DMoose Fitness Neck Harness For Weight Lifting

Neck exercises have been long overlooked in the weight training routines that most people use in their everyday lives. Having a strong and healthy neck can improve the performance of many types of athletes, such as those training in mixed martial arts or other similar sports, but regular people who are simply working out for their health and physical well-being will see benefits of neck training in the sense that it helps you avoid injuries to your neck.

Neck harness training involves strapping on an appropriately-sized harness that reaches over your head and around the back, offering a snug fit that will allow the harness to spread weight evenly in a safe way. There will generally be two D-rings that hang down from the side of your head that you can clip a chain onto. You simply add weight to this chain and you are now supporting the hanging-weight with your neck muscles.

Going through exercises with your new neck harness for weight training will be easy to learn, as there are only so many natural motions that your neck will want to do. Something as simple as attaching a five-pound weight to the chain will allow you to slowly move your head back and forth to engage your neck muscles.

A benefit of strengthening the back of your neck is that it helps counteract the hunched position that so many of us have today from sitting at computers or looking down at our smartphones so frequently.

When many of us think of strengthening our necks, we might envision a professional wrestler or football player whose shoulders seem to merge directly into their heads because their necks are so big. This is not the likely result for most of us average non-athletes who simply want their neck to be similarly as active and trained as the other parts of their body.

It’s important to know that having a healthy neck doesn’t mean your neck will become thick and muscular. The thick and muscular necks we see in those types of athletes come from many years of heavy training and dedication to their sport and it makes that aesthetic an outlier in this aspect.

When you are looking for the ideal neck harness for you, think of the way you want to use it and how much weight you would be putting on it. Most neck harness for weight training come with padded straps that help ease the pressure on your head while making them a safer overall product.

D-rings are often placed in a position where they hang in front of your hears but lower down, close to chin level. If you hope to exercise in more lateral ways than simply having the weight directly in front of your chest, you can find products that have D-rings placed up higher around your ears that will allow you to load your weights in different orientations.

Whatever style you find that fits you best, it’s always a good idea to talk to a professional trainer or do a lot of research to ensure that you are performing your new neck exercises in a safe, effective and healthy way. Put a light weight on the first time you try it out and really focus on the muscle-mind connection to see what muscles it takes to move your head through a full range of motion.

• Don’t overdo it at the beginning. You are trying to train a muscle group that you might not have trained much before so take it easy and light until you are properly ready to add a bit more weight.
• Find a harness that fits your head well. A loose harness will not be kind to you as it may rub or jostle around as you are exercising.
• Kettle-bells and typical barbell weights with the hole in the center will be the ideal weights for this type of harness.
• Don’t be afraid to ask a trainer at your local gym to give you some information on safe neck training.