought up the wieght on the right arm I felt this intense pain go from the right side of my neck up to the middle of my head, it went away 1-2 hours later but now as I am doing hammer curls the pain will come back in the same place and the pain almost will bring me down to the ground(thats how bad it will be).

So my question is did I do any serious damage to my body or did this ever happen to anyone else? Maybe I should take a few weeks off from doing hammer curls?

Everything else is fine its just that when I start doing hammer curls thats when the pain will come back.

[Chunk Tiger]

Hey guys I been doing hammer curls the last few months and when I first started doing them I always had a very light noticable pain on the right side of my neck going up about halfway to the middle of my head on the right side of my body but I didn't have any pain the last say month or so until Sun.. What happened was on the last set of hammer curls I was doing I was struggling just a tad and was doing everything in my power just so I could complete the last few reps(I regret it now) I foolishly was bending my shoulder and as I brought up the wieght on the right arm I felt this intense pain go from the right side of my neck up to the middle of my head, it went away 1-2 hours later but now as I am doing hammer curls the pain will come back in the same place and the pain almost will bring me down to the ground(thats how bad it will be).

So my question is did I do any serious damage to my body or did this ever happen to anyone else? Maybe I should take a few weeks off from doing hammer curls?

Everything else is fine its just that when I start doing hammer curls thats when the pain will come back.

If I had to guess, I'd say bad form combined with to much weight. Probably strained/pulled something trying to force up the weight.

Try dropping the weight and focus solely on getting the form solid, maybe a difference?

[stud0000]

If I had to guess, I'd say bad form combined with to much weight. Probably strained/pulled something trying to force up the weight.

Try dropping the weight and focus solely on getting the form solid, maybe a difference?

Yea thats what I was thinking possibly to much weight I forgot to mention as well that I added more weight on Saturday. I only added an extra 5 pounds per bar =10 extra pounds. I might try on cutting down on the reps and just gradually increasing them.

[iladelph]

No worries. I had the same pain about a month ago. It'll go away.

In the meanwhile, If you insist on still doing hammer curls... Lower the weight a bit. Make sure you use as much of you biceps as possible, dont include your back in the motion.

My problem was that i up'd the weight too much, and my form got sloppy. Pain shot up my neck and i couldnt continue that day. After a couple of days of rest the pain permanently went away.

Try doing preacher hammer curls to isolate your biceps even more. As long as your not stressing your back/neck you should be fine.

[Tigreza312]

I'm glad this thread is still posted. I just had this happen to me this morning. I hope the pain goes away soon. I was doing hammer curls with my back against and inclined bench. So my form wasn't bad, but I was straining. A LOT. At least I know I'm not the only one.

[Yodums]

OP: Are you doing it while sitting down? If not, try that. Also, as mentioned, you could try them on the preacher, but I prefer my arms swinging freely.

[robbondo]

It's surprising how much you strain your neck when lifting... After a while, if you haven't already, you'll start noticing your neck getting thicker and more muscular.

Seems for me, I get the most neck pump when doing deadlifts. I'm guessing you probably strained a muscle in your neck. only cure for that is rest and ibuprofen.

[AbdulBasitt5670]

Thanks buddy today the same pain started in my neck at exactly same point and I did the exact same mistake of lowering my shoulder and I slso started increasing weight I was a bit bewildered bug now I a not just bcz of you

[delsincarter]

Unfortunately my post count is too low to use hyperlinks. (Strange feature of bodybuilding.com...) So I'll credit Livestrong's site with the below information.

*Happy, healthy lifting.
D

*************************************

A common complaint from performing a heavy set of biceps curls is a sore neck; this typically happens when you don't follow proper form for the exercise. Understanding the proper form in relation to what you did to injure your neck can help you to avoid or prevent injury to your neck from biceps curls in the future.


Proper Form:

Stand with your feet just inside shoulder-width apart. Grab the barbell, dumbbells or straight bar with an underhand grip, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Straighten out your arms and allow them to hang toward the floor with the barbell resting against your thighs. Retract, or bring together, your shoulder blades slightly so your shoulders are centered laterally across your upper body. Face directly ahead and move your head back so it is centered over your spine. Jam your elbows against your ribcage and pull the bar or dumbbells, raising it upward by bending at your elbows. Continue moving the bar upward while keeping your head in a neutral position with your shoulder blades retracted and your elbows against your sides. Once the bar is 1 inch away from your shoulders, relax and return the bar slowly to your thighs.


Neck Injury Form:

Neck injury when performing biceps curls often occurs when you begin to fatigue as your body tries to compensate for biceps failure. Your body's natural reaction is to include muscles other than your biceps to complete the lift. Tilting your head downward to look at the bar and relaxing your shoulder blades will cause neck muscles -- upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoid and splenius -- to activate with the lift. These neck muscles are responsible for neck extension and rocking your neck backward. By looking down, then pulling back with your head, your neck muscles assist the biceps in pulling the weight; however, this places a lot of strain on your neck muscles and spinal column. This causes the neck muscles to over-exert and leads to a neck strain or cervical spine damage.

[Kjetil1234]

This happens when the shoulders aren't being stabilized by the trapezius. If scapula depresses when arms are loaded, it can place tremendous strain on the levator scapulae muscles, which insert into the atlas joint and C1-4 vertebrae. Very common cause of neck pain, headaches, and shoulder impingement.

Stop slouching with your shoulders when training, especiially when curling. Raise scapula by trapz half an inch, stay there. Don't just hang