Many bodybuilders who diligently “pump” their chest and abs, over time, notice a deterioration in their posture, bringing their shoulders forward and changing their head position. All this often leads to inflammatory processes in the cervical spine and causes an overload of its lower sections, which threatens with serious injury. Few people know that the situation can be easily corrected with the help of a special exercise, which is sometimes mistakenly classified as a specialized exercise for the muscles of the neck.

➜ Execution scheme

Lie chest down on a gymnastic bench. Its edge should fall on the collarbone area.

For those who already have a strong neck, a “helmet” made of strong straps, to which weights are attached, is suitable.

Well, if the neck is not yet sufficiently developed, and besides, there are pains, doing the exercise without weight is suitable - after all, the head also has weight!

Lowering your head, inhale and hold your breath, and only then slowly, very slowly raise your head and, in the extreme upper position, slightly tilt it back to increase the arching of the cervical spine.

Check the correct final position like this: your eyes should look straight ahead, but not frowningly. If it doesn't work, reduce the weight.

Exhale at the top of the amplitude and begin the reverse movement. It's also slow and controlled.

Remember: there is no point in fighting weight. The main thing is the right technique.

The exercise provides a unique challenge to the muscles by maintaining the natural position of the head relative to the spine - as in a standing position.

However, the position of the body makes it possible to move under load of a progressive nature, which is impossible in a standing position.

➜ What's what

Many bodybuilders ignore neck exercises, believing that they are not so important for increasing the "mass" of the body. In fact this is not true. A powerful neck is a good help when doing squats and barbell presses from behind the head. In addition, regular training of the neck tones a wide range of the most important muscles associated with it, including the trapezium.

As for other sports, strong neck muscles there are an insuring factor in falls. If the muscles of the neck are weak, then the displacement of the vertebrae of the cervical region inevitably occurs, and even a fracture of the spine.

In addition, the exercise directly affects the posture, but it is necessary for representatives of all sports. A change in posture towards a stoop leads to rapid fatigue of the muscles of the back and shoulder girdle in game types, but where strength is needed, it can provoke injuries to the shoulder joints.

➜ Anatomy

The exercise involves not only the muscles of the head (the patch and the longest muscle of the head), but also a group of muscles that perform extension of the spinal column.

The rapid change in posture under the action of neck extension is caused by a deep activation of these internal muscles of the back, which include: the semispinous, spinous and iliocostal muscles.

➜ Notes

1. Significant weight is not needed when performing the movement, as it will limit the amplitude of the exercise.

Meanwhile, it completely predetermines the training effect.
In addition, a lot of weight leads to a change in the general pattern of movement: you raise your head, but you can not move it back to ensure the deflection of the cervical region.

2. The higher you raise your head, the stronger the exercise will affect your posture. This is due to the fact that the high elevation of the head increases the degree of contraction of the extensor muscles of the back.

3. The pace of the movement is extremely slow. Fishing is not allowed.

4. Precede the exercise with a warm-up set without weight.

➜ Lateral head lifts ➜

A side effect of the development of the trapezius muscles is the so-called "sloping shoulders". Many bodybuilders use only shrugs to work out the trapezoid, and they do them with an incomplete range of motion, which leads to overdevelopment of the upper part of the trapezoid. Hence the unaesthetic "beveled" look.

To avoid this, there is an excellent exercise, which is the opposite of scars in kinesiology - lifting the head to the side. Only the head moves here, so you completely protect yourself from the effect of "sloping shoulders".

In addition, you develop one of the most important cervical muscles - the sternocleidomastoid, which, along with other muscles, supports the cervical spine.

➜ Scheme

Lie on your side with your shoulder to the edge of the bench, so that your head can move freely up and down in a vertical plane. The weight on the belt should hang down from the head to the floor.

Slowly tilt your head to your shoulder as low as possible in a strictly vertical plane. At the bottom point, you should feel a complete stretch of the working muscles. Then lift your head up the same trajectory to the highest point. Do not turn your head while moving up. The eyes should look straight ahead.

When you finish lifting, inhale. When you reach the top point, exhale, then inhale again and hold your breath while lowering your head. Exhale again at the bottom.

All movements are absolutely controlled, the body is always in a fixed position.

The speed of movement is slow or medium - without accelerations and jerks.

➜ Biomechanics

You raise and lower your head in a vertical plane, lying on your side. In fact, this is the same as tilting your head from side to side while standing or sitting.

➜ Sports

This exercise is important for three reasons. Firstly, it prevents injuries and diseases of the cervical spine. Secondly, it develops the upper trapezium on both sides of the neck. And thirdly, it retains the "square" shape of the shoulders.

Well-developed upper trapezium and strengthened neck muscles support the head in an upright position and prevent it from "dangling" from side to side. This is especially important when doing shoulder presses and raises.

➜ Anatomy

Upper trapezium. The trapezium is a flat muscle that sits just under the skin. They are located in the middle of the upper back, between the base of the neck and the twelfth thoracic vertebra. The upper fibers go from top to bottom and to the sides, the lower ones - from the bottom up and to the center, where they converge with the middle fibers attached at the top between the shoulder blades.

Such a complex arrangement of fibers assigns several important functions to the trapezium. However, when lifting the head to the side, only the upper fibers work. The middle and lower ones act as stabilizers: they hold the shoulder blades in place for maximum contraction of the working muscles.

Sternocleidomastoid. This important muscle is located on the sides of the neck. With its lower end it is attached near the collarbones and sternum, and with its upper end under the ear and slightly behind it, on the mastoid process of the skull. When viewed from the front, this muscle forms the letter V.

The scalene muscles (anterior, middle and posterior) are located on the sides of the neck. Above, they are attached to the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae, below - to the 1st and 2nd ribs.

Erectors of the spine, internal muscles of the neck and other small muscles.

rectus vertebrae (cervical-costal, long neck, long head and neck-vertebral muscles) and the internal muscles of the neck are involved in bending the head back and forth and from side to side. In addition to them, with these movements, the patch and semispinalis muscles work.

All of them are attached to different vertebrae of the cervical and thoracic spine. These muscles are quite thin, but they provide general and very important support for the neck and head. Not a single cervical muscle in itself is distinguished by great strength, except, perhaps, the sternocleidomastoid.

➜ Notes

1) Work on the neck muscles requires extremely precise technique. The movement must take place strictly in a vertical plane. You can not turn your head to the left or right, tilt forward or backward. This can lead to serious injury to the cervical spine.

2) The sternocleidomastoid muscle not only tilts the head from side to side, but also turns it to the right and left and tilts it back and forth. It is quite natural that it will "strive" to perform all its functions simultaneously. This must be avoided.

To be safe, make sure that the stabilizing muscles of the neck, as well as the flexors-extensors, are in constant tension and fix the head, allowing it to move only in a vertical plane.

3) Because total control is vital here, don't lift heavy weights. Excessive weight will force you to accelerate the movement, "twitch" or engage those muscle functions that are not needed here and even harmful.

Don't forget that extra heavy weights will definitely recruit other muscles to stabilize the body, better control the movement, and assist with the lift. This in itself is not so bad. But the negative effect still outweighs. Super heavy weight will force you to work with an incomplete amplitude. At the same time, the contraction of the upper trapezium, sternocleidomastoid and other cervical muscles will also be incomplete.

4) Since this exercise requires extremely precise technique, always inhale at the beginning of the lift and hold your breath in the process. Holding the breath stabilizes the torso and allows the head to move only in a vertical plane.

If you exhale during the lift, your chest will relax and you may involuntarily bob your head forward or backward. Therefore, it is imperative to hold your breath, especially when working on the muscles of the neck.

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