Something that you won't find often mentioned in nearly every bodybuilding periodical and website is neck training.
A lot of beginners will usually only concentrate on their chest, arms, and back, this is because these groups are the most popular to show off. When bodybuilders finally become more advanced and start training other muscle areas, some trends emerge which allow the desire for specialized neck training.
Using heavier weights can help put on more muscle mass, but can also lead to injuries in areas that haven't been trained; these areas will have pressure while moving. Some exercises that can put unbearable pressure on the neck are dead lifts, rows, and shrugs.
One of the primary goals of bodybuilding is symmetry, so a bodybuilder with a muscular and balanced physique will not look as good on stage if they have an untrained and skinny neck.
As a bodybuilder reaches the higher levels of competitive training, symmetry and proportion of every muscle group is very important, so the group of muscles that are usually neglected or seen as unimportant are suddenly vital to have tone and trained.
There is a variety of ways that bodybuilders can use to train the neck. One of the simplest ways is manual resistance. This can be performed by applying pressure to the head with the hand, and then flexing the neck while the head is being moved in every direction.
It is very seldom that neck machines are found in most gyms, but they do exist. There is a nautilus 4-way neck exercise machine that can be very useful for hitting and concentrating on each side of the neck.
Harnesses are another way to exercise the neck, these are usually found online and can allow the person to suspend a weight from the head in order to complete repetitions. There are some that use towel resistance movements to train the neck. If nothing else can be worked out, stationary flexing can be very useful.
Even though it is an important area for bodybuilders to train, steps should be put in place to make sure the neck training isn't taken too far. There have been some bodybuilders, one of them being Jeff King, who have trained their necks to be so thick and muscular that it has hurt their score at shows and competitions.
When a bodybuilder has an overly trained neck it takes attention away from the pectorals, it can also create the illusion of appearing narrow, where the goal is to appear as wide as they can. Bodybuilders need to train their neck in proportion to their body, this way it complements the body and will result in higher scores.
