Why would anyone want to train the neck? Some people might think that it is all about appearance but the fact is, a strong neck is a big asset for those who play contact sports. Many people overlook this training for two reasons. Either they do not know about it or they simply do not have the correct equipment to do it. All you need though is a little imagination and you will be able to exercise your neck muscles. You will also need some plates, a bench, a towel and some surgical tubing.

Rotators: You might already know that the 4-way neck machine will not work on the rotators so you will want to go for the manual resistance for this group of muscles. The rotators are not able to be worked with weights but there can be some resistance added. You will do this by applying your hand to your neck while you slowly turn it either 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.

First, the simplest thing you can do is lie on a flat bench, face up, with your head over the end. Now, simply put a folded towel on your forehead and put a weight plate on the towel, holding it in place with your hands. Now, relax the head and allow it to drop downward.

You will then need to proceed slowly and raise your head up so that you are able to tuck your chin into your chest. Remember to keep your hands on the weight so that the muscles truly get a workout.

Just as with all of the other kinds of neck work, you want to make sure that you are starting light and that you are slowly moving through the motions in order to avoid injury. Do not use too heavy of a weight for all of your low repetitions since the neck is very fragile. Once you are used to this kind of training, you will be able to slowly increase the weights. For this group, you will want about ten to fifteen reps.

Another option is to take a simple piece of surgical tubing that’s available at any medical supply house or home improvement store and tie the loose ends into a knot. Now, you simply have a loop or circle of tubing.

To work the extensors, all you need to do is sit on a chair or bench and place the tubing on your forehead. Take the other end of the loop and hook it on a doorknob, power rack or anything similar. Now, you simple let the head tilt back, then forward, where you’ll begin to feel the resistance. Once you’ve reached the limit of your range of motion, tilt again backward and so on. Again, several sets of 10-15 reps will suffice.

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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