Pumping up the muscles of the neck is not the most important task for a bodybuilder, but it should be paid attention to. When an athlete has a powerful neck, this visually significantly increases the mass of the upper body. In addition, a well-inflated neck significantly reduces the risk of injury to the cervical vertebrae, especially if you are involved in contact sports. During the squat and deadlift, a strong neck also increases the strength of the athlete. But, as practice shows, people either do not devote time to the neck at all, or do it wrong. In this article, you will learn which exercises are most effective for developing neck muscles, which muscle group is better to combine its training with, and which neck muscles should be given attention in the first place.

The neck consists of a whole cascade of muscles, each of which performs its own function. Accordingly, in order to pump up the neck proportionally, it is necessary to diversify your training program with exercises that will allow you to “hook” each muscle. On the other hand, some muscles are larger, some are smaller, some are deep inside, others are closer to the surface, so they react differently to training. Some muscles are easier to hypertrophy, others are more difficult, and since, as we have already noted above, neck training is not a priority in bodybuilding, it is worth focusing on those muscles that most affect the appearance of an athlete.

Anatomy of the neck muscles

The trapezius muscle is located in the back of the neck and occupies the upper back, the muscle has a triangular shape, but both muscles, that is, the left and right sides, form a trapezoid shape. The trapezoid performs three functions: brings the scapula to the spine, raises the scapula up and lowers it down.
Scalene muscles – are located behind and are represented by three bundles: anterior, middle and posterior. The anterior scalene muscle of the neck is responsible for lifting the upper rib during breathing. The middle scalene muscle, in addition to the functions of the anterior one, can also rotate the cervical spine. The scalene posterior muscle performs the same functions as the middle muscle, but with a slightly different range of motion.

The belt muscle is located on the side and is represented by two bundles that allow you to turn your head and neck to the side independently of each other. friend. In addition, these muscles together extend the cervical spine.

The sternocleidomastoid muscle consists of two heads, which begin at the mastoid cane and the lateral section of the superior nuchal line, and end at the sternoclavicular joint. The muscle allows you to tilt your head back and tilt it to the side. In addition, this muscle is actively involved in breathing.

Neck Exercises

Shrugs are a very well-known exercise that is most often performed by bodybuilders to train the neck. Shrugs are performed by lifting the shoulder girdle and collarbone up due to the contraction of the trapezius muscle. You can read more about the shrugs technique here. We recommend that you perform this exercise without fail, even if you are not trying to purposefully pump up your neck. The trapezius muscle is the largest muscle group of the cervical region, so its hypertrophy is immediately noticeable, as a result of which it is she who needs to be given special attention.
The wrestling bridge is not as popular a bodybuilding exercise as shrugs, but it is very popular in contact sports. From this we can conclude that the exercise is not very effective in building muscle mass, but it is extremely effective in developing the functional qualities of the neck muscles. Thanks to the wrestling bridge, it is possible to “attach” the head to the body much better, therefore, the risk of injury to the cervical vertebrae is reduced. The wrestling bridge is performed quite simply in the technical sense, it is important for you to stand on the “bridge”, distributing the load between the heels and forehead. Begin the exercise against the wall with your hands on the floor, after which, when you learn to control your body, doing the bridge, you can roll your head a little to develop the strength of the neck muscles.
Flexion and extension – can be performed sitting and lying down, and lying down, both on the stomach and on the back. When the exercise is performed lying down, they usually use a pancake, and when performing the exercise while sitting, they use a special hat with a cable on which the weight is attached. In general, the exercise is not difficult, but it has a minus, which is that the load created on the neck muscles is not constant, which negatively affects its training.
The simulator is the best way to pump up the neck, because it eliminates the shortcomings of the previous one. method, however, has all its advantages. Moreover, the simulator allows you to perform bending, both forward and backward, and to the sides, so you can use it to pump all the muscles of the neck. Unfortunately, not every gym has such a simulator, as a result of which you may need a partner. The essence is very simple, instead of the pads of the simulator, you rest your head against your partner, who creates the necessary resistance during neck flexion.
With the ball – this is also a very effective way to pump up the neck, and also the safest, but it is problematic to progress the load in this exercise. Accordingly, there is no progression – there is no hypertrophy. The exercise is performed slowly, like all exercises for the neck, without jerking and in a large number of repetitions.
Lifting a dumbbell in front of you is an exercise, in addition to the anterior delta of the shoulder girdle, it also catches the sternocleidomastoid muscle, but only in the upper phase of the range of motion, therefore, if you want to pump their neck as well, then you need to take less weight, increase the amplitude, reduce the speed and perform the exercise very “cleanly”. You can read how to perform dumbbell raises in front of you here.

How to swing your neck

Long warm-up – this rule applies not only to warming up the neck, but in this case it must be observed. A proper warm-up begins slowly, gradually increasing the intensity and range of motion, but in this case, the final intensity is quite low. The fact is that sharp and fast movements can lead to protrusion and prolapse of the discs of the cervical vertebrae. That is why, if you want to pump up your neck, and not injure it, then warm up before training it for at least 5 minutes.

Moderate speed – I want to emphasize this rule again, since it should be observed throughout the entire neck workout. Firstly, the exercises should be performed at a slow pace, and secondly, the exercises should be performed in a range of repetitions from 12 to 20 so that you do not have to take a lot of working weight to achieve the desired results. In no case should you reach muscle failure during neck training. All exercises are performed smoothly and in the same speed range throughout the entire range of motion, that is, there are no accelerations and decelerations. must.

Graduality – this rule refers to the development of the working weight, in this case, the working weight should be tried to master very slowly. To pump up the neck, one does not need to strive at all costs to increase strength indicators, since such an approach will lead to injury. Yes, without progression of the load there will be no growth, but you can also progress by increasing repetitions, reducing the rest time between sets, you can perform the exercise more slowly. The workflow looks like this: You perform an exercise for 12 repetitions with some weight, gradually bring the number of repetitions to 20, and then increase the weight, starting to perform 12 repetitions again.

It is best to swing the neck with the forearm, or separately. However, you should not allocate too much time for neck training, 10-15 minutes will be enough. Shrugs can be added to your shoulder or back workout by doing this exercise regularly. If you want to pump up your neck, then you can set aside a separate day for training it, for example, after training your legs. It is important that you do not need to pump your back and shoulders the next day, as this will prevent the muscles from recovering. Remember, the one walking in the right direction will overtake the runner who has gone astray!