Best Exercises for your Neck

The neck is one of those muscles that most people do not like training. You might not be noticed if you have a great neck but no biceps but people will surely notice if you have an underdeveloped neck. If you have a pencil neck, you will look incomplete. It is also very important to be very careful when training the neck muscles. You do not have room for error when training your neck that is why you should use smooth controlled motion and never jerk or bounce.

The first exercise at all times when exercising the neck is to warm up. Move your neck up and down, forward and backwards and from side to side. Do up to 30 reps of each movement until you are properly warmed up.

Manual Resistance

After you are properly warmed up you should start with manual resistance. Apply pressure as hard as you can with your own strength, and resist it with your neck. You can do this while sitting down.
For extra resistance, lean against wall with your head, using a pillow for comfort. You can then lean with your neck from different directions e.g. facing the wall, on your side, from the back of your neck etc.

Neck Harness

A neck harness is a leather cap that fits on your head and has a chain on each side hanging from the ear region. You then load weight plates on the chains and move your head against the resistance created. Always use lighter weights but higher reps to avoid injury. Always use a training partner to spot you when using a neck harness.

Shoulder Shrugs

One of the best exercises for your neck muscles. Doing shoulder shrugs will also work out your neck muscles as well as increase your grips strength.

Grip a barbell shoulder width apart and stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart. Hold the barbell at arm’s length in front of you. Keeping your arms straight, shrug your shoulders upwards and squeeze your traps at the top. Hold the position and repeat. You can alternate between clockwise motions and anti clockwise shrugs for variety.

Upright Rows

The primary muscles that are worked on with upright rows are the traps, neck and deltoids. You will also be using your biceps, brachial is and your forearms. You can also use low cable pulleys to do this exercise.

Grip a barbell a little narrower than shoulder width. Hold the barbell at arm’s length in front of you. Keeping your elbows above your hands, pull the barbell directly up from the starting position until the bar is just below the chin. To maximize on the peak contraction, hold this position then slowly lower to the starting position.

It is possible to have great neck muscles but you need to be very careful not to take any unnecessary risks when training your neck muscles. Being patient and careful will make it easier to see the rewards soon enough with risking any injury. It is also a great idea to use a training partner in case you bite off more than you can chew.

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