Do you include neck workout in your training routine? Unfortunately, most people don’t, which makes this area of the human body the most overlooked in the workout. It shouldn’t be the case, as the strong neck is extremely important for the majority of our everyday activities, not to mention professional sports and many professions.
The truth is that even if many people are aware of how important this part of our body is and they recognize the need to train it, it’s rarely a priority for them. There’s just never enough time to get to the neck exercises, or they simply have no idea what exercises they can do. Thus, we neglect the neck workout and only start thinking about it when it’s already too late.
This subject definitely needs more attention, so today, we want to help you understand the risks of ignoring neck training and what exercises are the best to improve your neck’s muscles are.
Why is it so important to strengthen the neck?
A strong neck is an essential part of your spine and affects many other parts of your body. Here’s why you should take care of strengthening your neck muscles.
- A strong neck helps translates into better posture. It straightens the figure and prevents its deformities. Since your muscles are more developed, your neck can easily keep your head up all day, and you don’t stoop.
- With a strong and stable neck, you’re less exposed to various injuries and concussions both in everyday life or when practicing sports. That’s because it reduces the intensity of the shocks caused by all kinds of hits. On the other hand, when you experience an injury around your neck area, well-trained neck muscles recover much quicker.
- Neck muscles play an important role in various sports, especially martial arts or boxing, but also gymnastics, football, rugby, or swimming.
- Strengthened neck muscles contribute to the overall strengthening of the upper limbs.
- Not many people know that training their neck can help them relieve frequent and recurring neck pains.
- If you work out regularly and you aim at growing your muscles, you need to remember about the proportions of your body.
Who is the most exposed to neck injuries?
Professional sport is the most common cause of neck injuries and concussions. With the high intensity of training, comes the bigger risk of neck pains. However, you don’t have to be a professional MMA competitor or a football player to be exposed to such risk. If only you exercise regularly, especially if your workout target is to grow muscles, you can certainly experience occasional neck issues.
On the other hand, neck injuries are not only caused by sports. Bad posture, which leads to neck pain and spine injuries, is often the result of a sedentary lifestyle. There are more and more jobs that require spending the whole day in front of the computer, which is very dangerous for people’s bodies.
Even though there are certain groups more exposed to the risk of neck injuries, the truth is, that this problem concerns everybody. No matter if you exercise five times a week, have a physically demanding job, or you just have issues with your posture, neck training can be extremely beneficial in all those situations.
How can you train your neck?
Start from simple exercises that will help you warm up and stretch your neck muscles. Move your head up and backward as far as you can but without unnecessary tension. You need to stay comfortable. After a few repetitions, move on to side bends. Use your right hand to move your head to the right in a way that the ear almost meets the shoulder. Again remember about being gentle. Come back to the neutral position and do the exercise on the left side. Repeat a few times. Finally, it’s time for rotations. Turn your head to the right, come back to the center and turn it to the left. Do it a few times, and then just move your head around as if you wanted to draw a circle in the air. It’s best to do a short session of such exercises every day. It’s not very time consuming, and you’ll be surprised how much stronger and more flexible your neck will be. You’ll do a headstand before you know it!
If you want to do more advanced exercises, you should try the neck workout strap, also called neck harness. It’s the best-known equipment for training your neck. It’s simple yet extremely effective. The neck harness is a strap with extra chains. When you place it on your head and start exercising with it, you basically lift weights with your neck.
There are various exercises you can do with the neck workout strap:
- Lay down on a bench facing the floor. Your head should be outside the bench. Wear the neck harness so that the chains dangle freely in front of you. Now lift your head up and go back to the starting position. Repeat a few times.
- Do a similar exercise when sitting on the bench. Place your feet a bit wider than your shoulders. Wear the neck workout strap and bend down until your chest is at the same level as your shoulders (if you can, don’t force it if it’s too much). Come back to the sitting position and repeat the movement.
- You can also exercise with the neck harness in the standing position. Bending down and standing up multiple times. Feel free to add some weight to the neck harness, if you’re more advanced.
Buy the neck workout strap in our store and start exercising now!
As you can see, it’s not difficult to include a neck workout into your daily routine! Just a few minutes of simple exercises can save you from potential neck injuries, help you work on your posture, and perform better when training at the gym. Hopefully, you’ll remember about it from now on and won’t neglect your neck training anymore! :)