Muscle Head, Pencil Neck
It’s sounds funny but the neck is the most neglected part of the body in the newbie bodybuilding regime. Dave Zane and Arnold Schwarzenegger are classic examples of the classic proportion for posing and flexing during competition. Generally, your neck should be comparable to the inch measure of your calves and arms. It is not attractive to the judges if the rest of the body is well developed while the neck muscles are small.
Stick Your Neck Out
Building the neck for competitive bodybuilding also inhibits injury besides giving you a symmetrical look. All heavy lifts involve the neck. Any abdominal work, especially weighted abdominal lifts can potentially injure the neck. Pulled, stiff and strained neck muscles are common if you avoid purposeful training of the neck. Furthermore, training the neck can avoid whiplash and other everyday neck injuries. Some trainers advise not training the neck to widen the look of the shoulders. Unfortunately, at competition time, well-developed necks will stand out as an overall complement to the entire physique and the competitor will look disproportionate.
Old School Neck Building
Competitive bodybuilders often used a kind of head harness that held a dumbbell or weight plate. The bodybuilder would literally lift the weight with only the neck muscles. They could even attach the head strap to a vehicle to pull around, similar to the kind of events in Strong Man competitions.
Several companies make equipment for neck building. Gold’s Gym and other competitive-friendly gyms will have equipment to build the neck.
New Neck Muscle Exercises
Get a symmetrical neck for competitive bodybuilding by using a bench and a plate. Lay either face up or flat on your belly. Lay the plate directly on your forehead or the back of the head and lift up and down. You can put a towel between the plate and the head for comfort. To build the back of the neck, lie on your back and bridge up onto your head. Only hold this position for a few moments until you get used to it.
You can progressively increase the time over several weeks. You can also do sit-ups using a 45 lb. plate with your arms crossed over your chest. The closer to a full sit up you can do the more you work the neck muscles.
