Image credit: bartek nowicki

Looking down, up or aside during Squats can tweak your neck. Proper head positioning during Squats is not only safer on your neck, it also prevents many technique problems. Here’s where to look during Squats.

Where You Shouldn’t Look During Squats. These are the 3 biggest mistakes you’ll see on the Squat with regard to the head position.

• Not at Your Feet. Your body follows your head. If you bend your neck to look down, your upper & lower back will also want to bend. Rounding your lower back during Squats increases risks of spinal discs injuries.
• Not at The Ceiling. Hyper-extending your cervical spine increases risks of spinal discs injuries. It also shifts the weight to your heels which can make you lose balance. More bad technique can follow to compensate.
• Not Aside. Never look aside during Squats or any other exercise to see what’s going on there. It’s a guaranteed way to tweak your neck.

Starting Strength’s Way. Starting Strength recommends to fix a point 5-6′ in front of you on the floor. Several readers have posted videos in StrongLifts.com Forum showing bad technique while they own Starting Strength. Examples:

• Looking too much down because you’re squatting close to a wall/mirror
• Finishing the Squat with your neck bent, torso bent and hips unlocked

Read the text (p. 27), don’t only watch the pictures (p. 26). Most of you face a wall/mirror when squatting, so you can’t fix a point 5-6′ in front of you on the floor. The point is to keep your neck inline with the rest of your spine.

Where You Should Look. Not at the ceiling as this is bad for your neck. Not at the floor as this causes your back to bend. Your cervical spine should be inline with the rest of your spine during Squats for maximal safety.

Look forward. Fix a point on the wall/mirror in front of you. Your neck won’t be perfectly inline with the rest of your spine in the bottom Squat position. But as long as you don’t look at the ceiling, your neck will be ok.

Forward Head Posture. If you have a forward head posture, your neck is more at risk. If you have a forward head posture, you’ll usually also have kyphosis (a bent upper-back). Improve your thoracic mobility, then work on head posture.

• Do Nods. Make a double chin, hold for 5 sec, repeat for 10 reps. Don’t retract your neck, and don’t force the range of motion.
• Stretch. Your Levator Scapulae, like this. Stretch also your upper-traps & sternocleidomastoid (same stretch, but tilting head to the side).
• Keep Your Head Back. When sitting, working on computer, driving, etc Do a few nods when in doubt.

Remember this also for other exercises like Deadlifts or Pull-ups. Just like your lower back must remain neutral, so should your cervical spine remain neutral from start to finish to prevent spinal disc injuries.