Chronic neck pain and tightness may stem from over doing “Dips'' as part of your exercise routine. This is compounded by the lack of stretching for your Triceps relative to the amount of work it is doing. Another factor in this triumvirate of mechanical breakdown is the constant head forward posture. In this article I will dissect why the Dip exercise might be causing your neck complaint.
What is the basis of this thought process?
As a Massage Therapist I see many presentations of chronic neck issues. Most commonly local pain and tightness from muscles located in the neck. However,
There are presentations that seem to defy logical explanation.
This is one of those cases. The rationale behind is this. At times, a patient has complained about chronic neck pain and tightness but has found minimal relief through different forms of therapy on the neck. Or they find some relief but the neck tightens up within a day or so.
One of the questions I ask is, “Have you been doing dips at the gym?” Typically the answer goes something like this, “Yes, I have been doing more of it.” Then the follow up question is, “How much do you stretch afterwards?” Typically, the answer is usually, “minimally.” OR “I don’t”.
My next phase of action is to actually feel the Triceps muscle. When I feel this muscle I will notice that the muscle is very tight and usually well developed. When I press in certain locations there usually is significant pain felt by the patient.
When I see this presentation, I will work aggressively and for a prolonged period into the Triceps. Every once in a while I will feel the neck to see if there is a response. What generally will be felt is that the neck muscles relax to a greater degree.
The process entails more work into the Triceps relative to actually working on the neck. In fact, there have been many treatments where I focus more than half of my time on the Triceps relative to the neck.
Post treatment the response of the patient is that they feel a significant diminishment in neck pain and tightness. Also, over time the individual feels these diminished symptoms for a more prolonged period versus just working strictly on the neck.
Hence, this thesis.
Triceps Mechanics
The Triceps muscle extends the elbow and draws the upper arm “backwards” relative to the body’s centerline. This action is called extension. It is also important to note the attachments of the Triceps and I will state this in basic terms. Generally one of the attachments that is pertinent to this writing is the one closest to the shoulder region. It is the Scapulae (shoulder blade) the second is at the elbow.
There is another deep muscle that is part of this mechanical breakdown. This muscle, the Levator Scapulae attaches to the vertebrae of your neck on the lateral side and also at the Scapulae.
The Scapular region is a fascinating anatomical structure because of its impact on the neck, shoulders and potentially the ribcage. This is because there are a number of muscles that attach to it allowing for movements to occur at the neck, shoulder and ribcage.
The Mechanical Breakdown (Part 1)
The Triceps during the dip does a couple of important things. First, on the way down as you bend your elbow the Triceps contract in an eccentric manner. An eccentric contraction is “a type of muscle contraction where the muscle lengthens under load”-Webster’s Dictionary.
To prevent yourself from falling to the ground your Triceps slowly contracts while lengthening. It controls your descent.
The second action occurs when you extend your elbow when you hit the bottom part of your descent.
There is a third action that occurs at the scapulae, the shoulder blade as one of the heads of the Triceps (this muscle has three segments, hence the name ‘Triceps’”) attaches to an area of the scapulae named the Infraglenoid Tubercle.
This attachment is very important because it may impact other muscles that attach to the shoulder blade. The action at the Scapulae when one is performing the dip is called “downward rotation”. In simple terms the location of where the upper arm attaches to rotates in a downward manner.
The Mechanical Breakdown (Part 2)
The second part to this mechanical breakdown is the neck muscle, Levator Scapulae. Generally this muscle extends the neck, shrugs the shoulders, rotates the neck and side-bends the neck.
The muscle also has an action on the Scapulae. When the muscle shortens it causes a downward rotation of the Scapulae similar to the Triceps when performing the dip.
Why is the Scapular Attachments for the Triceps and Levator Scapulae Important?
The reason for why this is key is that it forms a complex, a “chain” of sorts. Below is a schematic of this chain. The Triceps-Scapulae-Levator Scapulae is what I will name it.
Typically the Levator Scapulae is relatively weaker than the Triceps muscle. If you have worked on your Triceps muscle for a while, you know that it can develop fairly quickly, if the proper exercises are employed.
During the dip when one’s head is forward it puts the Levator Scapulae in a lengthened position. Both the Triceps and Levator Scapulae function to rotate the Scapulae downward. Due to Levator’s lengthened position it has to work harder to rotate the Scapula (stay with me).
If the Triceps becomes overdeveloped and the individual fails to stretch, the Triceps can become very short, pulling on the attachment at the shoulder blade. What happens is over time the Scapulae is being pulled naturally in downward rotation without actually having to consciously contract the already shortened more powerful Triceps.
When the position of the Scapula is in a naturally downward rotated position, the Levator Scapulae becomes very short and tight. Remember when this muscle shortens (contracts) it acts to rotate the scapula downwards just like the Triceps.
This extreme chronic shortening of the Levator Scapulae results in chronic neck pain and tightness of the neck.
How do I manage this issue?
Lay off Triceps exercises for about a week and monitor to see if symptoms become better.
Make sure you actually take the time to stretch both the Triceps and the neck, particularly when you use the dip as part of your exercise routine.
When performing the dip, keep a close eye on your neck position. Is it jutting forward? Try tucking your chin in while doing the exercise.
Decrease the amount of dips in your routine. Try other exercises for the Tricep.
Have your Triceps aggressively treated to loosen the tissues.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes all it takes is a different set of eyes to treat your potential chronic issue with your neck. If you are suffering from chronic neck pain and tightness, it might be time to have the Triceps assessed and treated.