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Other/Mixed Neck Strength and Mobility Training

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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garry

Level 1 Valued Member
Hi all,

Like a lot of people these days, my job keeps me stuck to a desk and has given me the typical neck and shoulder issues. My physio has advised me to work on strengthening my rotator cuff and add a lumbar support cushion to my chair. These have been working reasonably well for me, but I recently tweaked my neck at a wrestling seminar and that got me thinking about addressing my neck issues too.

I'm looking to add strength and mobility (range of motion) to my neck and offset a bit of the damage done by sitting in a chair all day. I'm avoiding the traditional back/neck bridge as it doesn't seem to be recommended. So far I've been focussing on head movements with a light resistance band (push head forward, turn left, turn right) and am trying to add the Anderson Neck Roll from Pavels Beyond Bodybuilding book, but can't figure out if I'm doing it right from the description in the book. Can anyone give me a better description or point me towards a video? I think I'm following the description in the book, but it doesn't feel like I'm working the neck too much.
Secondly, I'm thinking of ordering a head harness for weighted work. Would this benefit my goals of strength and mobility or could it worsen my "desk neck"? Finally, is there anything else that you guys would recommend I do?

If anyone has good suggestions for the shoulders too I'd love to hear them. Some days I feel like I've the shoulders of an 80 year old :D



-relevant demographics: 30-35, male, ~5'10,

- injury history: shoulder issues: right shoulder sometimes sore even without being used/trained
neck issues: prone to minor injury that will cause neck to be stiff for a few days

- movement history: physio found good mobility in shoulder region but weakness in rotator cuff

- sports/competition history: training BJJ for just over a year and want to continue :D
 
If you've got money to burn I've heard good things about this contraption.

Note: I have no experience with this device myself.

I'm also curious what other (more experienced/smarter than me people will say). :)
 
Groove Greaser said:
If you've got money to burn I've heard good things about this contraption.

Note: I have no experience with this device myself.

I'm also curious what other (more experienced/smarter than me people will say). :)
Click to expand...


Haha. I was eyeing that up, but too rich for my blood at the moment. I've found that the more money I throw at something early on, the less likely I am to keep it up :D. Now if someone else was to reply and say that it would solve all my problems, I might rethink that....
 
On a far more practical note I have had excellent results with combating poor posture / neck instability with chin tuck exercises.

I'm also a fan of the book "Overcoming Poor Posture" - it's written by the gymnastic strength training guy famous for writing "Overcoming Gravity" and co-authored by Jarlo - a co-founder of GMB fitness and Physical Therapist. (Among other things they cover the chin-tuck exercise and its variations mentioned above)

There's also "Deskbound" by Kelly Starrett, but it seems to focus on overall corrections for work life and includes little things you can do during the day to combat being deskbound (can be tool focused - like implementing a fidget bar, swiss ball, etc.)
 
garry said:
Hi all,

Like a lot of people these days, my job keeps me stuck to a desk and has given me the typical neck and shoulder issues. My physio has advised me to work on strengthening my rotator cuff and add a lumbar support cushion to my chair. These have been working reasonably well for me, but I recently tweaked my neck at a wrestling seminar and that got me thinking about addressing my neck issues too.

I'm looking to add strength and mobility (range of motion) to my neck and offset a bit of the damage done by sitting in a chair all day. I'm avoiding the traditional back/neck bridge as it doesn't seem to be recommended. So far I've been focussing on head movements with a light resistance band (push head forward, turn left, turn right) and am trying to add the Anderson Neck Roll from Pavels Beyond Bodybuilding book, but can't figure out if I'm doing it right from the description in the book. Can anyone give me a better description or point me towards a video? I think I'm following the description in the book, but it doesn't feel like I'm working the neck too much.
Secondly, I'm thinking of ordering a head harness for weighted work. Would this benefit my goals of strength and mobility or could it worsen my "desk neck"? Finally, is there anything else that you guys would recommend I do?

If anyone has good suggestions for the shoulders too I'd love to hear them. Some days I feel like I've the shoulders of an 80 year old :D

-relevant demographics: 30-35, male, ~5'10,

- injury history: shoulder issues: right shoulder sometimes sore even without being used/trained
neck issues: prone to minor injury that will cause neck to be stiff for a few days

- movement history: physio found good mobility in shoulder region but weakness in rotator cuff

- sports/competition history: training BJJ for just over a year and want to continue :D
Click to expand...


I have degenerative cervical disks at C5/C6 and C6C7 that are mildly (most of the time) symptomatic. All the bad press about wrestler's bridges is enough to keep me away from them, as well as any other high load forms of neck work.

I use a light medicine ball (6lber) or similar ball and put it against a door frame, keeping my spine and legs straight I put my head against the towel and relax my neck allowing it to bend to the angle of the doorframe.

Then using just the neck muscles I straighten it out, relax, repeat. How far you stand provides the variable resistance.

You can do this drill front, back, and sides of the head as well, but a watchcap is an nice addition to keep the sides of the head from getting sore. I mostly do just back and forth.

For mobility I do a bunch of stretching, lots of rotational side to side work.
 
Sorry guys. Forgot to reply before the weekend.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I ordered a copy of Overcoming Poor Posture as I borrowed a copy of Overcoming Gravity and liked the structure, etc.
In terms of neck strengthening to improve posture, I'll stick to my resistance band and attempted Anderson Neck Bridges for now. I'm still debating a neck harness, but I'll stick with the rehab level of training for now.
 
garry said:
In terms of neck strengthening to improve posture, I'll stick to my resistance band and attempted Anderson Neck Bridges for now
Click to expand...

I used to do the Paul Anderson Neck Bridge. Its just leaning your forehead and hands on the end of a table (use a towel to pad it) and turning your head like you're shaking no. Pavel has you do it on the floor. Anderson used it after neck harness extension work.

If you have Beyond Bodybuilding look in Section 8 Naked Warrior Q&A "The Rolling Neck Bridge" (it's very clearly illustrated with 12 photos).
It's awesome, I replaced all my neck work with it, it's harder than Wrestling Bridges and it doesn't have you flex, extend, or rotate your neck under load (which some would say makes it a far safer option).

I still lead with my eyes, but I let it guide the roll of my body instead of just my head.

One last thing, Pavel put out a video called Resilient that is about injury proofing your body, here is the list of drills he uses for the neck20180703_221614.png

The third one on the list "Chicken" is one that my friends Physical Therapist had her do to fix her neck pain (he had her do it in the shower everyday to make it a simple habit).



(Link to an example of chicken exercise)
 
Kiacek said:
I used to do the Paul Anderson Neck Bridge. Its just leaning your forehead and hands on the end of a table (use a towel to pad it) and turning your head like you're shaking no. Pavel has you do it on the floor. Anderson used it after neck harness extension work.

If you have Beyond Bodybuilding look in Section 8 Naked Warrior Q&A "The Rolling Neck Bridge" (it's very clearly illustrated with 12 photos).
It's awesome, I replaced all my neck work with it, it's harder than Wrestling Bridges and it doesn't have you flex, extend, or rotate your neck under load (which some would say makes it a far safer option).

I still lead with my eyes, but I let it guide the roll of my body instead of just my head.

One last thing, Pavel put out a video called Resilient that is about injury proofing your body, here is the list of drills he uses for the neck

The third one on the list "Chicken" is one that my friends Physical Therapist had her do to fix her neck pain (he had her do it in the shower everyday to make it a simple habit).
Click to expand...

Thanks Kiacek! That's all very helpful. I hadn't spotted the Rolling Neck Bridge section in the Beyond Bodybuilding book. It looks like it's exactly the kind of exercise I'm looking for. I'll add it to my routine.

Thanks for the Chicken video too. I've been doing the exercise band one they show (along with some head-turn band work). It's a handy one to do at the desk, if you don't mind looking strange in front of your co-workers :D

Edit: Just tried the chin-to-chest part of the video and I could barely get below horizontal! Looks like I need to add that to the list :D
 
Just back to say that my copy of Overcoming Poor Posture arrived and I'm finding it very good. Nicely laid out and there doesn't seem to be much fluff. I'd say the advice and exercises in it would be applicable to most people that have desk jobs. There's probably nothing in it you won't find somewhere online, but here it's all gathered together, explained and presented well.

I've found a load of tight points in my neck and shoulders that I never realized were there. I think I'll focus on following this book for a few months before I look at anything more (well maybe with a few Rolling Neck Bridges thrown in from time to time :D).
 
@Pavel Macek 's preview of RESILIENT got me wondering about neck training in general... stumbled across this thread, seemed like a reasonable place to throw this out there.

I have never personally done any neck-specific strength training. I can see the value to combat sport athletes, less clear to me how much value is there for average folks. But that said... under SF principles, perhaps more neck strength will eventually translate into greater neck mobility?

How many of you do neck-specific strength work regularly?
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
@Pavel Macek 's preview of RESILIENT got me wondering about neck training in general... stumbled across this thread, seemed like a reasonable place to throw this out there.

I have never personally done any neck-specific strength training. I can see the value to combat sport athletes, less clear to me how much value is there for average folks. But that said... under SF principles, perhaps more neck strength will eventually translate into greater neck mobility?

How many of you do neck-specific strength work regularly?
Click to expand...

StrongFirst RESILIENT features careful step-by-step progression from mobility to all-round strength, plus additional article,

My recommendation would be:

- mobility first - 3 ways neck (flexion/extension, rotation, lateral flexion) from Flexible Steel Mobility 101 first, daily, reps = matching your age
- manual resistance your hands against the head, e.g. press your hands against your forehead and try to flex your neck - twice a week, 2 sets of 20 reps
- Pavel's rolling neck bridge from Beyond Bodybuilding - also about 20 rolls, 2 sets

...and you are pretty well covered. Start with light resistance, don't jam your neck, spread the load.

Other types of neck work (such as front, back, and weighted bridges) need more expert coaching.
 
People who train for combat sports (Mma, boxing ect) and contact sports all train their necks..
Bridges, harness ect.. Amd they have some of the thickest, strongest, bullet proof necks around..(and joocey upper traps) but they need it to prevent ko's, concessions and broken necks from impacts.
 
@garry : first off, welcome to the forum :)
Have a look at the Original Strength website, lots of good exercises to correct poor posture. Personally, I would advice you to do a lot of rocking on all fours. Rocking is a great reset to re-adjust your posture.
 
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