Exercises to develop neck muscles

If you still think that the untrained muscle is the muscles of the legs, I recommend you to think again! I've never met the people who would be coming to the gym, were engaged in the study of the muscles of the neck, allowing you to bring them in the first place, among the untrained. Very few people have heard that these muscles can be trained, and if you suddenly happen to come across such people, I want to ask: "What are those guys doing?". The foregoing demonstrates that the muscles are as important as any other, and the small size of the neck relative to other parts of the body would look disproportionate. What good is it to have great shoulders and toned body, if you then look up and see the neck is as thin as a pencil?

The neck is a body part that is always seen, therefore, be inflated, the neck means having the power to set goals and achieve them. The most prominent muscle, but about it often forgotten. Would you like to look like these guys in the photo:

 

Or like this guy:

The choice is yours, but first, let's look at the anatomy of the neck.

Anatomy of the neck

For bodybuilding of primary importance are the two muscles of the neck: sternocleidomastoid front and plastilina muscle back.

The sternocleidomastoid muscle has 2 heads: the sternal and the clavicular, which are located as shown in the figure below:

Plastilina muscle also consists of two parts: the neck and head. As shown in the figure below, only a small part of the muscle is visible, mostly her close on top of other muscles.

As you've probably guessed the most visible muscle of the two is the sternocleidomastoid. Working on this muscle, you will be able to create the image of a man with a strong and powerful neck, the boy in the picture:

However, this does not mean that plastilina muscle does not matter, it is just less noticeable as it is covered from top to trapezius muscle and some of the other tight to her.

Let us consider the following question as directly train the muscles of the neck:

Exercises

Flexion of the neck with the disk

My most favorite form of exercise that does not require anyspecial oborudovaniya, all you will need is a bench and a weight disk. There are two ways to perform this exercise. You can:

• Lie on bench on your back so that your head and neck hanging off the edge.

• Lie on the bench so that the top half of his body was completely on the bench, and his legs had firm footing on the floor. Your body should be parallel with the floor surface and perpendicular to the bench.

In fact, it does not matter from what position you will carry out exercise, decide for yourself, the efficiency performance will be the same in either case. Place weight disk on the forehead, holding his hands for balance, then continue to Flex the neck, tilting the head forward, try to get a chin chest. Then remove the weight and return to starting position, then repeat the exercise in the same sequence.

Some tips:

• Do not use too much weight.
• Use possibly option weight disk "Olympic" because it has the outside plastic cover and is more convenient to use.
• From the standpoint of hygiene, it is recommended to use a towel, placing it between the weight of the disk and face.

Flexion of the neck with the head helmet

The principle of the exercise is similar to the previous, but instead of a disk uses a special gear – head helmet. This type of equipment is not used in many gyms, so it is recommended to have your own helmet head. Performing exercises on flexion of the neck with its use not only more effective but also safest way in my opinion.

Install a bench right in front of the block, high pull, sit with your back to him. Install the unit high thrust at head level, put head helmet and bend his head so that his chin touched his chest. Then return to the starting position and repeat the exercise

There are various options of head helmets, but personally, I prefer the kind that fit completely around your head, like this one:

Flexion of the neck in a special simulator

Although not very common form of the simulator, but some gyms have dedicated hardware for the study of the muscles of the anterior part of the neck. This simulator does everything for you, you just sit down, and pillow plays the role of weighting. This will allow you to work the muscles of the neck, bending it forward exactlythe same as when performing the previously described exercises.

Don't worry, it's just a picture. Note the handle on the front of the simulator, they are used for balance, so be sure to check that you hold fast to them during the exercise.

Exercise on the extension of the neck with the disk

Now let's move on to the rear neck muscles, namely plasticieni muscle. As you probably guessed it, exercise the back muscles of the neck on the principle of execution is different from what has been said. There are many options for training the muscles of my most favorite and affordable it is using the bench and the weight of the disc.

You can sit on the bench in two ways:

• Sitting on the bench, lean forward until the stomach touches the thighs.
• Lying on her stomach, head slightly hanging off the edge.

Personally, I prefer the first method, although both options are very good. Despite what method of placement on the bench you choose, the technique of the exercise will be the same. Place the disk in the back of my head and try to straighten the neck as hard as possible. Lower your head down until your chin touches your upper chest, and then repeat the exercise. It is recommended to lay a towel between the disk and the head and to control the retention of the disk behind the head with both hands.

Exercise on the extension of the neck with helmet

As mentioned earlier, for this exercise, you will need to purchase their own equipment. Unlike exercises for the muscles of the front of the neck, there are two types of head helmets that you can use to work out back muscles neck: without weighting and with weighting. The first of them is used for the projectile with high thrust as follows:

• Sitting on the bench, face towards the high thrust block
• Set pin high thrust at the bottom, attach the harness and wear a helmet

A weighted helmet can be used in the following way:

• Strand nasamu, feet on width of shoulders.
• Precipitates helmet with special zeineldine forward.
• You can put hands on the knee, or the hip if you bend forward stronger.

In principle it does not matter what kind of equipment you choose for exercise on the extension of the neck, but always remember that full extension and then flexion the chin should touch the breast while returning to its original position.

The extension of the neck in a specialthe simulator

Last option exercises for the back neck muscle by the example of the use of special devices. Not exactly a common sight, but this device will allow you to perform extension of the neck, as in the previous exercises, but for more special control. If you ever are going to perform exercise for neck muscles using special equipment, the first thing you need to do is to make sure the correct location of the neck for maximum range of motion.

Lateral flexion with weights

Although the main emphasis of the exercise is to work through the muscles of the anterior part of the neck, while the muscles of the back as well at the same time being worked out. This exercise can be performed with heavier discs, head helmet or special equipment, but the principle of implementation is retained, regardless of which one you choose. The purpose of this exercise is the implementation of lateral bending, until such time as the neck will affect the shoulder.

The most acceptable way to perform this type of exercises using special weight disk. Using a regular horizontal bench, lie on her side, the lower hand can grasp the bench outside, or stand on it, dropping it on the floor. Place the disc on the head from the top, hold it in this position using free hand. Deviate up as much as possible, then return to the starting position. Perform the exercise on one side, turn over to the other side and run all the same.

Using a hat you can easily mimic the effect of the weight of the drive:

You can also use a decline bench if you want:

If you use the harness you do the same thing only from a standing position. Set the high pulley at head level and bend your head to the side, as usual

And last not least: there is a special simulator:

The process of training

Training the muscles of the neck should be treated very seriously, as the consequences of the injuries that can take place will become irreversible. Usually I train 1 time a week usually doing 3 sets for the muscles of the front of the neck and 2 sets on the back of the neck. Always check what weight you choose, it needs to match the level of your physical fitness. Although some people with a powerful neck, can lift more weight, but you don't haveto be equal to them and try to emulate them!

If you are afraid to train the neck using heavier weight or for some other reason, you this method is not suitable, you can use your own hands for training. For example, as a weighting use the power of their hands. Put your hand on the forehead and gently press on his forehead, trying to reject the head back while all the forces of the neck muscles necessary to counteract the action of your hand. The same can be performed for rear and side muscles of the neck.

You can also use the elastic harness or something like that, if you want to:

Last but not least, you can also perform the exercise "the bridge support on the neck", although I don't recommend this type of exercise because they consider it too traumatic, especially because there are many safe ways of exercising the muscles of the neck. You can perform this exercise to train the front, side and back muscles using only your own weight.

There are 3 types of bridges, but to explain technique in words is quite difficult. Therefore, I recommend to watch the following video:

As I mentioned earlier, the implementation of this type of exercise can be quite dangerous, be sure that you are sufficiently physically prepared before attempting to execute it, it is better to start training with more secure types of exercises.

Genetic features

On the anatomy of the muscles of the neck, in principle, most people are the same however there are people who possess the nature of a muscular throat, which gives them a clear advantage over other people.