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Importance of neck strength

If you are going to take hits to the head - rugby, boxing, mma - make sure you have a strong neck.


Isometric cervical muscle strength mitigates head impact severity


The cervical musculature may play a role in mitigating head impact severity among collegiate football players. Sports medicine professionals and strength and conditioning coaches should continue exploring the potential benefits of cervical strengthening programmes on head injury prevention.

Comments

James Marshall said…
Interesting, at the GAIN conference last year, the consensus was that it was neck flexibility and mobility that helped reduce concussion rates.
March 19, 2013 at 7:46 AM
Bill DeSimone said…
The problem with any neck strengthening protocol is that the neck muscles don't attach to the brain, and so they don't prevent the brain from colliding with the skull. Even the "Concussion Prevention Protocol" has the disclaimer "We do not claim to prevent concussions..."
May help with neck injuries, but the only way to really protect the brain is to not get hit in the head.
March 20, 2013 at 9:20 AM
Physical Therapist Waldwick said…
Very interesting article! Neck is one of the most important parts of our body. We can’t our work if we have neck injury. I think cervical strengthening programs are perfect to improve neck strength.
April 1, 2013 at 11:25 PM
Unknown said…
Incorrect. Most of how concussions and knock-outs occur is due to the brain colliding with the skull, but this is largely caused by the head snapping back and forth after getting hit. A strong neck makes it more difficult to make this happen.
April 6, 2013 at 11:49 AM
Physical Therapy upper saddle river said…
If you find a best workout to increase your neck muscles strength then the cervical strengthening program is good for you. You can make your muscles more strong through it.
April 14, 2013 at 11:32 PM
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