Beginning with neck training can be a bit overwhelming. But, learning how to exercise your neck doesn’t have to be complicated.
Often overlooked, neck training should be consistently incorporated each week in your weekly training regiment to obtain progress and benefits through training properly. Used by physical therapists to rehab injuries and strength training coaches to protect athletes from concussions, neck training is an optimal form of exercise that should be used more often. However, even if you’re not a college athlete training with a strength coach or rehabbing an injury with a physical therapist, neck training can promote healthy posture, improve stiffness and tension in the neck, and prevent muscular imbalances that can cause further issues in the body, like kinks, strains, or soreness.
Throughout this article, we’ll show how to exercise neck muscles safely, why it shouldn’t be overlooked, and how it can benefit you.
Why Bother Learning How to Exercise Your Neck Muscles?
Many may question how do you exercise your neck and why to bother learning how to exercise the neck muscles. We’re here to enlighten you and shed light on the importance of neck training and how it can drastically improve athletic performance, reduce neck pain, and improve overall neck health. Continue reading below to learn how do you exercise your neck!
Strength
Like any other muscle, neck training can strengthen the neck, one of the body's most fragile and vital parts. Therefore, it is essential to learn how to strengthen neck muscles as it coincides with magnificent health and physical benefits.
The neck works as a shock absorber, decelerating the movement of the head. The benefits of a strong neck are outstanding. With stronger neck muscles, the neck can more efficiently control the whipping motion of the head. This controls the velocity of the brain moving inside the skull.
A weak neck results in instability and nagging conditions such as headaches, whiplash symptoms, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and degenerative spine.
Size
It’s impossible to learn how to make your neck bigger overnight, but learning how to improve size can be great for one’s athletes and overall health.
For those looking for more aesthetically designed purposes, learning how to get a thicker neck using neck training can significantly improve neck size and thickness. Thickness in the neck can improve training and performance, increase flexibility, improve range of motion, promote stability, and release tension.
Better Mobility
Exercising your neck muscles with proficient exercises can significantly improve mobility in the neck. Mobility aids in stabilizing the neck muscles in a range of compound movements, including rotation, flexion, and extension. This is very beneficial in injury prevention as mobility strengthens the neck in different ranges of motion to prevent kinks, stiffness, strains, or other injury risks.
Injury Prevention
Injury prevention is crucial for the neck, like addressing vagus nerve pain, playing a vital role in the body. It provides support for the skull while our body’s nerves use the neck as a passageway from the head to the body.
Poor posture in the neck, often reinforced through sustained poor posture during work, can contribute to muscle imbalances and interruptions in the flow of nutrients and blood to the extremities. In addition, with a weak neck, you won’t be able to function normally as the neck muscles adjust the posture of the head throughout daily movements. Overall, a vulnerable neck results in injury.
A neck strengthened through a consistent and effective neck training regiment will drastically reduce the risk of injury, promoting a healthy neck and strong body.
Less Pain
A weak neck reinforced by poor posture or lack of strength increases the risk of kinks, muscle imbalances, stiffness, and strains. Adding neck training to your regimen will reduce nagging pain caused by muscle imbalances or weakness in the neck. Exercises for a pinched nerve in the neck can drastically reduce pain in the neck. This is done by improving neck mobility, stability, and strength, all needed to fend off the risk of injury.
Superior Athletic Performance
As one of the most neglected muscles trained, the neck is often overlooked in promoting athletic performance and preventing injuries like concussions.
Traumatic brain injuries have forced many athletes to walk away from their respective sports. However, neck training can not only prevent injury and stepping away from your sport, but it can also improve athletic performance, like how F1 neck training prevents whiplash and concussion and strengthens stability in this high-speed driver's sport.
Strength, flexibility, stability, and mobility, are all essential aspects of neck health that can be improved to drastically raise athletic performance by strengthening the neck throughout various movements and increasing an athlete’s field of vision. For example, in sports, vision is essential to track a ball or the opposing team, and with a mobile and fast neck, this is done more smoothly.
What Equipment Do You Need to Exercise Neck Muscles?
If you’re unsure what equipment you should be using to start training your neck muscles, follow along below to learn what equipment works best to train the neck and promote the best results safely.
The Iron Neck (Best Option)
If you want to get started exercising your neck muscles and improving overall neck health and performance, then Iron Neck’s neck exercise equipment is the product to get the job done!
Backed by big names like Men’s Health and UFC and thousands of physical therapists and strength coaches, Iron Neck will help you reach your goals, whether rehabbing a neck injury, overcoming poor posture, or improving athletic performance. Whether a fitness enthusiast or an amateur athlete, Iron Neck can be a great start to improving overall neck health and performance by reducing the risk of head and neck injuries and strengthening the core through engagement in each professional-backed exercise.
Iron Neck is built on research and specialty design compared to other brands. As a result, the Iron Neck is the most effective way to reduce the effects of whiplash forces. For every 1 lb increase in neck strength, the odds of concussion are reduced by 5%. Our design uses the only available 360-degree neck training system to prepare the neck muscles for all manners of movement and strengthen the neck throughout all ranges of motion.
Neck Harness & Resistance Bands
Our neck harness and resistance band belts are a great second option for a more affordable option, though less effective than the Iron Neck.
The Iron Neck harness is one of the industry's most comfortable and durable neck harnesses, made from a soft 1” webbing. It uses adjustable industrial hook and loop fasteners to perform traditional weighted neck exercises to help improve neck strength. If you want to get creative with the neck harness, use bands, the included 40” stainless steel chain and two carabiners.
Our resistance band belts are an all-purpose, all-sport resistance trainer that can be used with or without a partner and can address various issues like training using loose neck skin exercises to manage saggy skin on the neck. This product uses an easy-to-use portable belt-and-cable system so athletes can perform a full range of natural movements to develop quickness, explosiveness, and power.
How to Exercise Your Neck Muscles: Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started
Do you want to know how to exercise your neck muscles? Then, follow this step-by-step guide to your neck training journey!
Get Started With a Goal
Your goal dictates your training. Injury prevention or strength/size? Mobility or weight loss? ETc.
To improve on a goal, you must first decide your plan: improve mobility, prevent injury, or work on strength. Though most exercises can passively strengthen other interests like mobility and stability, sticking to exercises that specifically target your goals will better promote progress so that you can reach your goals.
Choose Your Neck Exercises Accordingly
Once you’ve decided what you wish to work on, you must choose your neck exercises accordingly. Not all exercises are appropriate or safe to use with the neck. That’s why it’s essential to select your neck exercises accordingly.
Our exercises are backed by a trained professional, presenting how to move throughout each exercise to target your goals safely.
Speaking of goals, it’s important to choose exercises according to your neck goals.
To improve neck strength, you must incorporate resistance in your exercises. This encourages progressive overload, which is needed to enhance strength. Progressive overload challenges the body, which is excellent for improving strength. The same can be said for other exercises that can challenge the body through various ranges of motion to improve mobility.
Build a Training Regimen
When building a training regimen, it’s crucial to incorporate the correct amount of days consistently to promote progress. Minimally, training the neck twice a week is recommended, though, in most college-level training regimens, neck training is incorporated three times a week.
Training the neck can fit into your regular training regimen. If you’re wondering how much weight to start neck training with, start by adding 2-3 exercises to your routine and performing two sets for 10-15 repetitions. This will be a great addition to your routine and drastically improve neck health. Progressive overload must be incorporated to correctly approach progress and continued results for an efficient training regimen.
Focus on Diet & Recovery
Diet and recovery are essential in any training, so emphasizing neck training is no exception.
Sleep and rest are needed for the body to recover from the damage inflicted upon it with exercise. Without proper enforced recovery, results will not be as noticeable or desired. The same can be said for diet.
Food is a powerful tool that can drastically progress results and maximize performance. A diet high in whole, nutrient-rich foods and antioxidants significantly reduces overall recovery time and promotes better results.
Stay Consistent & Monitor Progress
Consistency is the game-changer on how much progress is obtained with neck training. Sticking to your training regimen throughout the week, incorporating progressive overload, and monitoring progress are all crucial factors in reaching your goals.
Make sure to monitor your progress. This will help decide whether your training regimen is working effectively or if you need to change something, like adding more intensity or resistance, to promote progressive overload and more progress.
Final Thoughts on How to Exercise Neck Muscles
Learning how to exercise neck muscles can change the game in overall health and athletic performance. Neck training can incorporate stability, mobility, strength, size, and flexibility into this vital body part that plays a crucial role in body health and function. And the best way to improve neck strength is by using Iron Neck.
Our specially designed, high-quality neck training tool provides 360-degree resistance to train the neck in all ranges of movement. It is the ultimate tool to strengthen and protect the neck from injury. So start your neck training journey today with Iron Neck!