The thumbnail image you clicked on was from 2016 when the rest of the staff and I at Iowa put together training videos for the CSCCa. You can find all the work we did by clicking here.
As I was looking at these videos and descriptions I noticed there was some neck work missing from the blog I wrote in 2021 on neck training. In this blog I shared how to make neck work scalable within a team setting for all coaches. You can click here to read that blog which serves as the backbone of this blog.
In that 2021 article I did not include the neck machine work because at Towson we did not have the budget or the space for neck machines. Our weight room and budget was small and did not have the ability for me to get neck machines. We made due with what we have - you need to do the same.
Using cable columns is a great way to get neck work done for your athletes when you do not have the room or budget to have neck machines. You can also attach bands to the rack to train your neck.
Using a partner is also key in training neck strength. You are able to get things done at scale, and can even get neck work done on the field in the warm up.
One area of neck work that you might be missing is protrusion. With this neck movement you move your whole face up to the ceiling (not tucking your chin - but moving your whole face up to the sky). In doing so you help strengthen your neck to reduce the likelihood of a concussion when your body hits the ground and then your neck whips on the ground.
You can do this with a partner or band if you do not have any partners.
Now that you know all the different ways to train neck without a machine - lets talk about why you should get machines for neck work. You might be wondering how many machines. Probably 8-10 is the most you need. At Iowa we had 8 and it was perfect amount. In doing so you can pair it in the weight room with other exercises in a block. You can go:
A1. Squat
A2. SA DB Row
A3. 4 Way Neck
When doing this you can program 1 set each way so other athletes can share the machine. Or you can program only flexion and get 4 sets of flexion. If you program it this way be sure to program Extension and both lateral flexion 4 sets later in the lift.
As you see from the images we had Power Lift equipment at Iowa. We had this at Maryland as Harvard as well. There is a reason for this - the equipment holds the test of time and allows you to load the heck out of your athletes.
When they do their neck work make sure they are not shrugging their shoulders to their ears. Have athletes pull their shoulders down and back keeping their neck long to be able to strengthen through a full range of motion. This should be the same cue your give athletes when you are working with them on manual neck.
One key reason you want to get neck machines is lack of human resources. You are only one person. Your staff might be up to 10 people (football). If you are all doing neck work you aren't coaching other things. I lived this life in Maryland when Drew, Alan, and myself were the ones doing the neck work for the team.
We did this because we did not trust the athletes to do it with each other. Sure, they could catch someone to do Pedestal Neck (shown earlier in this blog) but we did not trust them to give resistance on manual neck.
This totally makes sense and is usually the case. So, get 4 way neck machines to solve that problem. The equipment has gotten better over time and now the 4 way neck machine is stack weight, not plate loaded like it used to be.
Compared to:
As far as storage in your weight room for the neck machines - do what we did in the image above place them facing one another so you save footprint room. In doing so you can allow athletes to move in and out of the machine, but not take up as much space. Do this in a 4x4 or 5x5 fashion and you will be golden.
There is tons of research on neck strength reduction on concussions (1, 2, 3) for athletes. You need to realize that your athlete plays a contact sport even if they don't play a collision sport. Sure they don't hit each other as often as football, rugby, or hockey, but they hit each other and fall to the ground. You want them to have a strong neck to prevent the risk of injury. Well, start training their neck and use all the partner exercises I showed you - and get neck machines to really get their neck strong. In doing so you can help your athletes and coaches keep the best players on the field/court.
References:
(1) Collins CL, Fletcher EN, Fields SK, Kluchurosky L, Rohrkemper MK, Comstock RD, Cantu RC. Neck strength: a protective factor reducing risk for concussion in high school sports. J Prim Prev. 2014 Oct;35(5):309-19. doi: 10.1007/s10935-014-0355-2. PMID: 24930131.
(2) Rotto T, Kraus E, Fredericson M. A NECK STRENGTH TRAINING PROTOCOL IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS FOR CONCUSSION RISK REDUCTION. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020;8(4_suppl3). doi:10.1177/2325967120S00165
(3) Silverman S, Vidt ME, Hong JS, Grafton LM. Risk Reduction of Concussion in Athletes: Do Neck Size or Neck Strength Make a Difference? Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jul 1;103(7):659-664. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002464. Epub 2024 Feb 8. PMID: 38363718.
