Neck strength is pivotal for the front row in rugby union and has been closely associated with concussion risk and prevention in contact sports.
I have listed below a few examples of neck exercises that you can perform with a partner. It’s not the be all and end all, but throwing some of these exercises in the mix is a great way to add variety to your strength program. I have commonly used these with all forwards; particularly with the front row, as they can utilise their heads as a weapon in the scrum.
It is incredibly important to note that you want to be extremely careful to begin with when introducing these exercises. Start slowly and build up once a tolerance to intensity has been established.
All three exercises has the athlete set up on a hyper-extension bench. For the first exercise, we are engaging the whole posterior chain. The coach (or partner) pushes down on the back of the head. The athlete uses their neck extensors to isometrically contract and hold in the correct position. Below is a video demonstration of exercise 1.
The second exercise (below) is slightly more aggressive in order to try and best prepare the athlete for the challenges ahead, no pun intended.
To complete this exercise; set the athlete up on the hyper-extension bench just like before. Now grab their head and try and wrestle it from their body, as shown below. I keep the movements multi-directional and random to try and achieve maximal contractions in the flexors and extensors. Forward, backwards, side to side, twisting… it’s all play on!
The third exercise (below) involves lateral movement from the athlete. Simply stand next to them and let them push as hard as they can laterally into your hips. The aim is to try to push you over. It goes without saying; but make sure to train both sides of the neck. This is a relatively simple exercise.
That;s it! 3 simple exercises that can be done with a partner or a coach to help build neck strength and robustness!