How Effective Is Neck Training?
Neck training is one of those things that’s often advocated for, and for good reason. The inclusion of neck exercises for athletes in combat sports makes logical sense, as the ability to absorb force and direct it away from the head should lead to a reduction in concussions and head trauma.
In many combat sports, the neck becomes a “5th limb,” further adding to the desire to keep it strong, as it can be an asset in imposing your game and will.
Last year, I was curious about the actual effectiveness of neck training in sports where contact was invited and occurs often. Think football, hockey, boxing, and striking combat sports.
To my surprise, there were a number of studies, including a meta study in 2018 on the topic. Most interestingly, they found that the incidence of concussions did not go down with neck training in those particular sports.
That doesn’t entirely surprise me, as the forces acting on the head and neck are so great that you couldn’t reasonably expect a human to brace for that much contact. We’re talking hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of force at a time in some cases.
Does that mean you shouldn’t train your neck? No, not at all.
Read more on the topic in my Substack article, “Neck Training: Is It Worth It?”
About the Author: Mark DiSalvo, CSCS
Mark is the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. He brings over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds and is the strength and conditioning coach to grapplers of all levels and disciplines: from youth to professional and Olympic-level. He is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu himself, with 10 years of experience in the sport. You can read more about him here.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he’s an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert with a specialty in combat sports. He’s also a Steve Maxwell Certified Kettlebell Instructor (Levels 1 & 2).