Why does boxing hurt the back of my head?
Why is it that after punching my boxing bag for 20-30 minutes, the back of my head hurts?
When you punch a boxing bag, you use the muscles of your arm to generate force for your punches. The muscles of your forearm, biceps, and shoulder contract to generate force. The shoulder muscles are not limited to your shoulder, but also span across your upper back and extend up the nape of your neck all the way up to the back of your head.
After boxing for 20 – 30 minutes, the muscles of your arms fatigue. The fatigue develops because muscle cells start producing lactic acid after 20 – 30 minutes of exercise. The build up of lactic acid causes a dull pain. Since your shoulder muscles extend up to the back of your head, the dull pain radiates to the back of your head.
The back of your head muscle may also hurt because punching strains your arm muscles. The portion of the shoulder muscle which spans your back and extends up your head might be weak. As a result, this part of the muscle might not be able to tolerate the force generated when you punch the boxing bag. You can fix this problem by strengthening the muscles of your upper back and neck.