"I Hate the Hundreds": Why Your Neck Takes Over in Pilates Core Work
- Sheela Cheong
- 20 hours ago
- 4 min read
The first time I did the Hundreds in a Pilates class, I thought: "I hate this and I'm not coming back."
I was in class with 20 other students and a strict, no-nonsense teacher.
My neck hurt and I wanted to be done and out of there.
Why You Feel Your Neck, Hip Flexors, or Lower Back in Pilates Core Work
Pilates is often described as “core training”.
But in practice, many people experience something very different:
Neck strain in abdominal exercises.
Hip flexors taking over leg work.
Lower back tightening during movements meant to stabilise it.
These sensations are common, and they are usually misinterpreted.
They are not signs that Pilates is “wrong”.
They are signs that load is being distributed in a way the system is not yet organised to manage.
When The Neck Starts Doing The Work
One of the most frequent experiences in Pilates is neck fatigue during core exercises.
This becomes especially noticeable in movements where the head and shoulders are lifted — such as abdominal curls or the “hundreds”.
Instead of feeling the abdominal wall controlling the movement, the front and back of the neck begin to fatigue or grip.
What is actually happening is simple:
When deep abdominal support is not fully coordinating the lift, the body recruits the neck flexors and superficial stabilisers to assist.
Over time, this can lead to compression and fatigue in the cervical region.
Research in movement science supports this idea:
When deeper stabilising muscles are underactive, more superficial muscles compensate to maintain posture and load support.
In Pilates terms, this is not a “neck problem”.
It is a load-sharing problem between the trunk and the cervical spine.
The "Hundreds" & The Illusion Of Core Strength
In exercises like the hundreds, the legs are often extended into a long lever position.
This increases demand on the abdominal system significantly.
If the trunk cannot maintain sufficient control under that load, the system shifts effort to whatever is available — commonly the hip flexors and neck.
This is why two people can do the same exercise and feel completely different things.
One feels the abdomen working.
The other feels the front of the hips and neck taking over.
Neither is random.
It reflects how the load is being managed through the system.
Why Hip Flexors Dominate In Leg Extensions
Hip flexor dominance is one of the most misunderstood patterns in Pilates.
People often describe it as:
“I only feel my hip flexors, not my core”
“My legs feel heavy or hard to control”
“My lower abs never seem to switch on”
But anatomically, the hip flexors are primary movers of the leg.
They are not meant to disappear.
They are meant to coordinate with the deep abdominal system so that movement is distributed rather than concentrated at the front of the hips.
When coordination is missing, the hip flexors begin to compensate for trunk stability demands.
This is especially common in seated flexion, leg extensions, and mat-based core work.
Research on hip flexor function shows that they connect directly into lumbar spine mechanics, meaning they influence both leg movement and spinal load transfer.
So when they dominate, it is often because:
the trunk is not stabilising efficiently
or the pelvis is not well controlled under load
or breathing and bracing are not coordinating with movement
Lower Back Strain In “Core” Exercises
Lower back discomfort in Pilates is often misunderstood as weakness.
More accurately, it is usually a positioning and load transfer issue.
If the pelvis tilts or the ribs flare during movement, the lumbar spine absorbs forces it is not designed to repeatedly manage in that way.
Core work is meant to distribute load across:
abdominal system
pelvic control system
spinal stabilisers
When this system is not coordinated, the lower back often becomes the default stabiliser.
This is why people can do hundreds of reps and still feel the same discomfort patterns repeating.
Why Instruction Alone Is Not Enough
A key misunderstanding in group Pilates:
Knowing the shape of the exercise does not guarantee correct muscular organisation.
Two people can look identical in movement but experience completely different internal load distribution.
This is why cues like “engage your core” often fail to resolve symptoms like neck strain or hip flexor dominance.
How to Modify the Pattern Instead of Fighting It
One of the biggest misconceptions in Pilates is that everyone should perform the “full” version of an exercise immediately.
But exercises like the hundreds are highly demanding because they use long lever positions.
When the legs extend far away from the body, the load on the abdominal system increases dramatically.
If the deeper trunk system cannot yet manage that load, the body shifts effort elsewhere:
the neck grips
the hip flexors dominate
or the lower back tightens to stabilise
This does not mean the exercise is bad.
It means the load is currently too high for the way the system is organising support.
The solution is usually not to “try harder”.
It is to reduce the load so the larger stabilising muscles can begin coordinating properly again.
In Pilates, this is done by shortening the lever.
That might mean:
having both legs bent, feet on mat
holding the legs in tabletop instead of extending them
keeping head down vs lifting into flexion
or working one leg at a time instead of both
For some people, the most effective version of the hundreds initially is:
knees bent
feet grounded
head resting down
focusing only on breathing and abdominal organisation
And that is still real core work.
Because the goal is not to force the hardest variation.
The goal is to create a version of the exercise where the larger support system can actually participate — so the smaller muscles stop compensating.
Once the load is distributed well, progression becomes possible without strain.
Final Note
If your neck, hip flexors, or lower back take over during Pilates, it usually means the smaller muscles are trying to do the job of the larger support system. TLDR: "Small muscles overworking because big muscles not doing their job." Good Pilates teaching is not about pushing through the "right shapes" with the wrong muscles. Practise with a teacher who knows how to modify these exercises so that your muscles are recruited in an efficient, pain-free way.
Who knows, you might end up actually enjoying The Hundreds ;)
Explore Further
If you recognise these patterns in your own practice, read more here:
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