How to Train Neck Muscles?

The neck muscle is almost always open. Men's neck talks about the athletic features of its owner, about his power. Despite this, increasingly fewer people focus on building neck’s muscles. They work on a more visible group of muscles, ignoring this one. It’s is true that there are some types of exercises such as barbell, which indirectly stimulate the neck muscles. But they are not enough for getting a massive neck, which will perfectly fit your well-built body.

One of the main reason for avoiding of neck’s exercises is their high level of injury. There are many experienced trainers who avoid exercise on the neck, as they consider them dangerous and not worth the effort.

Regardless of these fears, each bodybuilder must pay big attention to the cervical muscles. The neck is composed of more than a dozen complex muscles. Functioning synchronously, they move the head, fix it, and also participate in the process of respiration.

If decided do not pay much attention to the cervical muscles, you lose a lot. In this article, we will show you how properly, safely and effectively strengthen and develop the muscles of the neck. The main objective of the technique is the increase in strength and endurance of the neck muscles.

This is important, for example, for wrestlers and boxers. During the fight, for example, often have long hold static stresses in the wrestling bridge, when the opponent is trying to put you on the shoulder. In case of boxers, the neck must withstand dynamic impact attributable to the head.

Before each training session, you have to perform quality workout involving all muscles of the cervical spine. There are no restrictions on the type of exercises, they can be the most simple, but varied and performed in different modes of muscle activity (overcoming, static and inferior).

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That is, the muscles have to simulate the action training sessions, but with less impact. Warm-up efforts are distributed by a sufficiently large number of repetitions, from 40 in the early workouts to 25 at the end.

Among most useful exercises that can be included in the warm-up stage can be:

1. Rotation of the head from side to side.
2. Tilt your head in front of you and back.
3. Tilt your head to the right and to the left.
4. Turns head from side to side.
5. Resting his head on palms of hands, bowing his head back and forth.
6. Clasping wrists occipital region of the head, bending behind and back you.

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As we said the length of a warm-up process should be no longer than 40 minutes. Once you do it, you can go further to basic workout. As a result of long experience, have been set 3 most productive training courses for building neck’s muscles.

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Each of them is based on a set of few exercises, with the main difference that their number their number of repetitions and approaching change according to the main goal of the training program. Further, we will talk about each of them.

Power orientation program for building neck muscles is one of the most common among bodybuilders.
First exercises included in this training is as follow: standing in the position of wrestling bridge, rolls from the back to the forehead.

Depending on your fitness abilities, you can use weight bearing, which are holding hands at the waist or chest. At a time when there is a roll to the back,  the muscles of the neck are under a great tension. That's why you have to control the position of the spinal column straight out and side bends.

At the time of the final repetition, better to reduce the range of movement, avoiding the buildup, which can lead to injury. For a more stable position take a broad alignment of the legs. This exercise, especially with the use of weights greatly strengthen neck and spine muscles.

Try to choose the weight of such amount to be able to perform 6-8 reps of 3-4 approaches. Do not be surprised by the big number of repetitions. The main reason for this is that performing up to 4 approaches, you keep the risk of injury and damage to the cervical spine low. For insurance try to follow namely this type of system, and do not forget to avoid inertial movements.

Second exercise: Resting on the floor on toes and forehead, rolls on the crown of the head and back. Hold the dumbbells at chest level. In this exercise are mainly involved the front of the neck muscles, but the load on the spine and base of the skull remains high too. Therefore, we must keep in mind the safety rules of previous exercises.

A positive feature of this exercise is the fact that it includes in work abdominal muscles too, which by their static electricity makes breathing difficult, pretending to some extent the actual events on the wrestling mat. And legs quite actively involved in the work, taking away much of the energy.

It is recommended to perform 6-8 reps of 3-4 approaches.

Exercises 3. Staying in the same position as in case of the second exercise, move your neck from side to side.  Meanwhile, try to hold dumbbells at chest level.

In this exercise, are involved in work additional trapezius muscles and posterior deltoid muscle bundles. Body position is not the most comfortable, so take your time with the big weights, also known as derate range of motion. Perform 6-8 reps of 3-4 approaches. Account lead in the same direction, so each half of the neck you get 6-8 reps.

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Another variation of a power orientation training program for building neck muscles. There are three exercises included in this program. Exercise nr 1 Resting on the floor on toes and forehead, rolls on the crown of the head and back. Hold the dumbbells at chest level.  Perform 6-8 reps of 3-4 approaches.

Exercise no 2. In a sitting position and supporting your chin in your hands,  tilt the head forward and backward. This exercise allows you to move with full amplitude and absolutely safe. Here are involved in work the muscles of the front of the neck.

The emphasis on the chin will further strengthen the muscles and bones of the lower jaw, which is very important for athletes. Breathing in this exercise is not difficult when you lean forward to do breath back - exhale.

This breathing technique is explained by the fact that when you lean forward cut sternocleidomastoid muscle and increases the breath is short, as the chest rises. Perform 3-4 repetitions of 6-4 approaches. And remember, perform them with maximum amplitude.

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Exercise nr 3 In a sitting position, resting your head in your hand, turn it to the right and left, overcoming the inherent resistance. Then change hands. In order to reach full amplitude, you have to weaken a bit the force, increasing the number of repetitions to 8-10 times of 3-4 approaches.

This is an auxiliary exercise and its main purpose is to protect from unwanted injuries skew while holding a static position, such as in a wrestling bridge. Inhale perform during a turn in the direction of working hands. The third type of program exercises for building neck muscle is focused on strength endurance.

Perform the number one exercise. Namely, resting on the floor on toes and forehead rolls on the crown of the head and back. Hold the dumbbells at chest level. The execution technique of this exercise is somewhat unusual since you will hold the burdening in the position of wrestling bridge while performing breathing movements.

Need to breathe only through movements of the chest, so actively engaged in the sternocleidomastoid muscle. This will develop the skill of breathing at the maximum static stress often encountered during a wrestling match and relax unnecessary in this work the muscles. Follow up to 15-20 as deep breaths (exhale any) 2-3 approaches. Perform 20-25 reps of 3-4 approaches.

Exercise nr 2 All the same, as in the power training session, but the number of repetitions has to be increased to 20-25 times in 3-4 approaches.

Exercise nr 3 In a sitting position, resting your head in your hand, turn it to the right and left, overcoming the inherent resistance. Then change hands. A number of 20-25 reps 3-4 approaches. Since the weight of burdens somewhat reduced range of motion can be easily increased.

In order to properly make use of these type of exercise program (power orientation training and developing strength endurance) you must follow a few rules:

•  perform training sessions focused on strength endurance with a recovery period of 2-3 days, and for strength endurance 3-4 days;
• after performing 2-3 strength training, do 1-2 to for power endurance;
• rest between sets in strength training for 2-3 minutes, when doing strength endurance can reduce it to 0.5-1 minutes;
• do not increase weights used during the training as long as the number of repetitions in the first two approaches was not  increased by 5-8 times;
• every six weeks to arrange a discharge of 5-7 days, during which perform the only workout for the muscles of the cervical spine.

It is very important to mention that during the training of neck muscles you have to closely monitor the breathing. In some exercises, the presence of large static stress exacerbated by a poor position of the head relative to the body, which increases blood pressure.

For some mitigation of these two negative factors try to avoid straining, even if they have to reduce the weight of complication. Too frequent use of straining at maximum voltage can lead to abnormalities in the vascular system.

Exercises for the development of the neck muscles should be part of your training program, regardless of whether you are an experienced bodybuilder or just a newbie. This will significantly reduce the risk of injury, protect your spine and just let you walk with your head held high.