The Chin Tuck Against Resistance Exercise (The CTAR Exercise)

The Chin Tuck Against Resistance Exercise is really a very simple concept. You are simply tucking your chin down, or pressing or nodding your chin in a downward motion, against resistance. That resistance can be anything really. Just like there are many ways to exercise your bicep muscles in your arms, such as using machines in the gym, lifting free weights, lifting elastic bands, or even just lifting rocks or cans of beans, there are also many ways to exercise your suprahyoid muscles.

There are a few important components to obtaining optimum results from these exercises. First of all, it is very important to use good posture, with your shoulders back and your ears aligned with your shoulders. If your head is too far forward when doing these exercises, you will strengthen the back of your neck instead of your suprahyoid muscles, which is not what we want! 

Be sure to consult your physician before beginning exercises.

CTAR Exercise Instructions:

1.) Begin with good posture. Make sure you are sitting up straight with your ears directly over your shoulders

2.) Press your fist, a ball, a rolled up towel, or the PhagiaFlex device firmly under your chin, pressing it up slightly to give yourself resistance

3.) Hold the resistance firmly enough to make it slightly difficult to press your chin down towards your chest, but not so much that it makes it impossible. If using the PhagiaFlex device, just hold it in place and it will bend as you press your chin down, providing movable resistance automatically.

4.) Slowly lift your chin back up again, providing resistance in the opposite direction by resisting the push from the PhagiaFlex device, or from the ball, towel, or your hand which is pressing your chin upwards, with just enough pressure to make it an effort to make the upward movement be very slow and controlled.

5.) Repeat until the muscles under your chin feel fatigued. Do this twice daily, unless your muscles feel sore. If they feel sore, rest until they recover.