Many people believe that training the neck muscles is nothing more than wanting to enhance appearance but the truth is, the neck is a huge asset in many kinds of contact sports. Generally, it seems that this important training is over looked because people either do not know about it or they do not have the proper equipment to carry out the exercises. With some weight plates, a bench, surgical tubing and a towel, you will be able to cover all of the exercises you need to build your neck muscles.
The Rotators. A 4-way neck machine will not work the rotators properly so you are going to want to go back to some simply manual resistance in order to work those muscles. Of course, you will not be working the rotators with weights, but you will be applying resistance to your neck with your hand while you are slowly turning your head to the left or the right.
It is strongly suggested that you begin slowly with this and do not start off with a great deal of resistance. When you come to the limit of your range of motion, you will want to go a head and slowly increase the resistance and hold it for about five to ten seconds.
Repeat the process, turning your head in the other direction, again holding the contraction when you can no longer turn the head further. Three to five sets of this should be more than sufficient to give ample work for this often overlooked muscle group.
You may want to try the exercises while you are seated so that your upper back muscles are relaxed. Since you are only working the extensor group for the moment, you will want to make sure that you are relaxing the muscles.
The Flexors. If you have a neck machine available, you can go ahead and use it for the flexors. For those that do not have this machine available, there are some simple things that you can do instead. You want to keep in mind that the purpose of this group is to tilt the chin towards the chest.
You might want to simply lie on your back on a nice and flat bench, facing up, with your hand hanging over the end of the bench. Place the folded towel on your forehead and place a weight plate on the towel while you hold it in place with your hands. At this point, you will want to relax your head and allow it to drop down.
Then, you will want to raise the head slowly as though you are trying to tuck your chin into your chest. You will want to make sure that both of your hands are holding the weight in place, while making sure that you are not helping the muscles perform the movement.
It is important to always start slow with the motions when you are doing neck work. Avoid using extremely heavy weights for the low repetitions because the neck is so incredibly fragile and especially if you are not used to training the neck muscles. Completing several sets of 10 – 15 reps is surely enough to get this group of muscles growing.
There is another option of using a piece of surgical tubing that can be picked up at just about any home improvement or medical supply store. You will want to take the two loose ends and tie them into a knot. Now you have a nice loop of medical tubing.
When working the extensors, you will want to sit on the bench or a chair. Place the tubing on your forehead and then place the other end around a doorknob. Allow the head to tilt back and then forward and begin to feel the resistance. Once you have made it to the limit of your range of motion, you will want to tilt backwards again and then forwards again. Do several sets of 10 – 15 reps for this exercise.
When you’re ready to increase the resistance, you can move farther from the anchor point, add another loop of tubing, or purchase a heavier gauge of tubing. You may want to wrap a towel or washcloth around the portion of tubing that will be resting on your forehead. This will make the exercise more comfortable and also help to keep it from slipping as you go through the motion.
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