Neck-friendly exercises

Gym exercises that do not load the neck, to train if you have muscle knots, neck pain or an injury: what to avoid and which alternatives to use.

Few exercises load the neck directly, but some put quite a bit of tension on it: floor crunches with your hands behind your head, the overhead press when you push your head "through the window", or the squat when the bar sits badly on the back of your neck.

If you have neck pain or a muscle knot, choose ab exercises that do not require lifting your head (machine crunch, dead bug, reverse crunch) and keep a neutral gaze on every exercise, without looking up at the ceiling or down at the floor.

The list shows the exercises in our catalog that do not load the neck according to our classification, which is the vast majority. If the pain radiates down your arm or comes with tingling, see a doctor before training.

95 exercises do not load this joint.

Lower body

Quads

• Barbell back squat
• Goblet squat
• Hack squat
• Smith machine squat
• Leg press
• Leg extension
• Walking lunges
• Jump squat
• Box jump

Glutes

• Reverse lunge
• Bulgarian split squat
• Box step-up
• Kettlebell swing
• Machine hip thrust
• Barbell hip thrust
• Floor glute bridge
• Cable glute kickback
• Quadruped glute kickback

Hamstrings

• Conventional deadlift
• Romanian deadlift
• Barbell good morning
• Leg curl (seated or lying)
• Nordic hamstring curl

Abductors

• Hip abduction machine
• Seated banded abduction
• Side-lying leg raise
• Clamshell

Adductors

• Hip adduction machine
• Standing cable adduction

Calves

• Standing calf raise
• Seated calf raise
• Leg press calf raise

Upper body

Chest

• Barbell bench press
• Incline dumbbell press
• Machine chest press
• Push-ups
• Pec deck fly
• Cable crossover

Triceps

• Parallel bar dips
• Cable triceps pushdown
• Overhead triceps extension
• Skull crusher
• Bench dips

Shoulders

• Standing overhead press
• Seated dumbbell shoulder press
• Machine shoulder press
• Dumbbell lateral raise
• Cable lateral raise
• Front raise
• Reverse pec deck
• Face pull

Back

• Pull-ups
• Assisted pull-ups
• Lat pulldown
• Straight-arm cable pulldown
• Barbell bent-over row
• One-arm dumbbell row
• Seated machine row
• Single-arm cable row
• Seated cable row

Biceps

• Barbell curl
• Biceps curl (machine or seated dumbbell)
• Hammer curl
• Cable curl

Core

Abs

• Machine crunch
• Standing cable crunch
• Reverse crunch
• Dead bug
• Lying leg raise
• Flutter kicks
• Scissor kicks
• Single-leg lowering
• Hollow body hold
• Front plank
• Ab wheel rollout
• Captain's chair leg raise
• Hanging leg raise
• Mountain climbers
• Farmer's carry

Obliques

• Side plank
• Machine torso rotation
• Pallof press
• Cable woodchop
• Russian twist

Lower back

• Back extension

Cardio

Cardio

• Stationary bike
• Recumbent bike
• Elliptical
• Rowing machine
• Incline treadmill walk
• Stair climber
• Arm ergometer
• Treadmill running
• Jump rope
• Burpees

If you have an injury, pain or a medical condition, check with a professional before doing this exercise.