Muscle Building Workouts For Your Neck, How To Train Your Rotators And Flexors

Why would one bother to train the neck? Aside from just enhancing the appearance

, a strong neck is a huge asset in many contact sports. We often overlook training this vital area for two main reasons. We either don't know how to do it, or we don't have the equipment to do so. With a little improvisation, we can perform some exercises to cover all the bases without using anything other than some plates, a towel, a bench, and 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.

Many people find that this exercise is best done while seated. This way your upper back muscles are completely relaxed. You only want to work on the extensor group so make sure that you are relaxing during the whole exercise.

Flexors. For the flexors, you can use the neck machine if it's available. If not, here are some simple things you can do to perform the exact same function. Again, the purpose of this group is to tilt the chin toward 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.

Then, you will want to raise the head slowly as though you are trying to tuck your chin into your chest. You will want to make sure that both of your hands are holding the weight in place, while making sure that you are not helping the muscles perform the movement.

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.

There is of course another option for you. You would want to take a piece of surgical tubing, which can be purchase at any medical supply company, and have the loose ends tied into a knot. You now have a loop of tubing.

When working the extensors, you will want to sit on the bench or a chair. Place the tubing on your forehead and then place the other end around a doorknob. Allow the head to tilt back and then forward and begin to feel the resistance. Once you have made it to the limit of your range of motion, you will want to tilt backwards again and then forwards again. Do several sets of 10 - 15 reps for this exercise.

Once you find that you are ready to increase the level of resistance, you will want to move further away from the anchor point by adding another loop of the tubing or by adding a heavier gauge of tubing. You can wrap a washcloth or towel around the tubing that will rest against your forehead. This will make it much more comfortable for you and it will also keep it from slipping while you go through the range of motion.

by: Ricardo D Argence

POST COMMENT

Use Leki Walking Poles To Increase Fitness Breast Implant Exchange Important For The Emotional And Physical Appearance National Positions Makes 2nd Appearance In Inc 500 Green Tea - Burn Fat Quickly and safely Burn Fat With This Creatine that You Are Missing Out On! Diet And Fitness Secrets To A Long Life Flirty Girl Fitness DVD Building Muscle Without Weights – 3 Critical FAQs Answered In Crystal Clear Detail! Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Review Says No Dilly-dallying To Get Results The Impact Of Reading Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Review Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Review Gaining Muscle On The Treadmill 3 Kinds Of Muscle Building Supersets That Can Get You Ripped Out