The suboccipital muscle group is quite misunderstood. These muscles' "overactivity" often blamed for headaches or upper cervical misalignment, but this is an utter myth and could not be further from the truth.
The suboccipitals are important stabilizers of the craniocervical junction as they prevent hypermobility of the atlantoaxial and atlanto-occipital joints due to their unique, proximal configuration. Further, the muscles are "full" of receptor cells, due to their important task in synchronizing the movement of the head in relation to the eyes, i.e. in maintaining a horizontal outlook. These muscles are happy when they are strong and thick.
When weak, car and sea sickness, occipital and ocular headaches or dizziness are common sequelae. The most common causes of weakness are poor cervical posture as well as inability to extend the neck without "hinging".
In this video I show how to recover normal upper cervical articulation as well as how to properly strengthen the suboccipitals. NB: I do not imply that you need to - at all times - move your neck like this, but the inability to do so due to longstanding poor cervical posture, is common, resulting in dysfunction.
11 фев 2019
